Background and Materials

Advanced Mathematical Decision Making (AMDM) is a mathematics course that follows Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. Students benefit from studying mathematics every year, and in Texas and a growing number of other states, students will be required to complete four years of mathematics as part of increasing graduation requirements (in Texas, the "4-by-4" requirement).

AMDM is an engaging and rigorous course that prepares students for a range of future options in nonmathematics-intensive college majors or for entering workforce training programs; it may also be an appealing elective for students pursuing precalculus and calculus. The course emphasizes statistics and financial applications, and it prepares students to use algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and discrete mathematics to model a range of situations and solve problems.

The Charles A. Dana Center, in partnership with the Texas Association of Supervisors of Mathematics, has developed the following materials:

  • Course outline with proposed student expectations—revised December 1, 2009 (pdf 127kb). The proposed student expectations may change if the State Board of Education chooses to consider the course for statewide adoption.

    As of December 1, 2009, the AMDM proposed course expectations have been slightly modified in three ways that do not change the purpose or content of the course as piloted during the 2009-2010 school year:

    1. A new knowledge and skills statement (DM.1) has been added, making more explicit the emphasis on college and career readiness that is intended in the course (and already happening in pilot classrooms).
    2. The revised expectations have been tightened to omit overly specific examples previously listed with some statements.
    3. The knowledge and skills statements have been resequenced for content flow and coherence, in particular making the inclusion of finance more obvious.
  • Student information sheet (updated January 2010, pdf 300kb)

As part of this initiative, free downloadable instructional materials are available for course implementation in the 2010-2011 school year. (Click here for an overview of instructional materials (pdf 203kb).)

A comprehensive system of professional development and support is also planned.

Project staff have compiled a list of additional resources (pdf 88kb) that may be of interest. These materials, however, are provided only as background; they are not expected as part of the implementation of the course.

Related links

Achieve/Dana Center information on fourth-year/capstone mathematics courses

University of Arizona's Institute on Mathematics and Education report on fourth-year mathematics

Background and research related to early Texas discussions on fourth-year math (from 2006)

Copyright © 2012 The University of Texas at Austin | Copyright Information | Privacy Policy | Email questions or comments to the Dana Center.