Imagine: An email pops up in your inbox inviting you to apply to be MTE’s next editor. How would you react? Would you jump at the opportunity? Need to think more about it? Respond with a definite “no”? What information would you need in order to help you decide? In my first editorial, I share a bit of why I chose to jump at the opportunity to become MTE editor and what I have learned in the last year as Editor Designate, processing manuscripts alongside the founding and former MTE editor Peg Smith. In addition to providing insight into the MTE review process, I hope this editorial convinces many of you to seriously consider jumping on the opportunity to become MTE’s next editor when it comes around again in 3 years.

Recent advances in technology have resulted in an array of new digital tools for capturing classroom video, making it much easier for teachers to collect video from their own classrooms and share it with colleagues, both near and far. We view teacher self-captured video as a promising tool for improving mathematics teacher education. In this article, we discuss three issues that are essential for making the most of self-captured video: camera position, how much video to capture, and when to specify tasks for capturing, selecting, and using video. We propose that the act of deliberately participating in the self-capture process, as well as viewing and analyzing one’s own video with colleagues, offers worthwhile opportunities for mathematics teacher learning.

Field experience can be a rich site for intern teachers to develop the knowledge and skills they need for effective teaching. Lesson study has been shown to be a powerful form of professional development that enhances practicing teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching through collaborative inquiry with their peers. In this article, we discuss the use of mentor-guided lesson study to support mentor and intern collaboration in the field and share what we have learned about its potential to support interns’ attention to student thinking. We will also share insights from the field for those interested in implementing this activity in teacher preparation coursework.

Mathematics teachers are expected to engage their students in critiquing and constructing viable arguments. These classroom expectations are necessary, given that proof is a central mathematical activity. However, mathematics teachers have been provided limited opportunities as learners to construct arguments and critique the reasoning of others, and hence have developed perceptions of proof as an object that must follow a strict format. In this article, we describe a four-part instructional sequence designed to broaden and deepen teachers’ perception of the nature of proof. We analyzed participants’ reflections on the instructional sequence in order to gain insight into (a) the differences between this instructional sequence and participants’ previous proof learning opportunities and (b) the ways this activity was influential in transforming participants’ perceptions of proof. Participants’ previous learning experiences were focused on memorizing and reproducing textbook or instructor proofs, and our sequence was different because it actively and collaboratively engaged participants in constructing their own arguments, critiquing others’ reasoning, and creating criteria for what counts as proof. Participants found these activities transformative as they became more clear about what counts as proof, began to view proof as socially negotiated, and expanded their conception of proof beyond a rigid structure or format.

Assessment is a critical component of the teaching and learning cycle. Yet, research suggests that teachers have often had insufficient preparation relative to the development and use of assessment. In this article, we share experiences and assignments we use with both preservice and in-service teachers within undergraduate and graduate university courses to enhance their focus on mathematics assessment, particularly assessment of processes and practices in classroom tests. We also share the results of teachers’ analyses of classroom tests, their reactions to their analysis, and their reflections on the potential impact of the experiences on their future practice.

As mathematics teacher educators, it is imperative that we have high-quality tools that conceptualize and operationalize mathematics instruction for large-scale examination. We first describe existing instructional practice survey scales, including their conceptualization of practice and related validity evidence. We then present the framework and initial validity evidence for our mathematics instructional practice survey. Survey participants were in-service teachers in a statewide mandated mathematics professional development course. Statistical analyses indicate the items measure two constructs: social-constructivist and transmission-based instructional practice. Of particular interest is the result that these two constructs were negligibly correlated. This is in contrast to the generally accepted notion that social-constructivist and transmission-based instructional practices are the two polar ends of a single construct for describing instructional practice.

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics expresses its appreciation to the following for their roles as program reviewers in the 2014–2015 academic year for the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation: