Building the foundation.Whole Numbers in the Primary Grades. The 23rd ICMI study

This twenty-third ICMI Study addresses for the first time mathematics teaching and learning in the primary school (and pre-school) setting, while also taking international perspectives, socio-cultural diversity and institutional constraints into account. One of the main challenges of designing the first ICMI primary school study of this kind is the complex nature of mathematics at the early level. Accordingly, a focus area that is central to the discussion was chosen, together with a number of related questions. The broad area of Whole Number Arithmetic (WNA), including operations and relations and arithmetic word problems, forms the core content of all primary mathematics curricula. The study of this core content area is often regarded as foundational for later mathematics learning. However, the principles and main goals of instruction on the foundational concepts and skills in WNA are far from universally agreed upon, and practice varies substantially from country to country. As such, this study presents a meta-level analysis and synthesis of what is currently known about WNA, providing a useful base from which to gauge gaps and shortcomings, as well as an opportunity to learn from the practices of different countries and contexts. ICMI Studies are a central and influential activity of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction since they were launched in the mid-80s. An ICMI Study addresses a theme of particular significance to contemporary mathematics education, and is conducted by an international team of leading scholars and practitioners. The team is appointed by the Executive Committee of ICMI and it is expected to conduct the Study according to the goals and operational steps described in the next sections. ICMI Studies seek to advance knowledge on a particular area and to put it at the service of the global community as a reference and as a source of inspiration for theory, research and practice. The ICMI Studies aspire to be of the highest scholarly quality, supported by evidence and available references. The Study can take a diversity of forms according to the theme of the Study, its specific aims, the state of development of research and educational realisations in the area at stake. Also, it can include possible collaborations with other cognate institutions or communities. This volume concerns the ICMI Study 23. The volume is distributed open access at https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319635545