National Math Standards Conference
The Friday Institute was pleased to be the host location for a Conference on National Math Standards. The conference was hosted by the Diagnostic E-Learning Trajectories Approach (DELTA) research group led by Dr. Jere Confrey and Dr. Alan Maloney, in collaboration with the Center on Continuous Instructional Improvement of the Center for Policy, Research and Evaluation at Teacher’s College.
The invitation only meeting was attended by math education experts from across the nation and focused on how learning trajectories can inform evidence-based Common Core Standards that are being developed by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governor’s Association (NGA).
“Solid research should inform standards,” says Scott Montgomery, Deputy Executive Director of the Council of Chief State School Officers.
About the current standards Montgomery says, “We currently have an antiquated system with each state having different standards, but our kids live in a global society and collaborate with students all across the US. By creating and implementing new standards, we can raise the bar and level the playing field at the same time.”
Forty-six states, including North Carolina, two territories, and the District of Columbia, have committed to develop these Common Core Standards. This meeting was convened to consider what is currently known about learning trajectories in mathematics and the implications for developing K-12 standards that address what students need to learn in order to support the new core “college and career ready” standards by the end of secondary school.
“It is somewhat rare that researchers and policy creators ever communicate. This meeting allowed them to share their viewpoints in a friendly and collegial way,” says Dr. Mike Shaughnessy, the President-Elect of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. “The conversations we have begun here are an important first step. I hope that they will continue.”
Shaughnessy went on to say, “One important conversation of the meeting surrounded researchers using common language to better communicate ideas.”
Phil Daro, the Chairperson of the Core Standards Group that has been tasked with writing the national standards says, “I understand the contributions Learning Trajectories can make to standards. And I think we have had real conversations between standards writers and researchers.”
Drs. Doug Clements and Julie Sarama of the University at Buffalo, SUNY were pleased that they were able to communicate to the standards writers that a lot of work in this area has already been done. “We are not starting from square one, we have lots of results already” says Sarama. “One outcome from this meeting will be a clear research agenda of work that still needs to be done.”
The highly productive meeting will produce a document that will be shared with the standards writers and other researchers. The document outlines the evidence-based research on learning trajectories in mathematics, identifies the primary targets for future work and suggests how they might productively be useful in standards development.
“This meeting represents a handshake between two influential communities in what students can and should learn for appropriate preparation in mathematics in the 21st century," says Dr. Jere Confrey, Joseph D. Moore Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Education at NC State University and one of the organizers of the event.