In Schools and Families: Creating a Math Partnership (2002), Murray points out the need for new approaches for teaching mathematics:
"In the past few decades, data from a variety of sources have shown that mathematics education in the United States is not serving our students well. The data point out that U.S. students need to study more than arithmetic; they need mathematical experience and expertise in areas like geometry, data, and algebra." (p. 43)
Investigations in Number, Data, and Space® was written to embody the vision of the rigorous national standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) to improve mathematics education in the United States. Investigations was carefully designed around key ideas to invite all K-5 students into mathematics. An extensive body of research on how students learn mathematics informed the development of the Investigations curriculum. Researchers in the content areas of geometry, data, and the mathematics of change collaborated directly with the development of the curriculum. Developers also drew on the large body of educational research carried out over the past 20 years on students' understanding of number and operations. Current research and reports such as Adding It Up and How People Learn support and expand on these earlier findings.
Murray also shares that Investigations was developed and extensively field-tested from 1990 to 1998 by a team of curriculum developers and researchers at TERC, a nonprofit organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts whose goal is to improve K-12 math, science, and technology education. During the field test, the development team spent thousands of hours in classrooms, observing teachers and students as they tried out activities, talking to teachers and students, and collecting student work. Developers found that Investigations works well with a range of students and enables students to delve deeply into mathematical ideas. (p. 43).
To learn more, visit: Schools and Families.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) partially funded the development of Investigations in Number, Data, and Space® as well as a number of other mathematics curricula. Scott Foresman, a Division of Pearson Learning, publishes Investigations.
Learn more about the need to improve mathematics teaching and learning: