NCTM Process Standards: Why Are They Important?

Just as NCTM Content Standards outline material and topics that students should be able to solve as they move through school, NCTM Process Standards outlines skills that students should be able to use as they work through the Content Standards.  If you are not familiar with the Process Standards, here is a brief description as outlined in the Intervention in School and Clinic journal:

1)       Problem solving – solving problems individually or in groups, reading vocabulary words in the problems, “discussing and presenting solutions”, and “coming up with the whole-group problem solution” (Lee and Herner-Patnode, 2007, p.123).

2)      Reasoning – Linguistic approaches, playing games using flash cards, creating dictionaries, and keeping notebooks (Lee and Herner-Patnode, 2007, p.123).

3)      Communication – “Small-group and whole-class discussions,” “individual journal writing,” and notebooks (Lee and Herner-Patnode, 2007, p.123).

4)      Connection – “Providing everyday life contexts,” “using every day materials,” and “using familiar everyday words to help describe, but not in place of, vocabulary” (Lee and Herner-Patnode, 2007, p.123)

5)      Representation – “Using picture dictionaries,” “making and keeping vocabulary cards,” “displaying words on tag boards of different colors,” acting out vocabulary words,” and creating cartoons (Lee and Herner-Patnode, 2007, p.123).

Though these process standards come from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the skills they encourage are valuable in all subjects and eventually in adult life.

Reference:

Lee, H., & Herner-Patnode, L. (2007). Teaching mathematics vocabulary to diverse learners. Intervention in School and Clinic, 43(2), 121-126.