Focus in High School Mathematics

In 2007, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics appointed a committee to develop and write a publication that will provide direction and focus for the high school mathematics curriculum. This document, is scheduled to be published in Spring 2009. While its impetus was the 2006 publication of Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics: A Quest for Coherence, this document takes a different approach. Rather than providing grade-level focal points, the high school publication asserts that reasoning and sense making must become a main focus of the high school mathematics curriculum. As a result, both content and process skills will be strengthened, and there will be greater coherence across all topic areas.

You are invited to provide professional feedback on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics forthcoming publication, tentatively titled "Focus in High School Mathematics: Reasoning and Sense Making." The draft is being made available for NCTM member comment until September 19, 2008. Your comments will be helpful as the writers consider them in making final revisions to prepare the manuscript for publication.

This draft is the result of intensive work by the writing team over this past year, along with three rounds of reviews from leaders in the field, continued online discussions, and editing throughout the process. To access the manuscript for review and comment, go to http://www.nctm.org/highschooldraft.aspx and follow the directions for completing the survey and submitting comments.