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NCAC: Research & Solutions: Curriculum: Teacher Survey

NCAC Curriculum Teacher Survey

Conducted by Roxanne Ruzic and Kathy O'Connell

Goals

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We surveyed a convenience sample of teachers, primarily from the greater Boston area, to find out:

• What curriculum adaptations and enhancements teachers make in their classrooms to accommodate different learners.
• What curriculum adaptations and enhancements provided by publishers teachers use to accommodate different learners.
• What curriculum adaptations or enhancements teachers would make to their curriculum if they had more resources.

We were interested in comparing teachers' perspectives on effective curriculum related practices to the perspectives of publishers and researchers on this topic. Because the greater Boston area historically has had a strong educational research community and a strong educational publishing presence, we hypothesized that teachers in this region should be as connected or more connected to the perspectives of these other groups as in other communities.

Sample

The sample included 58 teachers. All but two were from Massachusetts, and the majority of the teachers were female. Most were general (as opposed to special) educators and most worked in suburban schools. Teaching experience in the sample ranged from one to 37 years. Teachers from all grade levels (kindergarten to twelfth grade) were represented. Teachers in the sample at the secondary level taught a variety of subjects.

Methods

We distributed paper surveys to teachers across a variety of districts, schools, and grade levels, in both urban and suburban communities at two different times. The teachers were asked to return to surveys in sealed envelopes (to protect confidentiality) to a local school representative connected with the project, or to mail them back in stamped, addressed envelopes.

In the survey, teachers were asked to list the curriculum adaptations they use, the curriculum adaptations publishers provide that they use, and the curriculum adaptations they would use if they had more resources or that would be most helpful to them. Based on feedback, we simplified the survey for the second distribution.

Findings

Teachers reported that they generally customize or adapt curriculum for between 6% and 100% of their students. Six teachers of the 51 who responded to this question reported they customize material for all their students. Most commonly, teachers reported they customize materials for between 15% and 30% of their students.

Of the 58 teachers who returned the surveys, only 22 reported that they used materials provided by publishers to accommodate different learners in their classrooms.

A comparison of the adaptations that were

1. reported used by teachers in the sample,
2. supplied by publishers and used by teachers in the sample and
3. would be used by teachers if they had more resources

Note that the enhancements used by teachers and the enhancements that would be used by teachers if they had more resources do not seem to parallel materials that teachers perceive as being available from publishers. While this survey was conducted with a limited sample, the results suggest that teachers and publishers may benefit from increased communication.