Mathematics Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Instructional Materials for English Learners: Results From a National Survey

• In Event: Role of Curriculum and Instruction for Math Learning

Abstract

This paper presents results from a survey of 1,084 K-12 mathematics teachers. The survey focused on teachers' use of curriculum materials to meet the needs of multilingual learners classified as English learners. The results show (a) Elementary teachers were most likely to use the school or district-recommended instructional materials, (b) Most teachers assessed their materials as adequately addressing mathematics standards, and (c) The majority of teachers in this sample did not judge their materials as culturally or linguistically appropriate for their students who were classified as English learners. This work implies that additional curriculum development efforts are needed to develop instructional materials that are responsive to research-based recommendations for teaching multilingual learners.

Authors

• William C. Zahner, San Diego State University

• Renae Skarin, English Learners Success Forum

• Kevin Pelaez, Duo Security