Introduction to High School Standards
The high school standards specify the mathematics that all students should study to be college and career ready. Additional mathematics that students should learn to take advanced courses such as calculus, advanced statistics, or discrete mathematics is indicated by (+), as in this example:
(+) Represent complex numbers on the complex plane in rectangular and polar form (including real and imaginary numbers).
All standards without a (+) symbol should be in the common mathematics curriculum for all college and career ready students. Standards with a (+) symbol may also appear in courses intended for all students.
The high school standards are listed in conceptual categories:
- Number and Quantity
- Algebra
- Functions
- Modeling
- Geometry
- Statistics and Probability
Conceptual categories portray a coherent view of high school mathematics; a student’s work with functions, for example, crosses several traditional course boundaries, potentially up through and including calculus.
Modeling is best interpreted not as a collection of isolated topics but in relation to other standards. Making mathematical models is a Standard for Mathematical Practice, and specific modeling standards appear throughout the high school standards indicated by a star symbol (★). The star symbol sometimes appears on the heading for a group of standards; in that case, it should be understood to apply to all standards in that group.