Mathematics - Essential Skills
Essential Skills in a World-Class Curriculum in Mathematics
Students need powerful skills to be successful in the globally competitive workforce of the 21st century. Business and industry demand workers who can solve problems, work in teams, and are able to apply learning to new and changing situations, especially as workers change jobs and careers many times in their lifetimes. Therefore, students must acquire powerful, flexible, and widely-applicable mathematical skills by the time they graduate from high school. Many such skills have been discussed in surveys of businesses (e.g., the SCANS report) and in the NCTM Process Standards (NCTM, 2000). The skills identified here are taken substantively from the NCTM Process Standards.
Essential Skills