The NCTM Standards is a collection of three volumes containing ideas about curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment for K--12 Mathematics published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). NCTM tentatively plans publication of a revision in the year 2000. A subcommittee of the ASL Committee on Education has written a series of reports in response to written questions forwarded from the NCTM in 1997-98 as part of their revision process.
In October 1998, the NCTM made available a draft version of its revision, the NCTM Standards 2000, entitled Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (PSSM) in two formats. The pdf version is available electronically. In order to view pdf files, you may need to obtain additional software; you can download a free copy of the Acrobat Reader. The NCTM Standards 2000 Project has information about about ordering your own hard copy electronically. You may also order a draft by calling (888) 220-7952. (There is a nominal fee for shipping and handling.) A web version, planned for release in November, will feature a wider range of examples and elaborations.
A subcommittee of the ASL Committee on Education will be commenting on the draft revision and has already made a general review. The NCTM also invites individual ASL members to submit comments in one of the following ways:
NCTM Attention: Standards 2000
1906 Association Dr.
Reston, VA 20191.
The NCTM Standards were the first set of national ``standards'' and their success at influencing policy led to other groups developing ``standards'' for other subject areas such as science and American history. Many state ``frameworks'' for the mathematics curriculum reflect heavy borrowing from the ``Standards'', and the Division of Education and Human Resources of the National Science Foundation (NSF) has sponsored several projects for the development of ``Standards''-based curricula.
This page was created by J.A. Larson, and was last modified on January 27, 1998.