Proposal
The Effects of Saxon Mathematics as a Tool to Increase Standardized Test Scores
Introduction
The Saxon approach to mathematics is based on the incremental development model. ( 1987) It involves three processes to ensure comprehension and retention among the students: (a) incremental development; (b) continuous distributed review; (c) frequent cumulative testing. () The complicated mathematical concepts are broken down into several related parts that “are easier to teach and easier to learn” and it is distributed among the different grade levels. ()
John Saxon, the author of Saxon, once said that math is not really that difficult. And it is this misconception about math that inspired him to create a program that will help the students to understand the subject easily. Incremental development involves the process of breaking down the complex concepts to be taught in school. () Continuous distributed review is the process which deals mainly with helping the students to retain what they have learned from the incremental development. This stage involves giving out homework assignments and work sheets for the review of the students. () The problem sets contain questions for the particular lesson and questions involving the incorporation of the previous lessons to the current ones. (1997) The frequent cumulative testing involves determining the preparedness of the students to advance to the next level math. () In the statement of (1990), the incremental development approach has proven to increase the level of student learning as compared to “mass presentations”. ()
Literature Review
John Saxon was a retiree from the Air Force who taught “at a junior college in Oklahoma”. () Saxon observed that there is low retention rate among his students in Algebra. () That is why he was amenable to the suggestion of one of his students to make problem sets for the class and it resulted to increased retention rate among his students. () He continued to write textbooks for
”high school algebra students” and encouraged the other high school teachers to try his program. () After the success of the program of the participating high school teachers, Saxon tried to get his work published in New York but no publisher would accept his work. () But Saxon is determined to get his manuscript published in order to help the students. Upon his return to Oklahoma, the money from the mortgaged of his home and his inheritance from his mother, he was able to publish his book, Algebra 1 in October 1980, under the name of his publishing company Grassdale Publishers. () Under the new name of his company in 1986, , Inc., Saxon has published four books, including, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Algebra1/2, and Advanced Mathematics. ()
Saxon mathematics has proven its worth as a tool in helping the students to understand the seemingly complex concepts in mathematics. The most prominent record of Saxon mathematics is the study among 1400 students, which showed that the students who used the Saxon mathematics were able to solve more than two, 2.6, mathematical problems for every one (1) problem solved by those students who did not use the program, the control group. () A number of magazines have reported about the success of using Saxon mathematics, among them are; 60 Minutes, Reader’s Digest, Time, Newsweek, and a number of other newspapers. () Aside from Algebra, the publishers have made the Saxon program available in the other fields of mathematics, from kindergarten to calculus. () There are reports of “increased enthusiasm and confidence for mathematics following the use of Saxon Program”. ()
The program is not only helping the students but it also facilitates the teacher in the conduct of mathematics class. According to , there are reports about the usefulness of the program especially to the substitute teachers. The substitute teachers can easily fill in and carry on without disrupting the lesson structure. () Also, aside from mathematics, the Saxon program has also found its usefulness in other educational areas like for those students having problems reading and spelling, where the book Phonics Intervention is being used and in physics. ()
Standardized tests are typically conducted for the purpose of comparison in the evaluation of instruction. (1990)The standardized tests are designed for specific objectives and the items should be relevant for the intended use of the test to ensure the content validity of the test. (1990) As a tool for determining the effects of instruction, the behavioral objectives and the instructional objectives of the test must be correlated. Although standardized tests are less frequent in schools because of the other tests and measurements that can be used by the teacher, these tests are still used “as diagnostic and predictive devices”. ( 1974)
There have been critics to the use of Saxon mathematics in schools. One of the major criticisms is that the program is “strong in drill and practice but severely lacking in conceptual development”, that it was designed to ensure that the processes are memorized and used correctly but without substance but no methods involved. (2001) But the more a student is trained on the basic knowledge, the greater the probability of success because there is a strong foundation for building up knowledge. In a statement of a principal from Sacramento, Saxon mathematics may be boring and repetitive but the students are trained to use the tools automatically, which fulfill s the objectives of using the program. ( 2001)
(1998), enumerated a number of schools that adopted the program in order to improve the ranking of their schools. An increasing number of Houston schools has been adopting Saxon mathematics, because according to a principal it is a “proven solution because they’re accountable for the results”. (1998) Curriculum Specialists are also sent to different places to determine how the ranking of a school may be improved from “acceptable” to “recognized”. A school superintendent sent out his math teachers who returned with Saxon mathematics and raised the ranking of their school from “acceptable” to “recognize” in two years, while another school was able to rise in rank using the same program in just one (1) year. (1998)
According to the study of English, (1934) the distributive method of instruction, by using intervals, has resulted in “greater student achievement” rather than those that were not distributed. () Another study conducted by (1988), (1974) and(1964), confirmed the effectivity of distributed instruction including mathematics. () And this is the one of the three pillars that hold Saxon mathematics, to teach mathematics incrementally in order to build a strong foundation from which understanding complex concepts will be made easier to understand.
However, in order to be effective the foundation of knowledge should be retained in the minds of the students. In order to this, there should be a continuous review of the concepts and lessons already learned. This has been proven in the studies conducted by Good and (1979), (1984), (1986), (2002), (1991) and (1990). It was shown in their researches that the students “with a mathematics curriculum that uses continual practice and review show greater skill acquisition and math achievement”. () While in the studies of (1987) and (1980) it was shown that “distributed practice results in higher performance than massed practice”. ()
The last pillar of Saxon mathematics is the frequent cumulative testing, which serves as a response to the standardized tests. These tests are conducted primarily to measure the development of the students and their improvement in mathematics with regards to using the program. The cumulative testing assessment of Saxon mathematics is based on the research of (1991) which showed that “effective assessment is frequent and cumulative rather than infrequent or related only to content covered since the last test”. ()
Statement of the Problem
The research will determine the effectivity of Saxon Mathematics in increasing standardized test scores.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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