From MA MCAS Document

The Mathematically Proficient Person of the Twenty-First Century

The standards describe a vision of what it means to be a mathematically proficient person in this century. Students who are college and career ready in mathematics will at a minimum demonstrate the academic knowledge, skills, and practices necessary to enter into and succeed in entry-level, credit bearing courses in College Algebra, Introductory College Statistics, or technical courses. It also extends to a comparable entry-level course or a certificate or workplace training program requiring an equivalent level of mathematics. At the same time, the standards provide for a course of study that will prepare students for a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics career. For example, the level of mathematics preparation necessary to succeed in an engineering program is more ambitious than the preparation needed to succeed in an entry-level, credit-bearing mathematics course as part of a liberal arts program. The standards provide pathways for students who want to pursue a mathematics-intensive career or academic major after high school.

The mathematical skills and understanding that students are expected to demonstrate have wide applicability outside the classroom or workplace. Students who meet the standards are able to identify problems, represent problems, justify conclusions, and apply mathematics to practical situations. They gain understanding of topics and issues by reviewing data and statistical information. They develop reasoning and analytical skills and make conclusions based on evidence that is essential to both private deliberation and responsible citizenship in a democratic society. They understand mathematics as a language for representing the physical world.

They are able to use and apply their mathematical thinking in various contexts and across subject areas, for example, in managing personal finances, designing a robot, or presenting a logical argument and supporting it with relevant quantitative data in a debate. Students should be given opportunities to discuss math’s relevance to everyday life and their interests and potential careers with teachers, parents, business owners, and employees in a variety of fields such as computer science, architecture, construction, healthcare, engineering, retail sales, and education. From such discussions, students can learn that a computer animator uses linear algebra to determine how an object will be rotated, shifted, or altered in size. They can discover that an architect uses math to calculate the square footage of rooms and buildings, to lay out floor dimensions and to calculate the required space for areas such as parking or heating and cooling systems (kumon.org}. They can investigate how public policy analysts use statistics to monitor and predict state, national or international healthcare use, benefits, and costs.

Students who meet the standards develop persistence, conceptual understanding, and procedural fluency; they develop the ability to reason, prove, justify, and communicate. They build a strong foundation for applying these understandings and skills to solve real world problems. These standards represent an ambitious pre-kindergarten to grade 12 mathematics program that ensure that students are prepared for college, careers, and civic life.