Knowing and Teaching Mathematics describes the nature and development of the "profound understanding of fundamental mathematics" that elementary teachers need to become accomplished mathematics teachers, and suggests why such teaching knowledge is much more common in China than in the United States, despite the fact that Chinese teachers have less formal education than their U.S. counterparts.

"This is indeed a valuable, enlightening book.  It attests to the talent of its author, and to the Chinese and American learning environments that have nurtured that talent.  It attests to the value of welcoming scholars from other nations to study in the United States.  I urge all those who are seriously concerned about the quality of mathematics education in the United States to read this book, and to take its lessons seriously" 
-- From the Foreword by Lee Shulman, President, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

"Liping Ma's work has given me hope about what can be done to improve mathematics education.  She illustrates what 'profound understanding of fundamental mathematics' is for elementary school teachers and has some useful suggestions about what we can do to help more teachers acquire this knowledge" 
-- Richard Askey, John Bascom Professor of Mathematics, Univeristy of Wisconsin-Madison

Above is an extract from Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics