Algebra-focused features of instruction: an integrated investigation of curricular guidance and instructional enactment

To be successful in algebra, students need access to high-quality instruction that includes opportunities to develop their algebraic understanding. Yet research on algebra teaching suggests that instruction remains procedurally focused, indicating that teachers may need additional support to provide students such opportunities. One possible lever for improving instruction may be through curricular guidance provided to teachers, specifically through educative materials that provide support for teacher as well as student learning. This study aims to understand how curricular guidance supports teachers to enact the types of instructional practices that support students’ learning opportunities in algebra specifically, and how teachers enact that guidance. We draw from a sample of 29 video observations from six teachers of the same three textbook lessons and use aligned analytic frameworks to examine the curriculum materials and enacted lessons in tandem. We investigate how the curricular guidance provides opportunities for algebra-focused instructional features, how these opportunities are taken up by teachers, and how and in what ways differences in instructional enactments might be related to the curricular opportunities. We find differences in which instructional features varied more by lesson and which varied more by teacher and describe sources of this variation. Curricular guidance supported teachers’ enactments, but teacher-level variation was largely due to teachers going beyond the support provided. This study suggests how curriculum materials can better support teacher learning and provides insight into taking a content-focused approach to studying curricular enactment.