[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 107 (Wednesday, June 28, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S9310]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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 ``ASSESSMENT STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL MATHEMATICS'' RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY 
            THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF MATHEMATICS

 Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, 6 years ago the National Council 
of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM] released a publication, the 
``Curriculum Standards for School Mathematics,'' which established 
national standards for mathematics education. The Standards presented a 
vision of appropriate mathematical goals for all students. It 
represented a consensus view of educators, mathematicians, classroom 
teachers, researchers, lay persons, and leaders in business.
  The Standards are based on the assumption that all students are 
capable of learning mathematics. The Standards describe what a high-
quality mathematics education for North American students, K-12, should 
comprise. However, since their publication, NCTM has granted permission 
for the Standards to be translated into the Chinese, Korean, Spanish, 
and Portuguese languages. The Standards are being used as a guide to 
mathematics education reform in many countries around the world. This 
publication has given the world a vision of meaningful mathematics 
education.
  NCTM's goal was to develop mathematics power for all students. 
Reaching this goal required more than a vision. Two years later this 
publication was followed by a second document, ``Professional Standards 
for Teaching Mathematics.'' These Professional Standards are a guide 
for the creation of a curriculum and an environment in which teaching 
and learning are to occur. It is now being used by colleges and 
universities in their mathematics teacher preservice education 
programs. The goal is to develop public school teachers who are more 
proficient in selecting tasks to engage students in learning 
mathematics, providing opportunities for understanding mathematics, 
promoting the investigation and growth of mathematical ideas, using 
technology and other tools to promote investigations, and connecting 
mathematics to previous and developing knowledge.
  The Curriculum Standards contained the vision. The Professional 
Standards outlines teacher training methods that will enable educators 
to achieve this vision. Recently, NCTM has released a third 
publication, the ``Assessment Standards for School Mathematics.'' This 
publication will establish criteria for student assessment and program 
evaluation and elaborate the vision of assessment that was described in 
the previous documents. The purposes of assessment include monitoring 
student progress, making instructional decisions, evaluating student 
achievement, and evaluating programs. The assessment standards should 
reflect the mathematics that all students need to know and be able to 
do, should enhance mathematics learning, should promote equity, and 
should be an open process.
  If meaningful and long lasting change is to realized, all aspects of 
school mathematics--content, teaching, and assessment--need to change 
on a systemic basis. These three documents are tools, not solutions. 
They will provide the tools needed for significant mathematics reform 
to take place. This effort is truly exemplary in that first, the 
community came together on its own, and second, standards have been 
developed without one dollar from the Federal Government.
  I appreciate this opportunity to bring this publication to the 
attention of fellow Senators and voice my support for worthwhile 
education reforms. I congratulate NCTM for their efforts to this end by 
providing the mathematics community these valuable documents.


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