The purpose of the study is to see if there is a significant difference in chemistry exam achievement growth for 10th grade students in classes with problem-based learning compared with those students in classes with direct instruction. The state in which the study was conducted is developing new standards that are challenging students more than ever before, and chemistry scores have been low. Past research has not investigated the use of problem-based learning and whether there is a difference in achievement growth on this state exam. The primary research question for this study is the following: Is there a significant difference in chemistry achievement growth for 10th grade students in classes with problem-based learning compared with those students in classes with direct instruction? The secondary research question is: Is there a significant difference in chemistry achievement growth by gender for 10th grade in classes with problem-based learning compared with classes using direct instruction? The tertiary research question asks the following: Is there a significant difference in chemistry achievement growth by sub scores for the 10th grade students in classes with problem-based learning compared with those students in classes with direct instruction? The research methodology was a quantitative causal-comparative design. The population was the total number of sophomores that took this test which was 3,268. The sample size was 2019 chemistry scores from 102 students. The statistical analysis used in this research was multiple t-tests. The findings from the research study at hand revealed there is a significant difference in chemistry achievement growth for the 10thgrade students in classes with problem-based learning compared to students in classes with direct instruction. The data also showed a significant difference in terms of gender for classes with problem-based learning and those using direct instruction. The research also concluded that there is a difference between the scores on subsections of the chemistry exam among students who were in the problem-based learning classroom compared to those in the direct instruction classroom. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]