Did you know that California’s state math standards are the best in the nation? Only three states scored an ‘A’ and another three a ‘B.’ This information coming from a Fordham Foundation study published January of 2005. While not qualifying as news, I came across this only today.

California’s standards are excellent in every respect. The language is crystal clear, important topics are given priority, and key connections between different skills and tasks are explicitly addressed. Computational skills, problem-solving, and mathematical reasoning are unambiguously supported and integrated throughout the standards.

California’s Framework is not perfect. But it comes as close to perfection as any set of mathematics standards in the country, and should be a valuable model for other states.