Math Panel Issues Its First Report, But Holds Off on Policy Proposals

A national advisory panel studying mathematics instruction has completed an interim report on its work for the White House, though members of the group have not yet offered specific recommendations for improving teaching and learning in that subject.

The Bush administration, which appointed the 17 voting members of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel a year ago, originally had hoped the group’s preliminary report would give some specific advice, possibly to help guide the distribution of federal math grants.

But the panel’s chairman, former University of Texas President Larry R. Faulkner, said members did not want to issue detailed recommendations before their research is complete. The 16-page interim report instead briefly describes the panel’s progress so far, its organization into subcommittees studying different topics, and the rules it is...