Long-term research on how children learn supports the NJ Standards (and their corollary assessments NJ ASK & NJ GEPA) and programs like Investigations.
Here is a small sampling:
TIMSS (Trends in International Math & Science Study): "... all high achieving countries (e.g., Japan) use problems to explore concepts ... whereas U.S. teachers tend to emphasize algorithmic plug-in procedures instead of genuine reasoning and problem solving (Stigler & Hiebert, 2004).
NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) Study: "... teaching that emphasizes higher order thinking skills, opportunities to solve problems that have multiple solutions, and such hands-on techniques as using manipulatives were all associated with higher performance on the math NAEP."
Senk & Thompson (2003): ... children who used Investigations "performed better than their counterparts ... with respect to word problems, more complex calculations embedded in word problems, and problems that involved explaining how an operation worked."
For Connected Math (Grades 6-8), the authors report similar results and state that the longitudinal data of student performance are "rather impressive." They found "significant cumulative gains" over non-CMP students.
