This important tool for teachers and education professionals updates the messages of NCTM's previous Standards and shows how students' learning should grow across four grade bands–pre-K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12. It incorporates a clear set of principles and a sharper focus on how students' knowledge grows as shown by recent research. It also includes ways to incorporate the use of technology to make mathematics instruction relevant and effective in a technological world.

The accompanying CD offers a searchable hypertext edition of Principles and Standards, which includes the full text of the printed volume along with interactive math tools that support the vision of the Standards. The CD also contains a version of the Illuminations Web site, which includes hundreds of lessons, interactive tools, and reviewed Web sites that support Principles and Standards and the three previous Standards documents.