NMAP's recommendations

The National Mathematics Advisory Panel, created in 2006, issued its final report  Foundations for Success: The Final Report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel to the President of the United States and the Secretary of Education in 2008. Its findings covered a variety of aspects of mathematics education, including curricular content, instructional practices, teacher education and instructional materials.
 
NMAP's recommendations, as stated in the report (above),  are most succinctly summed up as "put first things first". (page xiii). With respect to curriculum, NMAP recommends "The mathematics curriculum in Grades PreK–8 should be streamlined and should emphasize a well-defined set of the most critical topics in the early grades." (page xiii). 
 
With respect to teacher education, NMAP recommends (#19) that
"The mathematics preparation of elementary and middle school teachers must be strengthened as one means for improving teachers’ effectiveness in the classroom... A critical component of this recommendation is that teachers be given ample opportunities to learn mathematics for teaching. That is, teachers must know in detail and from a more advanced perspective the mathematical content they are responsible for teaching and the connections of that content to other important mathematics, both prior to and beyond the level they are assigned to teach."
 
NMAP also recommends a specific focus on middle school math (#4):

"A major goal for K–8 mathematics education should be proficiency with fractions (including decimals, percent, and negative fractions), for such proficiency is foundational for algebra and, at the present time, seems to be severely underdeveloped. Proficiency with whole numbers is a necessary precursor for the study of fractions, as are aspects of measurement an geometry. These three areas—whole numbers, fractions, and particular aspects of geometry and measurement—are the Critical Foundations of Algebra."

 
MSMI meets these needs by providing a variety of services to teachers, schools, and parents. Over a 3 year program, MSMI institutes for educators present the concepts that students find the most challenging: fractions, rational numbers, and aspects of geometry that relate to algebra 1. These institutes help educators to develop this material in a coherent, sequential, and precise manner that builds both the conceptual understanding and the procedural fluency students need to understand and master mathematics.

MSMI also offers curriculum services to participating schools in parallel with the institutes. These services help schools to develop a professional development program that adapts their current curriculum and textbooks to meet the National Mathematics Advisory Panel's recommendations on "Critical Foundations for Algebra".  By providing guidance on content, scope, sequence, pedagogical techniques and actual lessons, MSMI supports schools as they adapt their mathematics curriculum to bridge the gap from exploration of arithmetic in K-3 to mastery of Algebra 1 in grade 8.

MSMI also offers information to parents as they try to navigate the mathematical education needs of their children. Through parent workshops, parents will gain knowledge about mathematics e so they can guide their children on what math knowledge and skills are needed to succeed in middle school, high school, entering college and beyond, particularly in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields

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