by Glenda Lappan, NCTM President 1998-2000
NCTM News Bulletin, September 1998

Over the past three years, we have gathered information to help us update the NCTM Standards documents. Many of you have asked, “Why are you changing the Standards? I am just beginning to make progress toward the original Standards.” That is a fair question. It seems that every time we turn around, something new is coming down the pike. We long for a bit of stability in the goals and directions we are setting out for our mathematics programs. The answer is that we are not “changing” the basic direction of the Standards; rather, we are updating the documents to better reflect what we have learned in the years since the publication of the original three Standards documents.

We have learned a lot since 1989. We know how differently the ’89 Standards volume was interpreted by various groups. We know places where we have much better examples to help explain what is meant as well as places where current research on teaching and learning has given us greater insights.

We also know that technology has shaped our world. In Colorado, seventh graders work on projects in a computer lab with technological tools that were unimagined in schools just 10 years ago. They create design projects that incorporate tools used by automotive engineers and movie technicians and use mathematical thinking well beyond what seventh graders used in 1989. In Wisconsin, students use calculators and computers with dynamic geometry drawing tools to “see” geometry in ways undreamed of when I was a high school geometry teacher. In Pennsylvania, students use symbol manipulation programs as tools to help solve problems I could not tackle until I was in graduate school. Many such mathematical experiences, all unheard of when the original Standards were published, are now happening for students all across the continent.

The Standards 2000 writers face an enormous task in updating the Standards. While keeping the direction and message of the original Standards, the writers are challenged to refocus and clarify the documents’ substance to better reflect a changing world.

So what should you look for that is different in the draft of Standards 2000? First, it will be one document, not three. The classroom portions of the three original Standards have been synthesized into one document. This brings content, teaching, and assessment together and makes it easier for us to see what students should know and be able to do and what the mathematical work of a student might be like in effective classrooms.

Second, Standards 2000 starts with a set of principles that are the foundations on which to build quality mathematics instruction. These principles look at such issues as equity, curriculum, and technology. They help us ask questions about teaching and about mathematics. They challenge us to improve what we are doing for all students in our instructional programs.

Third, the grade bands are different. In Standards 2000 the bands are pre-K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12+. This adds a fourth band and allows more specific guidance in examining mathematics programs across all levels.

Fourth, the writers have developed overviews of the mathematical strands in the Standards that show the growth of fundamental ideas in that strand over time. These overviews have the potential to help a teacher, parent, or administrator see how ideas fit together and what students can do across the grades. For instance, what are the important ideas of school algebra? How are the underpinnings of these key ideas reflected in the early grades? How do these ideas grow and develop in the middle years to become the basis for the deeper study of algebra in high school and beyond? These pictures of growth and change, which Standards 2000 will highlight, were not available to us in the original Standards.

Another way in which Standards 2000 is different is that it uses the power of technology to help increase access to the document itself. An electronic version that can be viewed with a Web browser will be available as well as the print version. The Web version will allow for examples that are dynamic, that let us see and try out ideas talked about in the Standards and understand how the ideas fit together. Ten years ago this was not possible. Today it is essential.

The draft will be available in time for NCTM’s fall regional conferences. We need your help. You can give your input at regional NCTM conferences or at the 77th Annual Meeting in San Francisco. You can prepare your own individual report, or you can organize a group or caucus in your school or region to examine the draft and produce a group report. Affiliated Groups can make examining the draft a part of their state, provincial, regional, or local conferences. You will be able comment on the draft through the Web site at www.nctm.org/standards/. But whichever way you choose, be involved. Let your voice be heard. Help us make the final version of Standards 2000 a tool that will have a positive influence on the mathematics education of all students in North America.

Getting a Copy of the Standards 2000 Draft

The draft will be available in October 1998. NCTM individual members can request a single printed copy of the draft by returning the postcard in the October News Bulletin; by submitting the Web request form at www.nctm.org/standards/; by e-mailing their name, address, daytime phone number, and membership number to  [email protected]; or by calling toll free (888) 220-7952. The electronic version will also be available in October; see it at www.nctm.org/standards/.