The purpose of this study was to determine if method of instruction, standards-based or traditional, had an impact on student mathematics achievement. More specifically, this study sought to determine if students taught using the JBHM Achievement Connections® standards-based method of instruction would show higher academic gain than students taught using a traditional method of instruction through the use of Mathematics: Applications and Connections, Course 2® in seventh-grade. The research design was a quasi-experimental design, with 65 students participating. Group A received a traditional method of instruction through the use of Mathematics: Applications and Connections, Course 2 and Group B received a standards-based method of instruction through the use of JBHM Achievement Connections. The test instrument administered for the pretest and posttest was the PLATO eduTest®. An analysis of the pretest and posttest scores was conducted. T-tests were run to examine the differences between pretest and posttest cores and gender, based on the method of instruction. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was computed to examine differences in performance based on class period representation. A paired t-test was computed to examine differences between the pretest and posttest scores after students were exposed to a method of instruction. After the data was collected and analyzed, the findings showed that there were no statistical differences in student achievement between students taught using JBHM Achievement Connections standards-based method of instruction (Group A) and those students taught using Mathematics: Applications and Connections, Course 2 traditional method of instruction (Group B) as measured by the PLATO eduTest scores. Students taught using the JBHM Achievement Connections standards-based method of instruction and the Mathematics: Applications and Connections, Course 2 traditional method of instruction both showed increased mathematics outcomes. However, the students taught using JBHM Achievement Connections standards-based method of instruction had a higher mean score and a greater degree of gain between pretest and posttest scores than the students taught using the Mathematics: Applications and Connections, Course 2 traditional method of instruction.