The Adoption of Mathematics and Science Curriculum Materials to Align With New Standards

• In Event: Developing National Indicators for K–12 STEM Curriculum and Instruction

Abstract

Purpose

Textbooks and other curriculum materials influence student learning directly (through daily use) and indirectly (through teachers’ use of texts to guide instruction). However, comprehensive textbook adoption data are virtually nonexistent. Recognizing the paucity of data, the NRC called for “determining which curricula districts and schools have adopted for science [and] mathematics” (Indicator 4). This paper therefore addresses two questions:
1) What math and science textbooks are used in the five largest U.S. states?
2) To what extent are textbooks equitably distributed?

Framework

Students' opportunity to learn is at the heart of standards-based reform efforts. It is thought that providing teachers with more consistent messages through content standards and aligned assessments, curriculum materials, and professional development will lead to instructional alignment and improvement, and student knowledge of standards content will improve. To the extent that the standards represent a "good target," this will result in improved student knowledge and skills. Gathering data on the content sources used in classrooms is a first step in understanding opportunity to learn.

Methods/Data

The work is concentrated in California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois as a proof of concept for what could be a national activity. Of these states, only California currently collects textbook information—however, these data (http://sarconline.org/) are incomplete. Elsewhere, the data must be manually collected. We built a website for districts to report textbook information and emailed invitations to all districts in the target states. We followed up with Freedom of Information requests to the remaining 3,000 districts. To date those requests have yielded approximately 50% response. Follow-up is ongoing; we expect 75% response by the fall.

Analysis will use descriptive statistics and regression to answer the research questions. The first question will involve presenting basic market share data on the most popular books. The second question will regress textbook variables (e.g., age of textbook, reform vs. traditional focus) on student- and school/district-level variables such as poverty, location, and size to uncover adoption patterns.

Results

Preliminary results suggest immense diffusion in the textbook market, though several publishers have meaningfully large market shares in certain grades. For instance, enVision Math, Go Math, and the EngageNY materials are all adopted in greater than 10% of districts. However, more than 400 unique titles were reported across the sample in mathematics alone.

Equity analyses find that rural districts and districts serving more poor and minority students are more likely to have older textbooks. They are also less likely to keep track of or report textbook adoption data. More complete analyses will be presented once a final dataset is assembled.

Discussion

Without an understanding of which textbooks are used and by whom, it is impossible to understand textbook effects on teachers and students. This work represents a preliminary investigation of these issues. That the work has identified equity issues suggests these data should be routinely tracked by states in order to ensure a baseline level of opportunity to learn for students.

Authors

• Morgan S. Polikoff, University of Southern California

• Tenice Hardaway, University of Southern California