Comparing The National Council Of Teachers Of Mathematics Standards For Secondary Mathematics Essay

The new Common Core State Standards for Mathematics bring a new opportunity to the classrooms of the United States that many people view as a controversial. According to the NCTM (2013) “The Common Core State Standards offer a foundation for the development of more rigorous, focused, and coherent mathematics curricula, instruction, and assessments that promote conceptual understanding and reasoning as well as skill fluency” (par. 1). While some people believe that the Common Core State Standards may hinder progress in the classroom for many reasons including too much government control, teaching to the test, an excessive focus on language arts and math, and wasted resources, others agree with the NCTM statement about that claims the standards help increase conceptual understanding, reasoning, and skill fluency.

The Common Core Standards in Mathematics identifies two types of standards: A list of eight Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP), identical for all grades, and Standards for Mathematical Content, specified by grade. Mathematical Practices describe ways teachers and students engage and develop in mathematical experience

Mississippi, as well as our school district, is offering a wide range of activities to aid in implementing CCSS. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring that students master the knowledge and skills in the standards rests with our district, schools, administrators, and teachers (Center on Education Policy, 2011). Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) allows our school district the flexibility to decide how accomplish the goals outlined in CCSS. First and far most, our district had to hastily make changes to the curriculum, instruction, assessments, and professional development to align the curriculum with this new initiative.

This program is appropriate in a diverse, 4th grade general education classroom. The modules are made up of “Topics” and “Lessons” that are aligned to Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Each module provides the foundational standards needed for the lessons (i.e. CCSS from the previous grade), as well as the focus grade level standards. The first module introduces concepts which are then spiraled within the next module’s focus. While the modules are thematic and based on each mathematics domain (base ten numbers, geometry, fractions, data, algebraic thinking), some standards are seen across topics and lessons. Each lesson has allocated time to four major components: fluency practice, concept development, application problems, and student debrief.

Adopted by forty-two out states in 2010, the Common Core State Standard Initiative strives to provide an educational structure which details what English language arts and mathematics should be taught from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The initiative is the federal government’s attempt to ensure all students who graduate from high school are adequately prepared to enter a two or four year college or the workforce. Despite their intentions, the Common Core has caused much controversy in the education community. The thought behind Common Core is very valid and has the potential to help students, however changes must be made to unrealistic standards and wordy statements. Common Core must first be rewritten so that the language is clear and can be easily understood by the general public. Next ask experts on childhood development and elementary school teachers to review the standards and rewrite standards they see as unneeded or irrelevant as well as unrealistic.

Today, many states and schools systems are adopting a standards based education system. In fact, according to Common Core Standards Initiative (2014), forty-three states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) have adopted the Common Core State Standards. The premise is that if all critical subject areas follow a standard from state to state, that all students will receive the same and fair education. The Vermont State Board of Education saw a need and a value in implementing such a system. As such, the Board created a strategic plan to implement a framework of standards that would eventually adopt the common core standards. This paper will discuss the strategic plan created by the Vermont Board of Education and evaluate whether or not the goals of the plan were met through the Framework of Standards.

Knowing the history of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is essential in order to define what these educational parameters represent in society today. In 2006, Arizona governor Janet Napolitano was elected to the chair of the National Governors Association. Napolitano’s work focused on

Common Core State Standards is being heard throughout the education world. Many cringe when the words are spoken and many fight to support what the words stand for. Common Core was introduced in 2009 by state leaders. Common Core State Standards were developed to prepare children for the business world or the reality after grade school. “The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy, also known as ELA” (About the Standards, n.d.). The goals for the standards outline what students should know before leaving his or her current grade level. “The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live” (About the Standards, n.d.). This is an ambitious goal, but with much support can be accomplished. According to Common Core State Standards Initiative (n.d.) The Common Core has been adopted by forty-two states already and is accompanied by District of Columbia and Department of Defense Education Activity. Common Core was developed to improve the academics in society’s schools. Academics in the past years have not been successful and the United States has fallen behind international education. “One root cause has been an uneven patchwork of academic standards that vary from state to state and do not agree on what students should know and be able to do at each

At New Bern High School, Charlie Bernthal, a freshman, sits in a class room instructed by Common Core standards. It will take one of Charlie’s teachers six minutes to demonstrate the various methods to complete a simple multiplication problem, such as 63 x 24. Students are taught to use arrays, lattice, partial product methods, and eventually the traditional U.S. customary method. The Common Core standards happen to be a big discussion point during this year’s election. People have many strong opinions when it comes to the Common Core State Standards, but researchers and institutions express reasons why teachers and schools should not use Common Core to instruct America’s youth. Schools and teachers should not teach by Common Core standards because these standards are detrimental to our children.

Since 2010, there were 45 states that have adopted the same educational standards called Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The initiative is sponsored by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers and seeks to establish consistent education standards across the states. The Common Core Standards is initiative state-led effort that established a single set of clear educational standards for kindergarten through 12th grade in English and Mathematical standards. These standards help to educate all of the students equally, they help children who move from state to state, as well as they help to prepare students for college and workplace. The common core standard helps to provide a clear understanding

Common Core concentrates on a clear set of math skills and concepts. Before this concept was implemented into the American Education system this new way of addressing math problems and concepts

The Common Core State Standards is a United States Educational initiative which informs what level of achievement children from Kindergarten to Grade 12 should be at in English and Mathematics by the end of each school year.

[The Common Core standards are currently implemented in 43 states and the District of Columbia. All of the states who use Common Core can be an advantage by allowing students who move state to state to have the same standards at school. Standards are ways to track the learning of students and are what the students are supposed to know in each subject and grade level. Currently, there has been controversy about Common Core.

According to Jason Zimba, one of the authors of the state standards for mathematics, standards are not tests or textbooks but rather are lists of learning goals that have been around in some form for decades. Compiling a common list of educational goals to be used in all states is the means of incorporating Common Core Standards into the educational system. The program is also designed to provide feedback on the effectiveness of our secondary schools, and it has done this to some degree. Common Core addresses testing that measure the knowledge and abilities required for its standards, provides texts and other instructional materials that embody the content required under Common Core, additional education for teachers that will give them the ability to teach the new material at the level required for students from myriad backgrounds and

Mathematics is the one of the most important subjects in our daily life and in most human activities the knowledge of mathematics is important. In the rapidly changing world and in the era of technology, mathematics plays an essential role. To understand the mechanized world and match with the newly developing information technology knowledge in mathematics is vital. Mathematics is the mother of all sciences. Without the knowledge of mathematics, nothing is possible in the world. The world cannot progress without mathematics. Mathematics fulfills most of the human needs related to diverse aspects of everyday life. Mathematics has been accepted as significant element of formal education from ancient period to the present day. Mathematics has a very important role in the classroom not only because of the relevance of the syllabus material, but because of the reasoning processes the student can develop.