Mathematics Literacy

Since the development of the KPS Curriculum Framework in 2002, many teachers within the district have helped with the mission to increase student achievement through the dissemination of literacy strategies built into the language arts curriculum. We make the claim here, that literacy should not be exclusive to the language arts curriculum, but also to the mathematics curriculum. While there are some similarities, there are also some differences.

Using the findings of Adding It Up, a report published by the National Research Council, we continue to develop our curriculum around the five strands that are described below.

Mathematical literacy is best developed when there is a balance among the following 5 strands:

• Conceptual Understanding - comprehension of mathematical concepts, operations, and relations

• Procedural Fluency - skill in carrying out procedures flexibly, accurately, efficiently, and appropriately

• Strategic Competence - ability to formulate, represent, and solve mathematical problems

   

• Adaptive Reasoning - capacity for logical thought, reflection, explanation, and justification

• Productive Disposition - habitual inclination to see mathematics as sensible, useful, and worthwhile, coupled with a belief in diligence and one’s own efficacy.

These strands are not independent; they represent different aspects of a complex whole. The five strands are interwoven and interdependent in the development of mathematics literacy. Mathematical literacy is not a one-dimensional trait, and it cannot be achieved by focusing on just one or two of these strands.