ABSTRACT
The Connected Mathematics Project was funded by the National Science Foundation to develop a complete mathematics curriculum with support materials for Grades 6, 7, and 8. The Connected Mathematics curriculum is organized around interesting problem settings—activities designed to involve groups of students with mathematical concepts and applications as well as in discourse and reflective writing about these same ideas. Understanding what students learn in Connected Mathematics is a complex issue. Central to the study of students’ attainment is the issue of alignment between the goals of the program and the construct validity of the assessment instruments. The Connected Mathematics curriculum was effective in raising the attainment of students on challenging open-response items that emphasize reasoning, communication, connections, and problem solving as compared with the attainment of students in curricula less aligned with the Standards. Overall, there is clear evidence that students learn both high-level thinking and basic skills as a result of experiences with the Connected Mathematics curriculum.
