Fourth-grade students in the reformed curriculum
outperformed their comparison group not only in the open response questions as expected, but in
the short answer and multiple choice categories as well. The same was true for eighth-grade
students with the exception of the short answer section (Riordan and Noyce, 2001). When
standards-based curriculum is implemented correctly, it should not come as a surprise that it does
not hinder the performance of students with varying demographics. Standards-based
mathematics leaves open the opportunity for differentiated instruction in more ways than any
other teaching technique. Because students work in groups to solve problems, teachers can
assign them roles of the investigation that best match their individual needs