What K-12 English Language Arts and Mathematics Instructional Materials Were Newly Purchased and Used for the 2021-2022 School Year? Findings from the 2022 American Instructional Resources Survey. Rand American Educator Panels. Research Report. RR-A134-15

Past research suggests that it is common for teachers to draw on multiple instructional materials even when their school or district recommends, requires, or provides them with a specific curriculum. While teachers likely draw on a variety of resources to address changing and diverse student needs, studies show that teacher-selected materials can be less rigorous and cognitively demanding than materials that would be considered to meet grade-level standards. Although prior research on use of instructional resources, such as the American Instructional Resources Survey (AIRS), documents which materials teachers use, relatively little is known about the extent to which districts, schools, and teachers are specifically adopting and using "new" materials in a given school year, what those materials are, and who purchases those materials. There also is little information on how school systems' efforts to address missed learning because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic might be related to changes in the instructional materials that schools and districts purchase and that teachers use in their classroom. This report draws on nationally representative survey data from 3,719 English language arts (ELA) teachers and 2,680 mathematics teachers to answer the following research questions: (1) What proportion of educators reported using new ELA or mathematics instructional materials, what are those materials, and how often do educators use them? (2) What proportion of teachers' new ELA or mathematics instructional materials were purchased by the school or district during the 2021-2022 school year? How much money do teachers spend out of pocket on new instructional materials? (3) What proportion of teachers reported not using ELA or mathematics materials newly purchased by their school or district and why? (4) What are teachers' needs for better or more ELA or mathematics curriculum materials? and (5) Is the availability of federal relief funds associated with use of new instructional materials by teachers and lower teacher out-of-pocket spending on instructional materials?