Many people realized the decrease of the quality in math and science education in the early 1980s. it was supported by a 1980 report by a presidential commission that there were low enrollments in advanced mathematics and science courses and the general lowering of school expectations and college entrance requirements (Klein, 2003).

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics released An Agenda for Action in 1980. The report called for new directions in mathematics education which would later be codified in 1989 in the form of national standards. An Agenda for Action recommended that problem solving be the focus of school mathematics in the 1980s, along with new ways of teaching (Klein, 2003).

In the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) are standards at every grade level for content, reasoning, and applications. On the other hand, according to Madison (2015), the primary aim of CCSSM is not mathematical literacy but college and career readiness. Some applied mathematicians criticized CCSSM because of its unspecified and limited number of applications (Madison, 2015).