Addressing the Problem of Always Starting Over: Identifying, Valuing, and Sharing Professional Knowledge for Teaching

Cai et al discuss the possibilities of retaining and sharing professional knowledge as a way of addressing the problem of always starting over, which is one of the overarching problems in mathematics education. The problem is encountered by every new teacher beginning from scratch on their own rather than taking advantage of what thousands of colleagues have learned over time about how to teach effectively toward the same learning goals. The mathematics education community must address this problem if there is ever to be long-term, lasting improvement in educational practice.