Setting
The study took place in 20 Texas schools located in rural, suburban, and urban districts. Students in Cohort F (the study sample in this review) were in the sixth grade in the 2003–04 school year.
Study sample
Data were collected from 15 intervention schools in Texas districts that used Saxon Math in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades between 1993 and 2004. The Texas Education Agency identified 40 potential comparison schools that were similar to the intervention schools based on demographic characteristics including race, ethnicity, poverty, English language proficiency, and percentage of mobile students. Fifteen of the 40 potential schools were randomly selected for the comparison group. Within this group of 30 schools, the author selected three samples of students with multiple cohorts in each sample. This review focuses on Sample 3, which included Cohorts F, G, and H. Cohorts G and H do not meet WWC group design standards; therefore, this review focuses on the analytic sample in Cohort F.
Cohort F included data in 20 of the 30 schools, including a total of 2,933 students. The intervention group contained 1,526 students in 10 schools, and the comparison group contained 1,407 students in 10 schools. The study did not report the characteristics of the analytic sample of students in this review, but they did provide information for all students in the study: about 45% were Hispanic, about 40% were Caucasian, about 13% were African American, about 5% were limited English proficient, about 15% were special education status, 49% were female, and about 50% were economically disadvantaged.
Intervention Group
Students in the intervention group used Saxon Math as their core math curriculum in grade 6 during the 2003–04 school year. At least 80% of students used Saxon 7/6, and the remainder used Saxon 8/7. The study did not specify which editions of Saxon Math were used. Further information about the level of implementation in study schools was not provided.
Comparison Group
The comparison students used core basal math curricula, which typically consist of a chapter-based approach to math instruction. Specific details about how these curricula were implemented in comparison schools are not provided by the authors.
Support for implementation
The study does not provide information on the support for implementation. However, intervention schools were already using the Saxon Math curriculum prior to the study.