National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Assumptions for Teaching Mathematics Effectively

Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

1991

A S S U M P T I O N S

The standards for teaching mathematics are based on four assumptions:

1. “The goal of teaching mathematics is to help all students develop mathematical power.…”

2. “What students learn is fundamentally connected with HOW they learn it.…”

3. “All students can learn to think mathematically.…”

4. “Teaching is a complex practice and hence not reducible to recipes or prescriptions.…”