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This article reviews the elementary mathematics curriculum, teaching, and learning over the past ten years, picking up where the article on elementary mathematics teaching (Stuart, 2012) in the 40th-anniversary edition left off. In this article, we consider several components that contribute to mathematics teaching and learning, such as the curriculum, professional development initiatives and resources to support mathematics teaching, and the students we teach. Threaded throughout this article are research references, as much of the mathematics teaching and learning within Ontario, including curriculum, professional learning, and resources, is evidence based.
Evolution of the Curriculum
The 2005 mathematics curriculum leaned on many of the ideas that had been supported by research and had emerged from the work of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), an organization that first put out standards for mathematics instruction and evaluation in 1989, updated those in 1999, and continues to provide evidence-based resources and professional development in the United States and beyond (e.g., NCTM, 2014). Evidence of the influence of NCTM can be seen in the 2005 mathematics curriculum incorporation of mathematical processes (problem solving, reasoning and proving, reflecting, selecting tools and computational strategies, connecting, representing, and communication) in the Ontario curriculum as well as in other ways (Ontario Ministry of Education [OME], 2005). The focus on mathematical processes or mathematical actions can also e seen in the variety of verbs that are in the 2005 mathematics curriculum, such as in this Grade 1 curriculum expectation, which emphasizes students creating and describing:
Students will create symmetrical designs and pictures, using concrete materials (e.g., pattern blocks, connecting cubes, paper for folding), and describe the relative locations of the parts (OME, 2005, p. 38).
The 2005 curriculum appeared to serve Ontario well, as Ontario ranked above average on international mathematics assessments, and Ontario was often cited as not only having high achievement (in the top 15 countries), but also high equity (OECD, 2015; O'Grady et al., 2019; Sahlberg, 2016; Silver et al., 2018).
However, a new curriculum was long overdue to take into account such things as new research, technology, and perspectives. When a new Progressive Conservative government came to power in 2018, there was a renewed stance on mathematics education. As a first response, there was the publication of a...