National Math Curriculum UK

Just to see how England is handling a national curriculum (for all subjects), here's a link to the Mathematics section. You will need to navigate this site for awhile to get the feel for it. You will also want to download the 90+ page pdf math curriculum document. I've skimmed it and it is fascinating. Of course much of it is not new or surprising or that different from NCTM's many recommendations or reports, but it's the overall structure and expectations for the four key stages of learning that make it unique. Why can't we benefit from something like this so that we don't have to reinvent the wheel? I'm certain that members of the National Math Panel are familiar with this but I'd be interested in their views. Is it possible for our society? Better yet, perhaps we need to begin to realize the vision of Robert F. Kennedy:

There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not.

Things that never were? But they are already existing elsewhere!

Better yet, download
A Coherent Curriculum: The Case for Mathematics by William Schmidt, Richard Houang, and Leland Cogan is available online in American Educator, Summer 2002, pp. 1-17.

This was a call to action five years ago and we're still arguing about it today...