Research Brief
Supporting Principals to Lead on the Selection and Use of Instructional Materials in Classrooms
Jul 19, 2021
In this report, the authors use survey data from a nationally representative sample to examine how middle and high school English language arts and mathematics teachers use and perceive their instructional materials in terms of their engagement, challenge, and usability. In addition, the authors use interview data to understand teachers' perceptions about what makes instructional materials engaging, appropriately challenging, and usable.
A Survey and Interview Study
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The authors of this report build on past studies by using survey data from a nationally representative sample to examine how middle and high school English language arts (ELA) and mathematics teachers use and perceive their instructional materials in terms of engagement, challenge, and usability. In addition, the authors use interview data to understand teachers' perceptions about what makes instructional materials engaging, appropriately challenging, and usable. Engagement is the extent to which the instructional materials pique and sustain student interest and attention; appropriately challenging is the extent to which the materials address the academic and learning needs of students; and usable is the extent to which the materials feature components that teachers desire and that are easy to enact or adapt to meet the needs of their students.
Gaining insight into teachers' perceptions of their materials is important because this insight can affect the work of curriculum developers; it can influence state, school district, and other decisionmakers in their materials-adoption processes. Furthermore, teachers' modifications of materials can affect students' opportunities to achieve academic standards. This insight has become even more important during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic because of instruction moving online and teachers having to adapt their instruction and materials accordingly.
The research described in this report was conducted by RAND Education and Labor and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
This report is part of the RAND Corporation Research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.
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