Zach Boness

Math 540

Final Project

7/27/17

There are quite a few connections that correspond to the eight Standards for

Mathematical Practice and the NCTM five Process Standards. The first of the five process

standards that connect is problem solving. With the first of the standard in the Mathematical

Practice there is a major connection. The first standard states “make sense of problems and

persevere in solving them.” That connects fully with the first process standard of problem

solving. This is an important standard that students need to be able to do successfully. There is

a lot that goes into this standard and reading comprehension is an important part of it.

Students have to be able to persevere in reading the problem and setting up the equation that

will come from it (Principles and Standards, 2008). If a student doesn’t understand what is

being asked of them how can they solve the problem?

The next Common Core standard that connects with problem solving is, “reason

abstractly and quantitatively.” The reason that problem solving ties into this standard is,

because students have to be able to abstract the key points, and quantitatively decipher the

information being presented. If students can’t break down the information then they will

struggle in figuring out what needs to be solved. This will be a struggle for all involved.
 The next standard that ties into the process standard of problem solving is modeling

with mathematics. Students have to be able to apply math to everyday life, society, and the

workplace. There are issues in everyday life that have to be problem solved. This is why this

Common Core Standard ties into the concept of problem solving. Students who aren’t able to

apply this concept will struggle mightily in all areas of life.

Using appropriate tools strategically, number five of the Common Core Standards,

applies to the concept of problem solving, as well. Students need to be able problem solve a

story problem or an equation so they can use the appropriate tools that will strategically allow

them to be able to solve the equation successfully. If a student can’t do this then they will not

be able to build off of their previous knowledge and move on.

The next Common Core Standard that applies to concept of problem solving is attending

to precision. Students have to be able to communicate to others what is going on in the math

problem. If a student doesn’t understand the problem solving aspect of it then they won’t be

able to reason and communicate effectively. This could cause major setbacks in the growth of

the student.

The NCTM standard of problem solving also lies in to the last two Common Core

Standards too. Looking for and making use of structure is something that students need to be

able to do. The same goes for the last Common Core Standard of looking for and expressing

regularity in repeated reasoning too. It is very difficult to be efficient in these last two Common

Core Standards if students can’t problem solve. This goes to show that the process standard of
problem solving deeply ties into most of the eight Common Core Standards (Principles and

Standards, 2008).

Reasoning and proof is the next process standard for NCTM. After analyzing the eight

Common Core Standards, reasoning and proof also deeply ties into the most of the standards.

The first standard, “making sense of problems and solving them,” ties into reasoning and proof.

Students have to be able to make sense of what is being asked of them. Making sense and

reasoning tie into this Common Core Standard. This is why this standard is similar to reasoning

and proof (Principles and Standards, 2008).

The next Common Core Standard that aligns with reasoning and proof is, “reason

abstractly and quantitatively.” Students have to be able to reason and decipher what is being

asked of them to do. If students aren’t able to figure of what is being asked of them how they

can break down the information and plug it into an equation. Half of math is being able to

reason and plug information into the equation. Also construct viable arguments and critique

the reasoning of others ties into the reasoning and proof. Part of mathematics is being able to

construct arguments and reason why you constructed it that way. This is the reasoning and

proof aspect that is vital to be able to understand. A student might understand that 1+1=2, but

they need to be able to prove it, as well (Principles and Standards, 2008).

The last Common Core Standard that ties into the NCTM Standard of reasoning and

proof is looking for and expressing regularity in repeated reasoning. Once students are able to

figure out the expression with reasoning, they need to remain consistent. Math is able sticking
to the basics and remaining consistent in figuring out mathematical problems. This is why this

standard ties in with reasoning and proof.

The next NCTM Process Standard is communication. There are two Common Core

Standards that go with this process standard. The first one is constructing viable arguments and

critiquing the reasoning of others. Communication can be done in a variety of ways. The way

that communication ties into this Common Core Standard is based on the fact that

communication can come from writing. When you work together students have to be able to

see and understand the process that transpires in mathematics. The communication that can

come from writing down the process a student goes through to find the correct answer can be

a form of communication (Principles and Standards, 2008).

The last standard that goes with the NCTM Process Standard of communication is

attending to be precise. Attending to precision is vital in communication. The very first sentence

in explaining this Common Core Standard points out that students have to be able to

communicate precisely. Sometimes students who have trouble understanding the math

concepts they are doing can understand it better when another student can present the

information in a way that can allow the student, who is struggling, to be able to comprehend

the information better. Communication goes a long way in mathematics. Some can overlook

that key attribute, and this is why multiple National Math Standards incorporate

communication into the key standards (Principles and Standards, 2008).

