The Education of Mathematics Teachers in the United States: David Eugene Smith, Early Twentieth‐Century Pioneer

Abstract

In the USA, authority over teacher education and certification rests with the individual states rather than the federal government. Nonetheless, US mathematics teacher‐education programs bear a strong resemblance in their fundamental structure to one another and to the earliest such programs established in the 1890s. This paper examines an influential early program developed by David Eugene Smith, a pioneer in mathematics education. Smith’s program required preparation in mathematics, specialized training in mathematics pedagogy, exposure to social science perspectives and supervised practice teaching. Three characteristics distinguished Smith’s program: the importance of a historical perspective, the dynamic aspect of the teacher’s role, and the need for an international viewpoint. Smith sought to extend the domain of teacher education into school classrooms through his innovative handbooks for teachers. An examination of Smith’s 1904 arithmetic series and the accompanying handbook reveals how he incorporated the continued education of teachers into school textbooks.

Notes

¹ It should be noted that a full discussion of teacher certification in the USA entails further complications that are beyond the scope of this paper. For example, some states currently permit what have been termed ‘alternate routes’ to teacher certification. Although the particulars may vary among the states, in general these routes do not require the same kind or amount of professional/academic coursework and preparatory classroom experiences as do ‘regular’ teacher‐certification programs offered by colleges and universities. Another complicating factor relates to non‐governmental schools, referred to as ‘private’ or ‘independent’. Generally, teachers in these schools are not required to obtain state teacher certification.

² Tyack, D., ed. Turning Points in American Educational History. Waltham: Ginn/Blaisdel, 1967: 476–77, 479.

³ Report of the Committee on Secondary School Studies [US Bureau of Education whole no. 205]. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1893.

⁴ Smith, D. E. “On the Course in the History of Mathematics in the Michigan State Normal School.” Bibliotheca Mathematica, no. 12 (1898): 13.

⁵ Michigan State Normal School, ed. Yearbook. Ypsilanti: University Archives, Eastern Michigan University, 1894–95: 79.

⁶ Smith, D. E. “The Michigan State Normal School.” Education 17, no. 565 (1897).

⁷ See: Donoghue, E. F. “The Emergence of a Profession: Mathematics Education in the United States, 1890–1920.” In A History of School Mathematics. Edited by G. M. A. Stanic and J. Kilpatrick. Reston: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2003: 159–93.

⁸ Ibid.

⁹ Jackson, W. R. Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1903, United States Bureau of Education. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1904.

¹⁰ The official name of that committee was in German IMUK (Internationale Mathematische Unterrichtskommission) and in French CIEM (Commission Internationale de l’Enseignement des Mathématiques). When re‐established in 1952, the name became English: ICMI (International Commission on Mathematical Instruction).

¹¹ Report of the American Commissioners of the International Commission on the Teaching of Mathematics [US Bureau of Education Bulletin no. 14]. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1912: 35.

¹² Smith, D. E. “The International Commission on the Teaching of Mathematics.” American Mathematical Monthly 17, no. 4 (1910).

¹³ See: Donoghue, E. F. “Algebra and Geometry Textbooks in Twentieth‐Century America.” In A History of School Mathematics, edited by G. M. A. Stanic and J. Kilpatrick. Reston: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2003; Seeley, C. L. “Mathematics Textbook Adoption in the United States.” In ibid.

¹⁴ Smith, D. E. The Teaching of Elementary Mathematics. New York: Macmillan, 1900.

¹⁸ Smith, Grammar School Arithmetic, iii.

¹⁵ Smith, D. E. Handbook to Smith’s Arithmetics. Boston: Ginn, 1905: iv.

¹⁶ Smith, D. E. Grammar School Arithmetic. Boston: Ginn, 1904: iii.

¹⁷ Smith, D. E. Primary Arithmetic. Boston: Ginn, 1904: iii.

¹⁹ Ibid., iv.

²⁰ Smith, Handbook to Smith’s Arithmetics, iii.

²¹ Ibid.

²² Ibid., 2–3.

²³ Ibid., 5.

²⁵ Ibid., 6.

²⁴ Ibid., 10.

²⁶ Ibid., 9.

²⁷ Ibid.

²⁸ Smith, Primary Arithmetic, iii.

²⁹ Smith, D. E. Intermediate Arithmetic. Boston: Ginn, 1904: iii–iv.

³⁰ Smith, D. E. Advanced Arithmetic. Boston: Ginn: 1904.