This article explores the potential for aspects of abstract algebra to be influential for the teaching of school algebra (and early algebra). Using national standards for analysis, four primary areas common in school mathematics--and their progression across elementary, middle, and secondary mathematics--where teaching may be transformed by…

As part of a 5-year project that examined teachers' knowledge and beliefs about mathematics and teaching mathematics, interviews were conducted with preservice elementary teachers during their certification year. The transcripts of five of these sets of pretest/posttest interviews were chosen as illustrative of the significant challenges that…