The purpose of the study reported in this article is to examine the impact of curriculum on instruction. Over a three-year period, we observed 579 algebra-related lessons in grades 6-8. Approximately half the lessons were taught in schools that had adopted a "Standards"-based mathematics curriculum called the Connected Mathematics Program (CMP),…

Assessed the effectiveness of instruction in promoting sixth-grade students' conceptual understanding of the concept of averages using a leveling model and an open-ended problem-solving approach. Found that students were more capable of using the leveling approach and applying formal averaging algorithm to solve problems than using the open-ended…

This study used an open-ended problem-solving approach to teaching and assessing middle school students' understanding of the concept of arithmetic average. Three main results of this study show evidence of positive instructional impact on students' understanding of the concept of average: (1) the number of students who gave correct answers…