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Finding ways to help students effectively communicate their mathematical thinking is a challenge for teachers across the country. Through a Professional Development Schools (PDS) partnership between the University of Maryland and several elementary schools in a neighboring district, school and university partners worked together to explore, discuss, and reflect on the challenges of helping students write about mathematics. Along with gaining insights into effective instructional strategies, partners from both institutions gained a deeper appreciation for the benefits of school-university dialogue.

“Students need to sec when and how mathematics can be used, rather than be promised that someday they will use it” (NCTM 1999, 35). The newspaper, as a classroom resource, allows a perfect opportunity to reveal to students the role of mathematics in their lives. When scanning a newspaper, students can find endless applications of classroom-taught skills.

The need for students to be effective problem solvers is a primary concern of today's mathematics educators. The NCTM's Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (1989) views problem solving as “a process that should permeate the entire program and provide the context in which concepts and skills can be learned”(p.23). The recognition of the critical role of problem solving in today's mathematics classroom challenges teachers to develop creative and effective ways to bolster students' problem-solving skills. At Hollywood Elementary School in College Park, Maryland, a program titled” Math Pairs—Parents as Partners” was developed in an attempt to tap available resources to meet the challlenge of teaching problem solving in mathematic.

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