Learning Paths and Learning Supports for Conceptual Addition and Subtraction in the US Common Core State Standards and in the Chinese Standards

Abstract

This chapter describes and comments on the large qualitative differences between curriculum intentions and outcomes, within and across countries. It is not a meta-analysis of research on international comparisons; rather the focus is the rela- tionship between what a government intends to happen in its society’s mathematics classrooms and what actually does. Is there a mismatch? In most countries there is. Why? This leads us into the dynamics of school systems, in a steady state and when change is intended—and, finally, to what might be done to bring classroom outcomes closer to policy intentions. Two areas are discussed in more detail: prob- lem solving and modeling, and the roles of computer technology in mathematics classrooms.