The CD offers a searchable hypertext edition of Principles and Standards, which includes the full text of the printed volume along with interactive mathematics tools that support the vision of the Standards. The CD also contains a version of the Illuminations website, which includes hundreds of lessons, interactive tools and reviewed websites that support Principles and Standards and the three previous documents.

NCTM's Principles and Standards for School Mathematics updates the messages of NCTM's previous Standards and shows how students' learning should grow across four grade bands: pre-K–2, 3–5, 6–8 and 9–12. It incorporates a clear set of principles and an increased focus on how students' knowledge grows as shown by recent research. It also includes ways to incorporate the use of technology to make mathematics instruction relevant and effective in a technological world.