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

As we move closer to the release of NCTM's updated Standardsdocument, Principles and Standards for School Mathematics, it's time to think about how the document can help us improve our practices and programs. Principles and Standards extends the vision of the originalStandards of excellent mathematics programs for every child. One area receiving renewed focus in Principles and Standards is that of mathematics learning in prekindergarten through grade 2.

Currently, prevailing practice in the mathematics education of young children does not take full advantage of what we know about how those children learn. In spite of the work of Friedrich Frobel, Maria Montessori, and others showing that very young children can learn and reason about more complex mathematics, a limited view of what makes sense to teach young children has dominated our programs over the last century. There is an interesting discussion of this history in Mathematics in the Early Years, (published by NCTM and the National Association for the Education of Young Children). In the chapter "Why Do We Teach Young Children So Little Mathematics?" Robert Balfanz argues that a steady diet from the prevailing minimalist curriculum centered on the first 10 numbers and the recognition of simple shapes is not enough. Under such a regimen, opportunities for substantial mathematical growth in those precious years are lost for our children.

Principles and Standards lays out a set of mathematical expectations that goes far beyond the prevailing minimalist curriculum. It uses research to demonstrate that these early years are a time of remarkable cognitive growth where children make sense of the world by reasoning and problem solving. They are resourceful individuals who construct, modify, and integrate ideas by interacting with the physical world, with other children, and with adults. The question is how can we enhance the opportunities of children--especially those from low-income families--to have those experiences that can form the basis of later mathematical success?

A landmark study just released by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill gives some guidance about what can be done that makes a difference. (The full report is available at www.fpg.unc .edu/~abc/.) The study followed 111 infants from low-income families from 1972 until each participant reached at least age 21. The children received full-time, high-quality educational intervention through age 5. The study's report notes that "researchers found that young adults who had the high-quality early education child-care program consistently scored higher on periodic tests of cognitive development from grade 1 onward than others who did not receive the systematic early education." The children in this study scored higher on reading and mathematics achievement tests and were more likely to attend college.

Any of us with experience with young children know that education for children needs to begin in the earliest months of life. And chances are that those of us who know and value mathematics provide a great deal of support for our children to learn arithmetic, to recognize shapes and their properties, and to begin to notice and describe patterns, among other things. Unfortunately, there is no existing widely available mathematics curriculum to guide those parenting or working with preschool children in these important years.

Principles and Standards takes a step toward changing that. Although the chapter does not compose a curriculum, it does lay out the important mathematical ideas, concepts, skills, and understandings that can form the basis for mathematical learning in children in preschool as well as in the early elementary grades. In addition, Principles and Standardsarticulates through discussion and examples how to capitalize on children's play and everyday activities to promote mathematical learning.

Principles and Standards offers the suggestions, examples, and intellectual tools; however, the greater task is getting communities and families across the country to take a broader view of how to help children succeed. Caregivers need help with ways to teach these very young children. Children need opportunities to develop and expand their language acquisition while structuring, restructuring, and connecting mathematical understanding. Exploring concepts concretely, visually, verbally, and pictorially can gradually yield to encouraging children to translate and record their experiences in more abstract representations.

A child's mind is a terrible thing to waste. We cannot afford to underestimate the mathematics young children can learn. Working together across our schools and communities, we can build an exciting, effective mathematics curriculum for young children--even those who have not yet entered formal schooling. But we must not stop there. We must also strive for a curriculum in the early elementary grades that offers more, not less. Only then will our students be on their way on a successful 13-year mathematical journey guided by sound principles and higher standards.