Curriculum development news article

Just sort of interesting:

Can Less Equal More? - Proposal to teach math students fewer concepts in greater depth has divided Md. educators.

Maryland currently has between 50 and 60 math objectives for each grade.

"The State Department of Education is now meeting with math supervisors in each jurisdiction around the state to get a consensus on whether they should follow the Focal Points."

If you remember, Curriculum Focal Points is a fairly new document released by the NCTM. It identifies three most important subject areas or 'focal points' for each grade.

Note it idenfities ONLY THREE major objectives per grade. Contrast that to typical state math curriculum objectives list...

(I don't think they mean that's the only mathematics content for each grade, just that those are the most important critical areas that teachers should put a lot of emphasis on.)

Like I've said before, the focal points document is good reading for teachers and homeschoolers alike. You can try keep those three major goals or focal points in mind as you go thru school year and plan your lessons and various activities.

See also my earlier post on this.

Comments

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7:59 PM, January 06, 2007
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