Building a Knowledge Base for Teacher Education: An Experience in K-8 Mathematics Teacher Preparation

Consistent with the theme of this issue, we describe the details of one continuing effort to build knowledge for teacher education. We argue that building a useful knowledge base requires attention to the processes used to generate, record, and vet knowledge. By using 4 features of knowledge-building systems we identified in the introductory article for this issue-shared goals, tangible products, small tests of small changes, and multiple sources of innovation-we examine the knowledge-building processes for K-8 teacher preparation under way at the University of Delaware. We conclude that the 4 features provide a useful mirror for clarifying the strengths and weaknesses of our local system and, at the same time, reveal a number of institutional obstacles for knowledge building that lie ahead.