Guiding Principles
GUIDING PRINCIPLE I: LEARNING
Mathematical ideas should be explored in ways that stimulate curiosity, create enjoyment of mathematics, and develop depth of understanding.
Students need to understand mathematics deeply and use it effectively. To achieve mathematical understanding, students should be actively engaged in doing meaningful mathematics, discussing mathematical ideas. and applying mathematics in interesting, thought provoking situations. Student understanding is further developed through ongoing reflection about cognitively demanding and worthwhile tasks.
Tasks should be designed to challenge students in multiple ways. Short- and long-term investigations that connect procedures and skills with conceptual understanding are integral components of an effective mathematics program. Activities should build upon curiosity and prior knowledge, and enable students to solve progressively deeper, broader, and more sophisticated problems. Mathematical tasks reflecting sound and significant mathematics should generate active classroom talk, promote the development of conjectures. and lead to an understanding of the necessity for mathematical reasoning.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE II: TEACHING
An effective mathematics program focuses on problem solving and requires teachers who have a deep knowledge of mathematics as a discipline.
Mathematical problem solving is the hallmark of an effective mathematics program. Skill in mathematical problem solving requires practice with a variety of mathematical problems as well as a firm grasp of mathematical techniques and their underlying principles. Armed with this deeper knowledge, the student can then use mathematics in a flexible way to attack various problems and devise different ways of solving any particular problem. Mathematical problem solving calls for reflective thinking, persistence, learning from the ideas of others, and going back over one's own work with a critical eye. Success in solving mathematical problems helps to create an abiding interest in mathematics.
For a mathematics program to be effective, it must also be taught by knowledgeable teachers. According to Liping Ma, "The real mathematical thinking going on in a classroom, in fact, depends heavily on the teacher's understanding of mathematics." A landmark study in 1996 found that students with initially comparable academic achievement levels had vastly different academic outcomes when teachers' knowledge of the subject matter differed. The message from the research is clear: having knowledgeable teachers really does matter; teacher expertise in a subject drives student achievement
National data show that "nearly one-third of all secondary school teachers who teach mathematics have neither a major nor a minor in the subject itself, in mathematics education, or even in a related discipline." While there are very effective teachers who do not have a major or minor in mathematics or in a related field, the goal should be that all future teachers have concentrated study in the field of mathematics. "Improving teachers' content subject matter knowledge and improving students' mathematics education are thus interwoven and interdependent processes that must occur simultaneously."
GUIDING PRINCIPLE III: TECHNOLOGY
Technology is an essential tool in a mathematics education.
Technology enhances the mathematics curriculum in many ways. Tools such as measuring instruments, manipulatives (such as base ten blocks and fraction pieces), scientific and graphing calculators, and computers with appropriate software, if properly used, contribute to a rich learning environment for developing and applying mathematical concepts. However, appropriate use of calculators is essential; calculators should not be used as a replacement for basic understanding and skills. Moreover, the fourth and sixth grade state assessments do not permit the use of a calculator. Elementary students should learn how to perform thorough1y the basic arithmetic operations independent of the use of a calculator. Although the use of a graphing calculator can help middle and secondary students to visualize properties of functions and their graphs, graphing calculators should be used to enhance their understanding and skills rather than replace them.
Technology enables students to communicate ideas within the classroom or to search for information in external databases such as the Internet, an important supplement to a school's internal library resources. Technology can be especially helpful in assisting students with special needs in regular and special classrooms, at home, and in the community.
Technology changes what mathematics is to be learned and when and how it is learned. For example, currently available technology provides a dynamic approach to such mathematical concepts as functions, rates of change, geometry, and averages that was not possible in the past. Some mathematics becomes more important because technology requires it, some becomes less important because technology replaces it, and some becomes possible because technology allows it.