An Assessment in Terms of NCTM Content Standards: The Case of Early Childhood Education Undergraduate Programs

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the content of mathematics education courses in preschool teacher education undergraduate programs at universities in Turkey based on the NCTM content standards. From this point of view, a total of 81 course contents in 74 universities were analyzed. The study was designed as a case study from qualitative research methods. The documents obtained were analyzed by content analysis method. As a result of the analysis, it was seen that the NCTM content standards that were most frequently included in the mathematics courses in the Preschool Teacher Education undergraduate programs were numbers and operations, geometry, and measurement. On the other hand, the least included standards were data analysis, probability and algebra. In courses focusing on mathematics education content, all standard areas are mostly covered together. However, there are also courses that include 3 and 4 NCTM content standards and courses that do not include NCTM content standards at all. In addition, only 2% of the courses that preschool teachers take as graduates focus on mathematics education.

Keywords

• NCTM Content Standards
• early childhood education
• mathematics education
• teacher education.

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