Florida K-8 Mathematics Standards April 25, 2008 Grade K

A student said this… When asked to compare 4/5 and 2/3, a student said, I know that 4/5 is greater than 2/3. How would you respond? Hopefully you would ask the student how he or she knew. Perspective…

The student said… I made both fractions using manipulatives. I knew that 4/5 was bigger because 4/5 has 4 pieces and 2/3 only has 2 pieces and since 4 is greater than 2 then 4/5 is greater than 2/3. What would this response tell you? Perspective…

Would you ask this student to compare 22/23 and 26/27? According to the intent of the new standards, the answer should be yes. This problem is appropriate for a student in grade 3. Are our teachers prepared to address this? Perspective…

Developing the Standards The new Florida K-8 Mathematics Standards are framed by the recently released NCTM Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics and informed by the Singapore Standards, the SSS Grade Level Expectations, and standards from other states that received high grades for rigor, focus, specificity and clear progression of content. There are clear differences between the new standards and the 1996 K-8 mathematics SSS.

Developing the Standards The framers, a group that represented K- 12 teachers, K-12 mathematics supervisors, mathematicians, and mathematics educators, were convened to address issues related to the current standards and to establish a framework for the design of the new standards. The framers recommended that the Curriculum Focal Points be used as the foundation for the new K-8 standards.

Developing the Standards The writers, a group that represented the same set of stakeholders, were convened to generate the revised standards. The writers of the K-8 standards had the task of actualizing the intent of the Curriculum Focal Points within a set of grade-level specific standards.

Developing the Standards September 2006: Framers met with experts to learn about task and conceptualize new standards. October January 2007: Writers wrote draft of standards. February - March 2007: New standards posted for public review period. April - May 2007: Standards revised by writers and representation from framers based on comments received during review September 2007: Standards approved by State Board of Education.

Who were the experts? Dr. Barbara Reys: Center for the Study of Mathematics Curriculum (CSMC); shared a review of 42 states mathematics standards. Dr. Jane Schielack: Chaired NCTM committee that wrote the Curriculum Focal Points. Dr. Kaye Forgione: Senior Associate of Mathematics Benchmarking Initiative with Achieve, Inc. Dr. Alan Ginsburg: US Dept. of Education, What the United States can Learn from Singapores World-class Mathematics System. Dr. R. James Milgram: Wrote the California Mathematics Standards.

Describing the Standards Big Ideas---Standards which are aligned with the Curriculum Focal Points. – –They should be the primary focus of mathematics instruction for each grade level, K - 8. – –There are three Big Ideas for each grade. – –The Big Ideas are not the same for each grade. – –The order of the Big Idea does not determine the order of instruction nor does it indicate that one idea requires greater instructional emphasis. – –Instructional time may not be evenly divided among the three Big Ideas.

Describing the Standards Supporting Ideas---standards that serve one or more of the following purposes: – –Establishing connections to and between the strands of mathematics as defined by NCTM; – –Preparing students for future mathematics teaching and learning; and – –Addressing gaps in instruction that are important to the understanding, fluency, and application of mathematics ideas to problem solving. The Supporting Ideas are not less important than the Big Ideas, but are key components to a structurally sound mathematics education.

Describing the Standards Access Points –Written for students with significant cognitive disabilities to access the general education curriculum –Reflect the core intent of the standards with reduced levels of complexity –Include three levels of complexity: participatory, supported, and independent with the participatory level being the least complex The Access points were not written by the Mathematics Standards Writing Committee and are not intended for mainstream students.

