The influence of a federal report calling for a more orderly approach to teaching mathematics in the early grades will hinge largely on whether its message is accepted by the nation's diverse and often fiercely divided math community. Released this week, the report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel recommends that schools present elementary and middle school math in a better-defined manner, in contrast to the jumble of strategies now used in states and school districts. The report states that the delivery system in mathematics education--the system that translates mathematical knowledge into value and ability for the next generation--is broken and must be fixed.