No abstract

No abstract

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) launched the “standards-based” education movement in North America in 1989 with the release of Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, an unprecedented action to promote systemic improvement in mathematics education. Now, twenty-five years later, the widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) by forty-five states provides an opportunity to reenergize and focus our commitment to significant improvement in mathematics education (CCSSI 2010).

The potential drop in reported state proficiency rates when the new CCSSM assessments are implemented will require adjusted expectations.

For many of us, the Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (NCTM 1991) represents a much scarier and much more intimidating vision of school mathematics than its predecessor, the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM 1989). Accordingly, implementing the teaching standards will require different strategies from those being used or proposed to implement the curriculum standards.