The next NCTM Process Standard is connection. Students have to be able to connect

mathematical concepts to be able to have success. The connection standard ties into all eight of
the Common Core Standards. The first Common Core Standard is making sense of problems and

persevering in solving them. If students can’t make connections to the problems then they

won’t be able to solve them correctly (Principles and Standards, 2008).

The next standard that connects to it is reasoning abstractly and quantitatively. It is vital

that the student is able to break down the context of the mathematical situation so they can be

able to solve the problem. If students can’t create the connections they will struggle in having

the ability to contextualize and decontextualize the math problems (Principles and Standards,

2008).

Two of the Common Core Standards that align with connection in the same way are

constructing viable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others. The second one is

modeling with mathematics. Students have to be able to connect the different aspects of what

is being asked of them in the math problem so they can connect the information into the

correct formula so they can get the correct answer. Also another standard that would fall into

the category would be using the appropriate tools strategically. All three of these standards

connect with the process standard which is connection (Principles and Standards, 2008).

The next Common Core Standard that would be aligned with connection would be

attending to be precise. Students have to be precise and be able to communicate what is going

on mathematically. If they are not able to connect all the different aspects of math that they

are learning about then they will struggle with this aspect (Principles and Standards, 2008).

The last two Common Core Standards tie in with connection, as well. Looking for and

making use of structure, and expressing regularity in repeated reasoning both have to have
some form of connection to enable the opportunity for both standards to be mastered. An

example would be a math equation. 7x3+8x1= is a great example of an equation that fits with

these standards. Students have to be able to connection order of operation to the equation so

they can solve it correctly. If they don’t then they won’t get the correct answer at the end.

Students have to have some form of connection to be able to master all eight of the Common

Core Standards (Principles and Standards, 2008).

The final process standard to be covered is representation. Representation is very

important process that students need to be able to do. If students don’t understand what

everything in math represents then it will be very difficult for them to be able to apply the

different concepts and be correct. This process standard also applies to most of the eight

Common Core Standards (Principles and Standards, 2008).

All eight of the Common Core Standards tie into the NCTM process standard

representation. If students don’t know what different aspects of math represent then they

won’t be able to solve the equations. Students who don’t understand what the multiplication

symbol means won’t be able to connect what they are supposed to do. This is why

understanding what everything represents is an important standard to have mastered. If

students don’t understand how expressions, equations, or other aspects of math work then the

same will apply. The student will struggle within that particular math class (Common Core,

2017).

Based on analyzing both the Common Core Standards and the National Council of

Teachers of Mathematics there were a lot of similarities between both. Even though there isn’t
the same amount of standards for both of these they are quite similar. The National Council of

Teachers of Mathematics was made in 2000 which would make it the oldest document of the

two. That being stated it looks like the Common Core Standards were created based off of

observing the principles of the NCTM. These two documents are very similar on their key

principles. When analyzing the similarities between the NCTM and the Common Core Standards

they were aligned. The question that comes from analyzing both is whether or not one was

created while looking at the other (Common Core, 2017)?

Also, it looks like the same people or the same group that created the NCTM played a

key role in the creation of the Common Core Standards. Even though this isn’t the case one

could see how that could honestly be the case. The Common Core Standards were created by

the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of

Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) from the 48 states, two territories, and the District of

Columbia. The NCTM was created by different people within a multitude of states and colleges.

The NCTM also broke down how they created each grade grouping so that individual people

could focus on specific grade groupings (Principles and Standards, 2008).

There are similarities between CCSSM practice and some of the NCTM content

standards. An example of one would be the very first standard for both in 7th grade. The CCSSM

Mathematical Practices for 7th grade states “make sense of problems and persevere in solving

them.” The first standard for 7th grade with the NCTM states, “understand numbers, ways of

representing numbers, relationships among numbers, and number systems. These two align.

They focus on making sense of numbers and number systems (Common Core, 2017).
 The second standard, that aligns, deals with constructing reasoning to support your

answer. It is one aspect to be able to solve the problem, but it is vital that a student is able to

fluently be able to construct an argument to support their findings. This standard for both align

and are intertwined. An example, would be order of operation. Students need to be able to

support their answer with order of operation being applied to an equation (Common Core,

2017).

The more anyone analyzes and critiques the NCTM and the Common Core Standards

makes it rather easy to see the similarities to them. This would make it rather easy to be able to

install aspects of the NCTM to a class that abides by Common Core Standards. Even though they

are rather similar there are different aspects to the NCTM that would allow a teacher a

different avenue that might help students learn key aspects of mathematics. Not every student

learns the same and this is why it is important to implement different teaching techniques to

help student be able to retain the information being presented to them.

 Resources

Common core standards for mathematics. (2017). Retrieved July 16, 2017, from
http://www.corestandards.org/wp-content/uploads/Math_Standards1.pdf

Principles and standards for school mathematics. (2008). Reston, VA: National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics.