National Mathematics Advisory Panel

The President's Charge
There is growing national concern about the mathematical proficiency of young people who are now emerging from our schools or will graduate in the next decades. In response to this growing concern, President Bush created the National Mathematics Advisory Panel on April 18, 2006, to direct research on the teaching and learning of mathematics. A preliminary report has been released. Learn more >>

The Panel's Charge
The Panel's precise charge is to advise the President and the U.S. Secretary of Education on means "...to foster greater knowledge of and improved performance in mathematics among American students...with respect to the conduct, evaluation, and effective use of the results of research relating to proven-effective and evidence-based mathematics instruction."

The Panel will examine the critical skills and skill progressions for students to acquire competence in algebra and readiness for higher levels of mathematics:

• The processes by which students of various abilities and backgrounds learn mathematics;
• Instructional practices, programs, and materials that are effective for improving mathematics learning;
• Ideas for strengthening capabilities to teach children and youth basic mathematics, geometry, algebra, and calculus and other mathematical disciplines;
• The role and appropriate design of standards and assessment in promoting mathematical competence;
• and more.

The Panel sees its role as addressing all aspects of teaching and learning in mathematics from pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) through grade 8 or so, but not so fully with teaching and learning in algebra per se. While readiness for algebra is the central concern, the Panel also will address, with lesser intensity, elements of early-grade mathematics that may be needed in preparation for higher mathematics distinct from algebra, such as geometry or statistics.

The Evidence
Present evidence strongly suggests that the United States is not renewing its workforce with adequate rigor and foresight:

• One study has claimed that an applicant for a production associate's job at a modern automobile plant must have the math skills equivalent to the most basic achievement level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math test (Levy, F. and Murnane, R., 1996). This threshold is not met by almost half of America's 17-year-olds (Perie, M. et al., 2005).
• A 2006 Hart/Winston Poll found that more than three-quarters (76%) of people in the United States believe that if the next generation does not work to improve its skills in math, science and engineering, it risks becoming the first generation of Americans who are worse off economically than their parents (Peter D. Hart Research Associates and the Winston Group, 2006).

The Teacher's Charge
Teachers play a vital role in education, and their preparation also has been an area of interest among those working to improve math education. Great attention is being paid to the role of the nation's universities in adequately preparing teachers for the teaching of mathematics in schools. While secondary school mathematics teachers typically have more extensive coursework in this subject area, there are questions about whether elementary school teachers take a sufficient number of math courses to prepare them for math instruction.

Teaching Math/Learning Math
PLATO Learning offers math products designed specifically to support student learning, as well as to help equip the classroom teacher with best-practice techniques for presenting math concepts. In addition, their math curriculums are mapped to the nation's top textbooks for easy integration into the classroom, and teacher support materials are embedded online into each level of instruction to save teachers preparation time.

PLATO Learning's Math products are an ideal professional development resource for educators because they include refresher lessons and skill building for elementary teachers who do not have an in-depth mathematics background.

Straight Curve™ Mathematics Series 1 and 2 offer ground-breaking supplemental classroom tools designed to enrich on-grade-level and advanced mathematics curriculum to provide a deeper instructional focus on the concepts that teachers find most challenging to instruct and that students in grades K-2 (Series 1) and 3-6 (Series 2) find most difficult to master within the NCTM strands of:

• Numbers and Operations
• Algebra
• Geometry
• Measurement
• Data Analysis and Probability

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