Changes in Teaching Practices: The Effects of the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards

Abstract

Since the publication of the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM 1989), the NCTM, state affiliates, mathematics teachers, textbook authors, the mathematics education research community, and many others have engaged in sustained efforts to change practice in the teaching of mathematics. The Standards document has attracted much attention as a national model of reform distinguished by the major leadership role played by the teaching profession. However, the proposed changes are a substantial departure from conventional practice, and considerable evidence suggests that reforms of the type advocated by the curriculum and evaluation standards are difficult to translate into action and hard to sustain (Cohen, McLaughlin, and Talbert 1993; Cuban 1992). Furthermore, the reforms advocated are intended to apply across a wide variety of contexts, including schools with many resources and schools with few resources, urban schools and rmal schools, and large schools and small schools.