Research Assignment - Nathan Kono

Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Mathematics

High School Geometry course

“For the high school Model Geometry course, instructional time should focus on six critical areas: (1) establish criteria for congruence of triangles based on rigid motions; (2) establish criteria for similarity of triangles based on dilations and proportional reasoning; (3) informally develop explanations of circumference, area, and volume formulas; (4) apply the Pythagorean Theorem to the coordinate plan; (5) prove basic geometric theorems; and (6) extend work with probability.”

This curriculum framework provides teachers with the necessary guidance in their course preparation. While the framework is rich with content and descriptive of the many content standards that are expected to be taught to students, there is little prescribing any specific methods. That is, with mathematics, as along as the content standards are met, teachers have ultimate freedom in finding creative and diverse ways to teach the students. By keeping pedagogy out of the framework, teachers must rely on their skills to understand students’ needs and the best methods to meet them. The curriculum therefore, needs little modification, yet there remains the point that there is certainly room to individualize the learning processes within our classrooms. Nonetheless, because of the strict content standards and relative high volume of categories expected in the frameworks, teachers are limited in the time they have for each subject area. Because there are so many required “critical areas,” teachers will not have as many opportunities to extend instructional time in more difficult areas. This requires teachers to be highly creative in their presentation and instruction of the material while adhering to a strict and pre-planned schedule.

I find the MA Frameworks to be very comprehensive, but there is an underlying issue in the curriculum. Under the framework model, there is no requirement for teachers to teach any of the basic processes for math skills. The curriculum presumes that students will learn mathematical concept in the way that best suits their needs. Teachers should not be allowed to leave students in such a position if we are looking to improve student competency in math at both school, state and federal levels.