Implementing the NCTM Standards in a Traditional Classroom

For more than a quarter of this century, change in mathematics education has been proposed in the United States. According to Hatfield and Price (1992), change fell short in the 1950s and 1960s because reforms were typically headed by college mathematicians and were directed toward improving textbooks. This top-down reform failed to reach the students it desired to assist. It was concluded by the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences, National Advisory Committee on Mathematical Education, that the "new math" was never implemented in the classroom even though it was detailed in various textbooks. Evans (1993) reiterated that the realities of implementation were largely neglected by those who tried to compel change by mandate, forgetting that change must be accomplished by people. People most affected by this restructuring were teachers, many of whom were resistant to change. SAT scores in mathematics fell from 498 in I960 to 473 in 1975 (Bennett, 1994). The National Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (1975) reported criticism of the new methods as being too formal and placing too much stress on mathematical terms. The public called for an end to these innovative math programs and a return to teacher lecturing and student computation in the elementary grades (Daane, 1992).

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Alabama Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

1995

Author dc:creator

• Nation, Myrna H.

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Daane, C. J.
• Banaszak, Ronald A.

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US, English

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/15163

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ir.ua.edu:123456789/15163