By Dr. Jennifer M. Bay-Williams
Developing mathematical proficiency requires a strong background in both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency.
The NCTM recommended Teaching Practice, Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding, encompasses both procedures and concepts. Importantly, the student outcome for procedural fluency and conceptual understanding is higher-level cognition. The five research-based strategies described above must be integrated into daily mathematics teaching. The result will be the full package of fluency. A student having this full package is not just better prepared for some high-stakes assessment, but for all the mathematics that is to follow in later grades, and more importantly, for handling the mathematics of daily living.
