This might also have an energizing effect upon the teachers as well. Part 4 -- Regarding mathematics, what can be done in the learning community to address the school's need? The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, an international organization of teachers who are focused on improving the math curriculum globally, presented new standards in 2000 designed to improve curricula, teaching and assessment. Within their rubric, six principles were established to address themes that were valid regardless of the school culture:

Equity -- There must be high expectations and support for excellence in math education from all levels; teachers, administrators, school boards, and parents.

Curriculum -- More than a collection of problems or activities, a math curriculum should be focused, well-articulated, and flow from grade to grade.

Teaching -- Appropriate and effective math teaching requires not only an understanding of math principles but of what students need to understand, and how that should be effectively communicated to them.

Learning -- Students must learn math in a synergistic, step process- each previous module must present them with tools needed to move forward and actively build a knowledge base.

Assessment -- Assessment should support the learning aspect of math and be appropriate as a tool for understanding student needs; not simply as something easy to grade.

Technology -- Adapting technology is absolutely essential in learning mathematics (NCTM, 2009).

These would be very helpful to the school because they support a variety of learning needs and issues. Focusing on relevancy would increase the chances of acceptance across the curriculum. In addition, adding multidimensional curriculum issues, external enrichment activities, and an approach in which mathematics was supported by material from other core curriculum areas (writing, literature, science, etc.).

Part 5 -- Design some specific measures, involving members from the learning community, to address...

Exploring the Real World with Informational Texts -- Content, it has been repeatedly shown, drives interest and stimulates children's learning experiences. Sciene teachers point out that Math education requires that students learn to use a conglomeration of print materials that are a bit different from those generally taught in language arts. The relationship of printed materials to tangible "activities" in Math is also different. When students are engaged in scientific inquiry, books, websites, and articles serve as a template or reference point for extending thinking and learning into new branches of inquiry (McKee, 2005, 77). Scientific learning must teach students that to "do Math" to "think Math" requires engaging in concrete activities and observations. Some Math teachers report that this often means ignoring reading texts, articles, and other informational sources due to time constraints and that teaching Math should remain a "hands-on-activitiy" -- not a synthesize set of ideas. Research, though, shows this to be completely untrue. Students in hands-on classrooms do not make better interpretations than students who read about Math. However, students who do both -- a heightened constructivist approach, seem to do better aligning concepts with relevant, real-world situations (Rillero, 2008). This has special relevance when teaching special populations in which reading comprehension is lower than average (Mastropieri, 1994).
REFERENCES

Mastropieri, M. (1994). Text vs. Hands-On Math Curriculum. Remedial and Special Education, 15(2), 72-85.

McKee, J. a. (2005). Integrating Instruction - Literacy and Math. London: Guilford Press.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2009). Overview: Principles for School

Mathematics. Retrieved from:

http://standards.nctm.org/document/chapter2/index.htm

Rillero, P. (2008). Physical vs. Virtual hands-On Math Experiences. Retrieved from: http://www.ed-tech-4-Math.com/2008/07/07/physical-versus-virtual-hands-on-Math-experiences/