MCTM Position Paper

Statement of the Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics regarding Minnesota Mathematics Academic Standards and Eighth Grade Algebra

The Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics recognizes how critical the study of meaningful mathematics is for providing students with opportunities for successful post-secondary study and future employment in the workforce. With this in mind, MCTM supports the 2007 Minnesota Academic Standards in Mathematics, particularly the requirement to provide all students with appropriate opportunities to learn the algebra concepts identified in the 8th grade standards and benchmarks.

Ensuring student success in the study of algebra concepts in the 8th grade as well as in high school requires a commitment on the part of schools to provide appropriate learning opportunities for all students in every grade K-12. To help schools in this regard, MCTM has appointed an Algebra Task Force and will commit financial and people resources to help teachers and schools identify practices and programs that hold promise for successfully implementing the algebra requirement.

For further information contact:

Tom Muchlinski, Executive Director at tmuchlinski@earthlink.net