COE Professor Helps Revise State Math Standards

Associate Professor Thomasenia Adams, mathematics educator in the School of Teaching and Learning, was appointed to a state Department of Education panel charged with updating Florida’s Sunshine State Standards for mathematics at the K-12 level.

Adams, who also is the college’s director of graduate studies, was among 40-plus educators who met in Tallahassee in September to review the Florida Department of Education’s math standards, last revised in 1996.

According to Adams, the existing standards included more material than teachers could effectively cover in their limited class time and were vague on implementation.

“We incorporated more focus on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ focal point priorities of what kids need to know in mathematics,” Adams said.

The panel included state university professors, mathematics educators, community college mathematics instructors, classroom teachers and representatives from the U.S. Department of Education, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Texas at Austin and the Florida Department of Education.

The state is now using the panel’s recommendations to rewrite the curriculum. This process is expected to be completed by spring 2007, and implementation will follow.

“The new standards will be more teacher-friendly, because it’s the only way we will have an impact,” Adams said.