3.0+Principles+of+Equity+and+Curriculum

The Equity Principle

The Equity Principle states that all students, regardless of their personal characteristics, backgrounds, or physical challenges, must have the opportunities and support to study and learn mathematics. Equity also demands that reasonable and appropriate accommodations should be made as needed to promote access and attainment for all students. The Equity Principle is a core element in the NCTM vision and is interwoven through out the other six Principles for School Mathematics.

There are three components to the Equity Principle (Based on Section Headings):
 * high expectations and worthwhile opportunities for all
 * accommodating differences to help everyone learn mathematics
 * resources and support for all classrooms and all students

__High expectations and worthwhile opportunities for all:__ The pervasive societal belief that only some students are capable of learning mathematics must be abolished. This only leads to low expectations for too many students. Teachers must communicate these expectations in words, deeds, and interactions with students. Programs should be structured so that they are interesting and applicable to students.

__Accommodating differences to help everyone learn mathematics:__ Teachers must accommodate those students who may be learning disabled, have special educational needs, are exceptionally talented, or have difficulty with mathematics. Resources which can be utilized include after-school programs, peer mentoring, cross-age tutoring, technology, or enrichment programs. Schools must take care to accommodate the special needs of some students without inhibiting the learning of others.

__Resources and Support for all classrooms and all students:__ Resources such as tools, materials, programs, and community resources are important, but the most important resource is the professional development of teachers. To accommodate differences among students effectively and sensitively, teachers must be trained to deal with diverse populations of students and to confront their own beliefs and biases.

All students can learn mathematics when they are given the right mathematical instruction. This high-quality instruction must become the norm for classrooms and not just the dream of classrooms.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Curriculum Principle

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Curriculum Principle focuses on developing a mathematics curriculum that is coherent, focused on important mathematics, and well articulated across the grades. These three mathematics curriculum requirements are detailed below.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Coherent__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A coherent curriculum effectively organizes and integrates important mathematical ideas. Students need to see how these ideas build upon or connect with other ideas, thus enabling them to develop new understandings and skills. As students build connections and skills, their understanding deepens and expands.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Coherence at the classroom level is also important. Teachers should organize mathematics so that fundamental ideas are presented in a proper order and form an integrated whole.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Focused on important mathematics__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The curriculum should focus on foundational ideas like proportionality; mathematical thinking and reasoning skills such as making conjectures; and experiences that allow students to see that mathematics has powerful uses as in modeling and predicting real-world phenomena.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Well-articulated across the grades__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A school mathematics curriculum should provide a road map that helps teachers guide students to increasing levels of sophistication and depths of knowledge. Teachers at each level must understand the mathematics that has been studied and will be studied by their students, which can help eliminate the duplication of efforts and unnecessary review. Spending too much time reviewing and catching their students up to their grade level is an insufficient use of their instructional time.