WHAT EXACTLY ARE THESE STANDARDS WE KEEP HEARING ABOUT?

As most of you have heard over the past year, we have implemented a "standards-based" mathematics program. Very little explanation has been given to provide an understanding of what that means. The standards, which we keep referring to, are the MATH STANDARDS established by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). They are the descriptions of what mathematics instructions should enable students to know and do.* The standards are separated into Content Standards and The Process Standards. Here are brief descriptors of the expectations for students (K-12) in each of the Content Standards.

 Number and Operations - Students should be able to:

· understand numbers, ways of representing numbers, relationships among numbers, and number systems;

· understand meanings of operations and how they relate to one another;

· compute fluently and make reasonable estimates.

 

Algebra - Students should be able to:

· understand patterns, relations, and functions;

· represent and analyze mathematical situations and structures using algebraic symbols;

· use mathematical models to represent and understand quantitative relationships;

· analyze change in various contexts

 

Geometry and Measurement - Students should be able to:

· analyze characteristics and properties of 2- an 3- dimensional geometric shapes and develop mathematical arguments about geometric relationships;

· specify locations and describe spatial relationships using coordinate geometry and other representational systems;

· apply transformations and use symmetry to analyze mathematical situations;

· use visualizations, spatial reasoning, and geometric modeling to solve problems

· understand measurable attributesof objects and the units, systems, and processes of measurement;

· apply appropriate techniques, tools, an formulas to determine measurements

 

Data Analysis and Probability - Students should be able to:

· formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant data to answer them;

· select and use appropriate statistical methods to analyze data;

· develop and evaluate inferences and predictions that are based on data;

· understand and apply basic concepts of probability.

 

*Courtesy of the NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics

Questions, Comments, ideas about Mathematics can be e-mailed to Sandi Stanhope

 

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