Describing the Standards Coding Scheme for Kindergarten through Grade 8 MA.5.A.1.1 SubjectGrade-Level Body of Knowledge Big Idea/ Supporting Idea Benchmark

Describing the Standards Body of Knowledge Key: A - Algebra C - Calculus D - Discrete Mathematics F - Financial Literacy G - Geometry P - Probability S - Statistics T - Trigonometry

Describing the Standards Grade Level Number of Old GLEs Number of New Benchmarks K67 1 st 78 2 nd 84 3 rd 88 4 th 89 5 th 77 6 th 78 7 th 89 8 th 93

Describing the Standards Grade Level Number of Old GLEs Number of New Benchmarks K st nd rd th th th th th 9319

Describing the Standards Old Standards had an average of 83.3 Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) per grade. The new Standards have an average of 19 benchmarks per grade.

Intent of the Standards What is the importance of having fewer expectations per grade????

Intent of the Standards A member of the Florida Department of Education shared a reaction by a teacher during an open forum regarding the new Florida standards. The teacher looked at the short list of curricular topics in a grade and said, I can teach this in 20 days, what do I do the rest of the year?

Intent of the Standards How do we help teachers with similar views come to understand what is meant by facilitating deep understanding, mathematical fluency, and an ability to generalize (NCTM, 2006, p. 5)?

Describing the Standards To enable the development and mastery of a few key concepts in each grade level it was necessary to make decisions about the placement of topics. As a result, some topics are not introduced until later grades. This does not necessarily mean that students are incapable of learning at an earlier grade. Instead, it is an attempt to streamline the focus of content at each grade level.

For Example… Old StandardsNew Standards Fractions are introduced in kindergarten Money was introduced in kindergarten

For Example… Old StandardsNew Standards Fractions are introduced in kindergarten Fractions are introduced in grade 2 Money is introduced in kindergarten In Grade 2, money is introduced as: Identify, combine, and compare values of money in cents up to $1 and in dollars up to $100, working with a single unit of currency.

Kindergarten Big Ideas: 1: Represent, compare, and order 1: Represent, compare, and order whole numbers and join and separate sets. 2: Describes shapes and space. 2: Describes shapes and space. 3: Orders objects by measurable attributes 3: Orders objects by measurable attributes

Kindergarten Supporting Ideas Algebra: Identify and duplicate simple number and non-numeric repeating and growing patterns. Algebra: Identify and duplicate simple number and non-numeric repeating and growing patterns. Geometry & Measurement: Demonstrate an understanding of the concept of time using identifiers such as morning, afternoon, day, week, month, year, before/after, and shorter/longer. Geometry & Measurement: Demonstrate an understanding of the concept of time using identifiers such as morning, afternoon, day, week, month, year, before/after, and shorter/longer.

Describing the Standards Mathematics instruction at each subsequent grade will continue to use concepts and understandings learned in earlier grades as needed. When asked at a recent Florida Council of Teachers of Mathematics meeting, a representative from FCAT said, students would still need to know concepts from previous grades. They just wont be tested in isolation. When asked at a recent Florida Council of Teachers of Mathematics meeting, a representative from FCAT said, students would still need to know concepts from previous grades. They just wont be tested in isolation.

Describing the Standards Some prerequisite knowledge and skills, not specifically identified in the standards, may need to be added to the curriculum to meet the standards.

Describing the Standards Students who move to Florida from other states may need exposure to topics not addressed at their grade of entry.

Real-World Problems To the extent possible, it is expected that the relevance of mathematics would be made clear to students by illustrating how mathematics is used in the real world. To this end, the curriculum should include real- world contexts in addition to mathematical contexts. The overall goal is to help students relate mathematics to the real world and their experiences.

Remarks are provided to: Clarify what is described in the standards. Provide context to be addressed as part of the standards. Provide examples of the types of problems that the standards address. Provide content limits when deemed appropriate.

Remarks Remarks were not included with the standards presented to the State Board of Education. Remarks are currently included in course descriptions.

Next steps should include: Statewide communication regarding new standards (ongoing). A comprehensive crosswalk between the new and existing standards (currently available in draft form). District-by-district plans for transitioning to the new standards (work together!). Professional development for teachers in order to provide tools and knowledge necessary to implement new standards with success (ongoing but more needed).