Curriculum Recommendations

 Key Recommendations:

1. Ensure that the mathematics curriculum reflects the importance of the mathematical practices and supports and promotes conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and their application to solving real-world problems.

2. Allocate time for collaborative interactions among mathematics teachers to study the school’s curriculum—at, above, and below the intended grade level or course to understand the intended curriculum from both horizontal and vertical perspectives.

3. Ensure that curriculum maps and pacing guides are flexible and serve as a resource for mathematics teachers, providing a general sequence and timeline but allowing reasonable variation in pacing to meet students’ needs. 

4. Ensure that the process of selecting textbooks and other instructional materials is a collaborative process that includes careful examination of the degree to which the textbooks not only align with the standards but also develop topics coherently within and across grades, promote the mathematical practices, and support effective instruction as characterized by the Mathematics Teaching Practices. 

5. Use a variety of high-quality print and online resources to carefully plan units and lessons based on the Mathematics Teaching Practices.

6. Sequence tasks and activities with long-term goals in mind; when conducting lesson and unit planning, focus on connections among key mathematical ideas that are situated in real-world and mathematical contexts.

Research Base:

Burris, Carol Corbett, Ed Wiley, Kevin Welner, and John Murphy. “Accountability, Rigor, and Detracking: Achievement Effects of Embracing a Challenging Curriculum as a Universal Good for All Students.” Teachers College Record 110, no. 3 (2008): 571–607. 

Bush, William S., Diane J. Briars, Jere Confrey, Kathleen Cramer, Carl Lee, W. Gary Martin, Michael Mays, et al. Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Mathematics Curriculum Materials Analysis Project, 2011. http://www.mathedleadership.org/ccss /materials.html. 

Daro, Phil, Frederic A. Mosher, and Tom Corcoran. Learning Trajectories in Mathematics: A Foundation for Standards, Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction. Philadelphia: Consortium for Policy Research in Education, 2011. 

Franklin, Christine, Gary Kader, Denise Mewborn, Jerry Moreno, Roxy Peck, Mike Perry, and Richard Scheaffer. Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) Report: A Pre-K Curriculum Framework. Alexandria, Va.: American Statistical Association, 2007. 

Huntley, M., & Rasmussen, C. (2002). Effects of standards-based mathematics education: A study of the core-plus mathematics algebra and functions strand. In J. Sowder & B. Schappelle (Eds.) Lessons Learned from Research (pp. 163-169). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (Reprinted from “Effects of standards-based mathematics education: A study of the core-plus mathematics algebra and functions strand,” 2000, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 31, 328-361).

Kisker, Ellen Eliason, Jerry Lipka, Barbara L. Adams, Anthony Rickard, Dora AndrewIhrke, Eva Evelyn Yanez, and Ann Millard. “The Potential of a Culturally-Based Supplemental Math Curriculum to Reduce the Math Performance Gap between Alaska Native and Other Students.” Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 43, no. 1 (2012): 75–113. 

Martin, W. Gary. “The NCTM High School Curriculum Project: Why It Matters to You.” Mathematics Teacher 103, no. 3 (2009): 164–66. 

Marzano, Robert J. What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action. Alexandria, Va.: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2003. 

McTighe, Jay, and Grant P. Wiggins. Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2013. 

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, Va.: NCTM, 1989. 

———. Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics. Reston, Va.: NCTM, 1991. 

———. Assessment Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, Va.: NCTM, 1995. 

———. Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, Va.: NCTM, 2000. 

Pesek, D., and Kirshner, D. (2002), “Interference of Instrumental Instruction in Subsequent Relational Learning,” in Lessons Learned From Research, eds. J. Sowder and B. Schappelle, Reston, VA: National Councilof Teachers of Mathematics, pp. 101–107. (Reprinted from Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 31, 524–540, by D. Pesek and D. Kirshner, 2000).

Roschelle, Jeremy, Nicole Shechtman, Deborah Tatar, Stephen Hegedus, Bill Hopkins, Susan Empson, Jennifer Knudsen, and Lawrence P. Gallagher. “Integration of Technology, Curriculum, and Professional Development for Advancing Middle School Mathematics: Three Large-Scale Studies.” American Educational Research Journal 47, no. 4 (2010): 833–78. 

Schmidt, William H., Richard T. Houang, and Leland S. Cogan. “A Coherent Curriculum: The Case of Mathematics.” American Educator 26, no. 2 (2002): 10–26; 47–48. 

Schmoker, Michael J. Results Now: How We Can Achieve Unprecedented Improvements in Teaching and Learning. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2006. 

Stein, Mary K., Janine Remillard, and Margaret S. Smith. “How Curriculum Influences Student Learning.” In Second Handbook of Research on Mathematics Teaching and Learning, edited by Frank K. Lester, Jr., pp. 319–69. Charlotte, N.C.: Information Age; Reston, Va.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2007 .

Wiggins, Grant, and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1998.