ABSTRACT
This chapter provides background information for understanding the goals of the curriculum reform projects, and the research they conducted. It begins with a brief history of earlier efforts to reform the school mathematics curriculum. The chapter, then, describes the visions of school mathematics presented in documents developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and how those documents led to the development of so-called Standards-based school mathematics curricula. It summarizes some of the debates that have taken place about the directions of school mathematics that have been sparked by the development and use of these curricular materials in the United States. The chapter discusses some issues that one needs to keep in mind when trying to understand or interpret results of studies of the effects of mathematics curricula on students. Some advocates of reform believe that critics of reform are applying a double standard when studying the effects of various school mathematics curricula.
