Analyzing Turkey’s Elementary and Middle School Mathematics Standards with General Topic Trace Mapping

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis for Turkey’s elementary and middle school mathematics standards using the general topic trace mapping method. Turkey’s standards were compared with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics in the United States and also with the mathematics curriculum of the countries that ranked high in international mathematics achievement tests. The curriculum comparison was conducted from three perspectives: Number of topics at each grade level, topic repetition, and organization of mathematics topics. Data analysis showed that compared to the other countries included in the study, Turkey’s elementary school standards include more topics, whereas the middle school standards include fewer topics. The topic repetition analysis yielded an average of 3.97 years for both Turkey’s standards and the CCSS for mathematics. With respect to topic organization, a three-tier pattern was observed in Turkey’s mathematics standards. The article discusses possible revisions in Turkey’s standards for improvement.