NCTQ

Rationale: Elementary math

Compared to their counterparts in other countries, the performance of American students in mathematics is mediocre. Since mathematics knowledge is cumulative, a critical step in improving this performance is the foundation laid throughout elementary school. Achieving results there is directly linked to the capability of elementary teachers to provide effective instruction in mathematics.

There is increasing consensus that prospective elementary teachers—who are notoriously weak in mathematical competency—are best trained by college mathematics courses that are designed specifically for teachers and that impart a deep understanding of elementary and middle school mathematics concepts. A calculus or statistics course is fine to take as an elective, but the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)¹ and the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS)² recommend that aspiring elementary teachers take three semester courses in "elementary mathematics content."

These courses should cover four subject areas: numbers and operations, algebra, geometry and measurement, and—to a lesser degree—data analysis and probability. These recommendations, as well as those of mathematicians who advised NCTQ in our national study of the mathematics preparation of elementary teachers, form the rationale and methodology for the standard.³ The standard evaluates programs on how well their coursework touches on topics that are similar to those recommended for teacher preparation by the National Mathematics Advisory Panel in its 2008 report.⁴

Despite this emerging consensus on how to prepare elementary teachers to be truly competent mathematics instructors, there is enormous variability in the nature of coursework requirements among education schools in the United States.

Illinois does not specify any coursework requirements regarding mathematics content. However, the state has articulated teaching standards that its approved teacher preparation programs must use to frame instruction in elementary mathematics content. Elementary teacher candidates must "demonstrate proficiency" in various mathematics concepts, including algebra, geometry and statistics. Unfortunately, these standards lack the specificity needed to ensure that teacher preparation programs deliver mathematics content of appropriate breadth and depth to elementary teacher candidates.

Mathematics results for the 2009 NAEP place Illinois' 4th graders slightly below the national average (238 vs. 239) and its 8th graders at the national average (282).⁵ The highest state scores in mathematics are produced by Massachusetts students, whose 4th graders had an average score of 252 and whose 8th graders had an average score of 299.