What Are the Major Characteristics of the Intended Curriculum?
Exhibit
5.15 indicates the relative emphasis given to various aspects
of mathematics instruction in the intended curriculum. As might be
anticipated for students at this point in their schooling, major emphasis
in the comparison countries was most commonly placed on understanding
mathematical concepts and mastering basic skills. Assessing student
learning was also given major emphasis in most countries. “Real-life”
applications of mathematics were stressed in the curriculum of most
countries. In the Netherlands, for example, this approach was reported
to be emphasized even more heavily than either understanding mathematics
concepts or mastering basic skills. Communicating mathematically,
an aspect of teaching and learning that has received increasing attention
in recent years, was given major or moderate emphasis in the curriculum
of most of the comparison countries. Adopting a multicultural approach,
working on mathematics projects, solving non-routine problems, deriving
formal proofs, and integrating mathematics with other school subjects
all received less emphasis.
In general, curricular emphasis among the Benchmarking participants
was very similar to that in the United States as a whole. A majority
of the Benchmarking entities placed major emphasis in their curricula
on mastering basic skills, understanding mathematics concepts, real-life
applications of mathematics, communicating mathematically, and assessing
student learning. With only one exception, all the other entities
place moderate emphasis in each of these areas.
It is possible that in some entities some of the approaches and processes
reported as being given minor or no emphasis in the intended curriculum
may receive more emphasis in the implemented curriculum. Conversely,
it is also possible that some of the approaches and processes reported
as being given major or moderate emphasis in the intended curriculum
may receive less emphasis in the implemented curriculum.
