Tuesday, April 20, 2010

WWC evaluates Saxon Math textbook series for middle school

"Saxon Math is a textbook series covering grades K–12 based on incremental development and continual review of mathematical concepts to give students time to learn and practice concepts throughout the year. The series is aligned with standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and various states, and can be adapted for special education students in inclusion classrooms, pullout programs, or self-contained resource classrooms. Although content differs by course, the incremental, distributed approach of Saxon Math is the same, with mathematical concepts presented in a series of short “lessons” intended to gradually build understanding and previously-taught concepts practiced and assessed throughout the course. ...This report includes studies that investigate the potential impact of Saxon Math texts on math achievement of middle school students...

One study of Saxon Math meets What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards, and four studies meet WWC evidence standards with reservations. The five studies included over 6,500 students from grades 6 to 8 in 52 schools in four states.

Based on these five studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence for Saxon Math to be medium to large for math achievement."

Full report is linked here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/middle_math/saxon/

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