Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMSs) may serve as teachers as well as leaders in their settings. In their roles, EMSs may facilitate mathematics learning for PK-6 students (e.g., classroom teachers, specialist teachers, interventionists) as well as for teachers (e.g., informal leaders, grade-level coaches, building- or district-level coaches). The preparation and ongoing support for the mathematical knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for these positions are at a broader and deeper level than the mathematical content expectations for those prepared as multi-subject elementary teachers (10). Notably, there must be explicit attention to the mathematical expectations at the early childhood and elementary levels as well as at the middle school and early high school levels. EMSs must know what elementary students need to understand and be able to do as well as how future learning builds upon that foundation. EMSs also need rich, well-connected understandings of the specialized knowledge needed for teaching mathematics and how that knowledge intersects with: (1) student knowledge and dispositions, the development of ideas from in- and out-of-school experiences, and typical learning progressions and challenges; and (2) teacher knowledge and dispositions, state and nationally recommended content and practice and process standards, and the development of the mathematical storyline across adopted standards and instructional materials. EMSs’ mathematical content knowledge, skills, and dispositions should be regularly updated and deepened to support continuous learning and improvement for each and every student and teacher influenced through their role. 

Each standard within the mathematics content domain has a common structure that includes a description of the important work of the standard and a justification for inclusion of the standard. Listed as a sidebar are the indicators for the standard. Each indicator generally follows a three-part structure: (1) connects knowledge of content and the intuitive and informal knowledge children bring to school; (2) connects knowledge of content and the school-focused experiences that support knowledge development within the domain; and (3) connects knowledge of content and the ways EMSs use their deep, well-connected knowledge in support of PK–6 student and teacher learning of mathematics. Additional sidebars convey the integrated nature of the mathematics content and the practices and processes (11). Rather than simply providing a list of the disciplinary practices, the sidebars provide an image of productive, authentic engagement in the practices and processes as a means of learning content. These are examples of possible integrations and are not intended to represent all the possible content-practice connections. Finally, given the importance of horizon content knowledge (i.e., “awareness of how mathematical topics are related over the mathematics span included in the curriculum”(12)) and across-the-grades coherence to EMSs’ work, each standard section concludes with a table that conveys the foundational concepts and how they build across the grades from Kindergarten through grade 9. It should be noted that rather than these standards providing an exhaustive list of mathematical topics, they include critical topics for EMSs to know and understand, with specific attention to student thinking, learning, and teaching.