The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) passed by Congress in 2001 focuses attention on general education curriculum by requiring states to develop challenging academic standards. NCLB ensures that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assessments (Little, 2009; No Child Left Behind Act, 2002). While all core subjects are addressed under NCLB, increasing technology dominance in our society has spotlighted deficiencies in math and science. Particularly, students in the United States are not performing as well in math as students in many other developed countries (Schleicher & Davidson, 2012). This concern highlights the need for research into novel approaches to improve mathematics education as policy-makers, stakeholders, and educators deliberate over how to …show more content…
Public education provides the bedrock from which our national and individual prosperity rise, magnifying the paramount importance of answering the question of how to best prepare students to succeed in the 21st century (Department of Education, 2002). Within the mission statement of The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a coalition bringing together the business community, education leaders, and policymakers, is a missive for schools to bridge the gap between the skills students currently learn and those needed to successfully face rigorous higher education coursework, career challenges and a globally competitive workforce (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2014).
Examining the trends of the past decade in which cell phones, the technology Americans say would be the hardest to give up; replaced landline telephones and Internet usage usurped television viewing, education reformers argue that curriculums must reach beyond traditionally taught skills in reading, writing and arithmetic (Jerald,