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How do teachers make informed decisions about choosing quality instructional materials that support positive outcomes for students?

With funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, WestEd is studying how teachers make sound decisions about which instructional materials to use in their classrooms. This work is designed to support a portfolio of Hewlett-funded grantees working to improve the quality and consistency of instructional materials in classrooms across the United States.

In 2016, WestEd researchers conducted focus groups with teachers in six cities nationwide to develop a baseline understanding of how they obtain, judge the quality of, and select instructional materials. Specifically, WestEd researchers explored three areas of interest:

• Teachers’ judgments of what constitutes quality materials
• Why and how teachers choose to supplement adopted materials
• Teachers’ descriptions of processes for adopting instructional materials in their districts and schools

This brief focuses on the third area of interest: teachers’ descriptions of processes for adopting instructional materials in their districts and schools.

Additional briefs in this series:

• How Teachers Judge the Quality of Instructional Materials
• Why and How Teachers Choose to Supplement Adopted Materials