This research aims to develop a student-centered learning model based on local culture and instrument of mathematical higher order thinking of junior high school students in the frame of the 2013-Curriculum in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The subjects of the research are seventh graders which are taken proportionally random consisted of three public junior high schools with 86 students and two private schools with 40 students. As a Developmental Research, the work is done within three stages. The results obtained in the second stage, both learning tools (books of students, teachers, and students' activities sheet) and research instruments are valid with minor revisions, and the results of the trial showed that the reliability scores of the tests comprising of Comparison (MAT-1), Social Arithmetic (MAT-2), Triangle (MAT-3), Quadrilateral (MAT-4), and Transformation (MAT-5) respectively 0.835, 0.588, 0.438, 0.833, and 0.908. The findings showed that the student-centered learning based on local culture model and the instrument for higher order mathematical thinking ability are valid and effective to use in teaching mathematics for junior high school.