The What Works Clearinghouse is a federally funded website aimed at evaluating research on various educational programs. It has finally published its first reviews at http://www.w-w-c.org/.
This is important for those of us interested in Milwaukee schools because one of the first topics is middle school math programs. Several years ago, Milwaukee Public Schools adopted the Connected Mathematics Project for its middle schools. CMP is one of several programs that have come under fire nationally, sometimes described as "fuzzy math." (See Mathematically Correct and NYC Hold for the criticisms that have been leveled at CMP and similar programs.)
As middle school students, my own daughter and her friends, good math students, criticized it for being confusing and overly elementary.
The CMP website lists five studies as supporting the effectiveness of CMP. What Works Clearinghouse rejects two of these as not meeting its expectations for scientific research. It lists the other three (along with two others) as still being evaluated.
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