investigating these issues. However, no single data set and no set of professional development activities can hope to give definitive answers to every question of teaching and learning. The guide and the material in the report, which grow out of the rich array of TIMSS information, will help these stakeholders plan further investigation of these complex questions at the local level that can then lead to informed decision-making.

The report and the guide are not intended to prescribe but, rather, to expand the range of options considered in making decisions about making changes in our schools. Accordingly, the committee members and staff worked to ensure that the guide in particular is flexible enough to meet a variety of needs and, therefore, useful to facilitators in a variety of workshops of different lengths, foci, and intensity.

On behalf of the study committee, I want to acknowledge with deep appreciation the work of the principal writers of this professional development guide—consultants Susan Mundry and Nancy Love—and consulting editor Kathleen (Kit) Johnston. We also thank project directors Harold Pratt and Karen Hollweg and the other dedicated staff of CSMEE who helped us produce the report, and we express gratitude to the representatives of the U.S. Department of Education who worked closely with us on a complex project with a short timeline. All of us hope that the report, the professional development guide, and the convocation will indeed help education leaders strengthen mathematics and science education for all students in the United States in the years to come.

Melvin D.George, Chair

Continuing to Learn from TIMSS Committee