The purpose of this study was to determine if there would be a significant difference in the achievement levels of two groups of eighth-grade Algebra I students when one group receives instruction from a non-traditional (Saxon) method of instruction, and the other receives instruction from a traditional method (Fair and Bragg text). The study was conducted at Oceana Middle School in Oceana, West Virginia, and Glen Rogers Grade School in Glen Rogers, West Virginia during the first 9-week period of the 1996-97 school year. Thirty-three students participated in the study. Nineteen Algebra I students at Oceana Middle School served as the control group. Fourteen students at Glen Rogers Grade School were the experimental group. The classes were held at the same time and had the same amount of instructional time per day. A pretest was given on the first day of class. After 45 days of instruction, a post test was given. Both tests consisted of concepts covered in both textbooks. A two-sample t-test was performed on both sets of data as well as the difference between the scores from the pretest to the post test in both groups. The results indicated that there was statistical difference in the two groups at the beginning of the study. The control group scored much higher than the experimental group but on the post test, results indicated no statistical difference between the two groups. The experimental group improved approximately 65% more than the control group. (Author/ASK)