ABSTRACT
A central component of the current reform agenda in mathematics education is the commitment to providing opportunities for all students to develop mathematical literacy. The phrase all students is used frequently throughout all three standards documents recently published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). In its initial call for change in the K to 12 mathematics curriculum (NCTM, 1989), the council argued for five new goals related to mathematics education. The third of these is “Opportunities for All.” In a second document that presented standards for mathematics teaching, NCTM
(1991) articulated a definition of all students that included students of differing abilities, ethnicities, and genders:
● students who have been denied access in any way to educational opportunities as well as those who have not;
● students who are African American, Hispanic, American Indian, and other minorities as well as those who are considered to be part of the majority;
● students who are female as well as those who are male; and ● students who have not been successful in school in mathematics
as well as those who have been successful.
