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Research
Thirteen studies reviewed by the WWC investigated the effects of Saxon Middle School Math. One study (Williams, 1986) was a randomized controlled trial that met WWC evidence standards. One study (Peters, 1992) was a randomized controlled trial that met WWC evidence standards with reservations. 3 Four studies (Crawford & Raia, 1986; Resendez, Fahmy, & Manley, 2005; Resendez & Manley, 2005; and Roberts, 1994) were quasi-experimental designs that met WWC evidence standards with reservations. The remaining seven studies did not meet WWC evidence screens.
Met evidence standards
Williams (1986) included 46 ninth-grade students in one high school4 serving a rural-suburban community in Missouri. The intervention group used the Saxon Math Algebra 1 textbook and the comparison group used the Algebra 1 textbook by Dolciani.
Met evidence standards with reservations
Crawford & Raia (1986) was a quasi-experimental design study that investigated the effects of Saxon Middle School Math on 78 eighth-grade students in four middle schools in Oklahoma. Students in classrooms taught with the Saxon Algebra ½ textbook were compared with students in classrooms taught with the Scott Foresman Mathematics text.
Peters (1992) was a randomized control trial with 36 eighth-grade "math-talented" students from one junior high school in Nebraska. Students in the intervention group used the Saxon Algebra program while students in the comparison group used the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project textbook. Resendez, Fahmy, & Manley (2005) was a quasi-experimental design study that looked at a representative sample of over 6,300 students from 16 schools in Texas. Students using the Saxon program textbooks (Saxon 76, Saxon 87, or Algebra ½) were compared with students taught with either a topic-driven basal math text or an investigative approach focused on making connections among mathematics topics.
Resendez & Manley (2005) was a quasi-experimental design study that looked at eighth grade students from 28 schools from the state of Georgia. Students using the Saxon program (Saxon 76, Saxon 87, Algebra ½, or Algebra 1) were compared with students who used a topic-driven basal math text, an investigative approach focused on making connections among mathematics topics, or an amalgam of computer-based programs, basal textbooks, investigative techniques, and non-textbook printed material.
Roberts (1994) was a quasi-experimental design study that included 185 students from six schools in two districts in rural Mississippi. Students using the Saxon program (Saxon 76, Saxon 87, or Algebra ½) were compared with students using the basal textbooks Mathematics (in the seventh grade) or Mathematics Unlimited (in the eighth grade).
4 This study was accepted for review because the focus of this topic review is on grades six through nine regardless of setting (that is, middle school, junior high school, or high school). For further details, see the Middle School Math Protocol.
