The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) promotes improvements in mathematics curriculum, student achievement, and teacher quality by engaging in political advocacy, advancing professional development of teachers, and encouraging research of best classroom practices.
I encourage every math educator- classroom teacher, homeschooling parent, and tutor- to join and become an active participant in the NCTM.
Lots of people are "good at math"- they can solve problems in math textbooks, and they can apply those skills to problems they encounter outside of math textbooks. But being good at math and being a good math teacher are not the same thing! As a math educator, I don't just want my students to memorize facts and perform mechanical skills- I want them to understand the "what" and the "how" and the "why", and I want them to be able to see connections between their new skill and the things they already know, and I want them to be able to apply this new skill to new problems they haven't ever seen before, and I want them to be able to do all of this with an open and interested mind.
Through the NCTM's magazines, books, and live events, I have learned a great many tools and techniques that have helped me become a better math educator. I have attended both regional and national conferences, and in all cases found the seminars- and the fellowship of other math teachers!- to be fun, educational, and inspiring. There are NCTM publications and professional development opportunities for math teachers at all grade levels, all math subjects, and for all levels of teaching experience. These opportunities can be especially valuable for math educators who are not already part of a strong math community, such as elementary school teachers, teachers at small schools, new teachers, private tutors, and homeschooling parents.
Improving math teacher quality is only one aspect of improving math education. Teachers in every state are currently expected to make huge strides towards their own state's standards, as measured by their own state's tests; but there are huge variations among states with regards to what a student should learn, and to what depth, and the grade when it will be taught! Many states have math standards that are so incredibly detailed, taking a mile-wide-inch-deep approach, that students get a passing glance of everything, but they don't get to explore anything. As a result of these issues with state standards, many of the new math textbooks are suffering. Textbooks are getting longer as they attempt to include content that meets every state's standard for that grade level; and the books are being published on much shorter timelines because every state updates its standards on a different schedule.
The NCTM advocates for state math standards that are more clearly written, that are more uniform among states, and that reduce the mile-wide-inch-deep approach to allow students to spend more time focusing on certain topics in certain grades. These are huge issues that affect students, parents, and educators. By joining the NCTM, you be an advocate for positive change in the policies that guide math education today.
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