Principles and Standards for School Mathematics: A Guide for Mathematicians

868 NOTICES OF THE AMS VOLUME 47, NUMBER 8 In April 2000 the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) released Principles and Standards for School Mathematics—the culmination of a multifaceted, three-year effort to update NCTM’s earlier standards documents and to set forth goals and recommendations for mathematics education in the prekindergarten-through-grade-twelve years. As the chair of the Writing Group, I had the privilege to interact with all aspects of the development and review of this document and with the committed groups of people, including the members of the Writing Group, who contributed immeasurably to this process. This article provides some background about NCTM and the standards, the process of development, efforts to gather input and feedback, and ways in which feedback from the mathematics community influenced the document. The article concludes with a section that provides some suggestions for mathematicians who are interested in using Principles and Standards.