The one positive sign in American mathematics education is that there is some movement in this direction. But, this silver lining comes with an ominous cloud. Ineffective standards and slanted and unreliable tests are worse than nothing at all. Done correctly, standards and assessments can provide a tremendous boost to our mathematics education. Done incorrectly, they can further deteriorate American achievement.
Recent history justifies our warning.
In 1989, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics issued what they called Standards . Rather blindly, these documents were supported by the leading organizations of mathematicians and educators across the country. Oddly enough, these so-called Standards fail to define the material that students need to learn as they move from grade to grade. Instead, they are laced with flowery language about high-level thinking and communication along with prescriptive discussions of teaching philosophy and calculator use. In California, we unfortunately followed this guidance faithfully.