Math Expressions author, Dr. Karen Fuson, is Professor Emerita of Learning Sciences in the School of Education and Social Policy and the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University. She was a member of the National Research Council’s Committees that wrote Adding It Up, Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood, and How Students Learn. Professor Fuson worked on the Common Core State Standards-Math and on the learning progressions for these standards and has advised PARCC and Smarter Balance on their math test design and items. She has published over eighty research articles on mathematics teaching and learning. She directed the Children’s Math Worlds (CMW) Research Project—a 10-year study of how to effectively teach students math from an early age. The CMW Research Project examined how teachers can build conceptual supports, including meaningful language, drawings, manipulatives, accessible written methods, and classroom communication methods, to facilitate mathematical competence. The results from this research are a major source of the approaches in Math Expressions, her PK through Grade 6 math program. This program is also based on the research in the NRC reports, on aspects of international math programs, and on her research from around the world. Please see her website karenfusonmath.com for 23 hours of Teaching Progressions explaining the Common Core math domains, videos of classrooms, publications, and resources for remote learning.
