NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF MATHEMATICS'  STANDARDS:

 

Here's the baloney from the NCTM that started the downfall of mathematics instruction and curriculum in our public schools.  Be sure and read the justification and explanation for the creation of these standards. Like anyone with a math education background could even have any "mathematical insight"!  It's absolutely mind boggling. This plan to ruin math in public schools was created in 1989, and school districts everywhere jumped on the bandwagon.  In doing so they robbed generations of students of the ability to do math the right way and to pursue a career that is math based.

In my opinion, everyone who endorsed this stuff should go to jail!:

 

Curriculum Standards for Grades K–4

This section presents thirteen curriculum standards for grades K—4: 

  1. Mathematics as Problem Solving 
  2. Mathematics as Communication 
  3. Mathematics as Reasoning 
  4. Mathematical Connections 
  5. Estimation 
  6. Number Sense and Numeration 
  7. Concepts of Whole Number Operations 
  8. Whole Number Computation 
  9. Geometry and Spatial Sense 
  10. Measurement 
  11. Statistics and Probability 
  12. Fractions and Decimals 
  13. Patterns and Relationships 

 

The Need for Change 

The need for curricular reform in K—4 mathematics is clear. Such reform must address both the content and emphasis of the curriculum as well as approaches to instruction. A long-standing preoccupation with computation and other traditional skills has dominated both what mathematics is taught and the way mathematics is taught at this level. As a result, the present K—4 curriculum is narrow in scope; fails to foster mathematical insight, reasoning, and problem solving; and emphasizes rote activities. Even more significant is that children begin to lose their belief that learning mathematics is a sense-making experience. They become passive receivers of rules and procedures rather than active participants in creating knowledge.