Are U.S. Teachers Using High-Quality Instructional Materials?

The Adaptive Challenges of Curriculum Implementation: Insights for Educational Leaders Driving Standards-Based Reform

“…This improvement journey requires a blend of technical and adaptive leadership, given the technical and adaptive aspects of the challenges that educators experience when learning to implement the standards. Because adaptive processes necessitate ongoing learning and reflection, educational leaders should embed multiple, curriculum-focused learning opportunities throughout the implementation process, rather than accepting the conventional practice of allocating fewer than 4 days of curriculum-focused coaching and PD (Kaufman et al, 2019) We therefore integrate findings from this study with prior conceptualizations of adaptive leadership behaviors (Carter et al, 2020; Heifetz et al, 2009; Wolfe, 2015) into a set of recommendations that focus on this ongoing learning, and that address the four curricular challenges described (see Table 5). While it may be appealing to efficiently fix an adaptive challenge with only technical solutions in the short term, in the long term, these challenges will emerge again and again until leaders also institutionalize the adaptations that organizations need to make to fundamentally address these challenges.…”

Double tap, double trouble: Instagram, teachers, and profit

“…Gorman (2017) noted that, on average, teachers spend 5 h per week outside of school hours writing and/or creating their own curriculum and an additional 7 h searching for, using, or buying sources of curriculum. This unpaid labor has been linked to the challenges that educators face in procuring instructional materials to meet specific state standards or benchmarks (Kaufman et al, 2019; Perry et al, 2017). These factors, in combination with low pay and continuing deprofessionalization of teachers in the public realm, have helped make Teachergram an epicenter for personal branding, the practice of marketing oneself and one’s career for financial gain and personal validation.…”

School leaders’ perceptions of their support for culturally relevant literacy pedagogy in an urban elementary school

“…Implementing new pedagogy requires teachers to engage in ongoing learning and reflection. Kaufman et al, 2019 suggest that school leaders embed multiple learning opportunities grounded in the curriculum implementation, rather than supporting implementation with just a few days of professional development and coaching, which is typically the method of support when new curriculum is adopted. educational leaders should embed multiple, curriculum-focused learning opportunities throughout the implementation process, rather than accepting the conventional practice of allocating fewer than four days of curriculum-focused coaching and P.D.…”

“…educational leaders should embed multiple, curriculum-focused learning opportunities throughout the implementation process, rather than accepting the conventional practice of allocating fewer than four days of curriculum-focused coaching and P.D. (Kaufman et al, 2019) The commitment of the leadership team to supporting teachers with CRP implementation was grounded in their deep commitment to enhancing the learning experiences of the Black and Brown students at Washington, and because this commitment was so deep, these leaders allowed and planned for ways in which their support for CRP could be interwoven into their leadership practices. While this conclusion from data analysis aligns with the scholarship, it is not accounted for within the initial conceptual framework.…”