Division of Mathematics Learning and Teaching

Fostering Geometric Thinking will confront a major national education challenge. On the TIMMS international comparisons, U.S. eighth-grade students’ weakest performances have been in the areas of geometry and measurement. Further, at the end of 12th grade, the U.S. scores in geometry were the lowest of all countries participating. To meet this challenge, FGT will:

add to the research base on geometric thinking and its place in the middle grades

enhance teachers' geometric understanding and their attention to student thinking. It will do so by working with nearly 220 teachers in grades 5-9 and developing:

a framework designed to help teachers better understand geometric thinking and how it develops in learners,

a curriculum for professional development in geometry based on this framework,

quantitative and qualitative studies of the impact of the curriculum, and

research reports disseminating the results of this work.