The new Principles and Standards can provide perspective and bring freshness to your teaching. Most are aligned with the 1989 NCTM standards and, therefore, are consistent with the new version as well. The new NCTM Principles and Standards doesn't make dramatic changes. Learning math means more than memorizing facts and performing procedures. It means thinking, reasoning, and applying skills to problem solving.
Students learn math by being actively involved in making sense of concepts and skills.
The new, improved Principles and Standards primarily reorganizes and clarifies the original version. The rest of the text focuses on ten standards. Five are content standards that define the mathematics that students must learn, and the other five are process standards that address ways for students to learn it.