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NCSM Position Papers

NCSM Improving Student Achievement Series

Upon receiving the Glenn Gilbert Award at the 2005 St. Louis annual meeting, long-time NCSM member and past President (1993-1995), Carey Bolster challenged NCSM as an organization to "mind the gap" and step forward with a clear platform of direction to its membership. To that end, the NCSM Improving Student Achievement Series Position Papers are a first step in providing that leadership platform.

In September 2007, NCSM launched a year-long celebration of its 40th anniversary as a mathematics education leadership organization. It is with great pleasure that the NCSM Board releases the first two Position Papers in our Improving Student Achievement Series: Research-Based Answers for Mathematics Education Leaders.

As part of the NCSM Board's 2007-2008 annual strategic plan, the Improving Student Achievement Position Papers are the result of writing and editing from numerous members within NCSM, and received unanimous approval from the NCSM Board in July 2007.

As announced at the 2007 Annual Conference in Atlanta, these Position Papers are part of an advocacy initiative designed to provide membership support regarding critical actions that lead to improved student achievement in mathematics. The position papers provide our membership with answers to two critical questions:

  1. What does NCSM believe about important issues in mathematics education leadership?
  2. How is NCSM helping me (as a mathematics education leader) provide research-based answers to the issues I face in my local district?

For fall, 2007, the NCSM Board and the Position Paper Initiative Task Force have selected two researched-based issues fundamentally connected to one another and to our leadership actions. These first two Position Papers are inextricably linked to one another as teacher collaboration is the tool that can provide the contextual and on going professional learning of teachers. The NCSM Board hopes that you will find our position, the research that supports our position, and the practical steps you can take to implement the position, to be of use to you and your colleagues. You have permission to reprint these papers for distribution.

  • Improving Student Achievement by Leading the Pursuit of a Vision for Equity (Spring 2008)
    This paper provides direction for systematically addressing equity in student achievement by reframing the inequity perspective of "achievement gap" to an "opportunity gap" (Flores, 2007) and by promoting the effective use of professional learning communities to impact adult and student development in mathematics.

    Download the entire Position Paper
  • Improving Student Achievement by Leading Sustained Professional Learning* for Mathematics Content and Pedagogical Knowledge Development (September 2007)
    This paper provides direction for creating ongoing context-based adult learning (or professional development) for the express purpose of impacting student learning.

    * In the words of Michael Fullan (2007): "Professional development as a term and as a strategy has run its course. The future of improvement, indeed of the profession itself, depends on a radical shift in how we conceive [teacher] learning".

    Download the entire Position Paper

    Listen to this Position Paper
  • Improving Student Achievement by Leading Effective Collaborative Teams of Mathematics Teachers (September 2007)
    This paper provides direction for the elimination of inequities often caused by the privatization of teacher practice. The paper establishes the necessity for the use of high-performing grade level and course-level teacher teams.

    Download the entire Position Paper

    Listen to this Position Paper

Furthermore, through the work of Richard Elmore (2004) and others, the term professional development - a one time action that is done to you - is much different than professional learning - a sustained, ongoing, continuous opportunity for teachers to engage in learning about their practice from one another in the setting where they actually work. NCSM embraces this mindset of professional learning as an expression that needs to replace the outdated term professional development.

As a point of information, the Improving Student Achievement Series will continue with spring, 2008 papers dedicated to the issue of Equity and Excellence, as well as Integration of Technology. These papers will be released at the 40th annual Conference in Salt Lake City, and use the same format and design. In the meantime, please let us know your reaction to these first two papers. You may write directly to Timothy Kanold, President of NCSM, at or Terri Belcher, Executive Director, at . We would love to hear from you.

Timothy D. Kanold, National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics President
On Behalf of the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics Board

Position Paper Archive

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