Barbara Jean Bestgen Reys (born 1953) is an American mathematics educator known for her research in

number sense In psychology, number sense is the term used for the hypothesis that some animals, particularly humans, have a biologically determined ability that allows them to represent and manipulate large numerical quantities. The term was popularized by Sta ...

and

mental calculation Mental calculation consists of arithmetical calculations using only the human brain, with no help from any supplies (such as pencil and paper) or devices such as a calculator. People may use mental calculation when computing tools are not availab ...

, for her mathematics textbooks, and for her leadership in developing curriculum standards for elementary school mathematics education. She is Curators Professor Emeritus at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

, and a winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Founded in 1920, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) is a professional organization for schoolteachers of mathematics in the United States. One of its goals is to improve the standards of mathematics in education. NCTM holds an ...

Education and career

Reys graduated from the

College of the Ozarks College of the Ozarks is a private Christian college in Point Lookout, Missouri. The college has an enrollment of 1,426 and over 30 academic majors in Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science programs.https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/college ...

in 1975. She worked as a high school mathematics teacher in Missouri from 1974 to 1977, as an elementary school demonstration teacher from 1979 to 1982, and as a junior high school mathematics teacher from 1984 to 1985. Beginning with a master's degree in 1979, she studied mathematics education as a graduate student at the

, completing her Ph.D. there in 1985. Her dissertation, supervised by Douglas Arthur Grouws, was ''Identification and Characterization of Mental Computation Algorithms Used by Seventh and Eighth Grade Students on Visually and Orally Presented Mental Computation Exercises''. In 1985, she joined the faculty of the department of curriculum and instruction (later the department of learning, teaching and curriculum) at the University of Missouri. She was named Lois Knowles Professor in 2006, and Curator's Professor in 2011. She was president of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators from 2009 to 2011.

Recognition

In 2014 the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators named Reys as their Judith Jacob's Lecturer. In 2016, the

gave her their Lifetime Achievement Award.

Books

Reys' books include: *''Mathematics Curriculum: Issues, Trends, and Future Directions. Seventy-second Yearbook'' (edited with Robert Reys and Rheta Rubinstein, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2010) *''Number Sense: Simple Effective Number Sense Experiences'' (4 vols., with Alistair McIntosh and Robert E. Reys, Dale Seymour Publications, 1997) *''Mental Math'' (3 vols., with Jack A. Hope, Larry Leutizinger, and Robert E. Reys, Dale Seymour Publications, 1988) *''Mathematics Unlimited'' (with Robert E. Reys and Arnold W. Webb, Holt Rinehart Winston, 1987) *''GUESS: Guide to Using Estimation Skills and Strategies'' (Dale Seymour Publications, 1983)

References

External links

Home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reys, Barbara Living people 20th-century American mathematicians American women mathematicians Mathematics educators College of the Ozarks alumni University of Missouri alumni University of Missouri faculty 1953 births 20th-century American women 21st-century American women