STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY

PREFACE

The intent of the North Carolina Mathematics Standard Course of Study is to provide a set of mathematical competencies for each grade and high school course to ensure rigorous student academic performance standards that are uniform across the state.  It is not meant to be an instructional manual.  It does not provide strategies for teaching or lesson plans.

Teachers will find NCDPI-developed support documents, such as the Strategies for Instruction in Mathematics, more useful in lesson planning and design.  These documents will provide more detailed recommendations and support for teaching and assessing the intended curriculum.

The North Carolina Mathematics Standard Course of Study clearly defines a curriculum supporting the ABCís school reform effort as well as the North Carolina Testing Program.  These revisions maintain a forward focus, looking at what students will need to know and be able to do to be successful and contributing citizens in our state and nation in the years ahead.

North Carolina has had a Standard Course of Study since 1898.  The Basic Education Program was enacted into law in 1985 and called for a set of competencies by grade level, for each curriculum area. In 1997 the Excellent Schools Act included the following:

The State Board of Education shall develop a plan to create rigorous student academic performance standards for kindergarten through eighth grade and student academic performance standards for courses in grades 9-12.  The performance standards shall align, whenever possible, with the student academic performance standards developed for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

The North Carolina Mathematics Standard Course of Study was last revised in 1998.  Advisory committee meetings generated discussions centered on initiatives in mathematics education developed or published since 1998.  The review included results from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Principles and Standards of School Mathematics (NCTM 2000), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress Mathematics Framework for 2005 (NAEP). 

The current revisions continue to build upon the work of the North Carolina Mathematics Framework that is based on a philosophy of the teaching and learning of mathematics that is consistent with the current research, exemplary practices, and national standards. The primary goal of this document is to provide content requirements that lead students to attain proficiency in mathematics.  The objectives set clear, concise, and measurable expectations for all students.  This North Carolina Mathematics Standard Course of Study provides expectations that students demonstrate competence in conceptual understanding, computing, applying, and reasoning.  Classroom activities should encourage students to explore, conjecture, reason logically, and use a variety of mathematical methods effectively and efficiently to solve problems.

The revisions in content for this document have been developed through a series of public hearings and the efforts of parents, teachers, education officials, and representatives of business and industry.  The revisions were approved by the North Carolina State Board of Education in March 2003.

In order to create and maintain a quality program, a continuing re-evaluation of all aspects of the mathematics education program is necessary.  There continues to be an urgent need to examine:

• The roles of teachers and students in classrooms;
• The content of school mathematics;
• Assessment practices;
• The preparation and professional development of teachers; and
• The level of support for mathematics education from all parts of society.

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