Prior to the release of the second edition of Investigations in Number, Data and Space, a series of studies examined the impact of the first edition on student learning. Across multiple studies, a coherent set of results emerged. These findings are supported by student achievement data from school systems that have committed to a consistent implementation of Investigations as the core curriculum.
Together, early studies of the first edition of Investigations in Number, Data, and Space indicate that:
- Investigations students perform as well or better than students using other curricula on computation problems involving basic facts and whole number operations.
- Investigations students have a better understanding of number and number relationships than students working with more traditional programs.
- Investigations works equally well with students at different levels of achievement in mathematics.
- Students using Investigations achieve greater accuracy on word problems and on more complex calculations than students in comparison classrooms.
- Students in schools fully implementing Investigations outperform students in schools not using Investigations (or other NSF-funded elementary mathematics curricula) on high stakes standardized tests.
