How States Are Creating Conditions for Use of High-Quality Instructional Materials in K-12 Classrooms: Findings from the 2021 American Instructional Resources Survey. Research Report. RR-A134-13

Policymakers and practitioners increasingly have looked to instructional materials to signal the content that students are expected to learn and how to teach that content. The American Instructional Resources Survey (AIRS) has been investigating adoption and use of instructional materials in K-12 public schools in the spring of each school year since 2019. In this report, the authors focus on survey data on adoption and use of instructional materials of teachers across the United States and from state-representative samples of teachers in states that are participating in the Council of Chief State School Officers' High-Quality Instructional Materials and Professional Development (IMPD) Network. The IMPD Network focuses on supporting state reforms that encourage use of high-quality materials in K-12 schools. Following an introduction in chapter one, this report investigates the variables and linkages in this theory of action in several ways: (1) Chapter Two investigates the policy strategies undertaken by IMPD Network states to encourage and/or support the selection and use of curriculum materials that the state has defined as high quality; (2) Chapter Three summarizes standards-aligned material adoption, use, and supports across the United States and in the IMPD Network states during the 2020-2021 school year using teacher survey self-reports to AIRS, which was administered to a nationally representative sample of teachers in spring 2021; (3) Chapter Four provides state-specific profiles for each state in the IMPD Network; these profiles summarize patterns and trends within each state on key indicators relating to standards-aligned curriculum material adoption, use, buy-in, and supports; and (4) Chapter Five provides an overview of key findings and conclusions, followed by an appendix that includes more detail on state policies and strategies related to curriculum reform.