A Guide to Analyzing Mathematics Tasks and Their Implementation in Curriculum Resources
Since the publication of the NCTM Standards in 1989, which was followed by a new generation of curriculum development projects, the field has seen increasing interest in research on curriculum resources, how they are used by teachers and experienced by students, and the outcomes that they produce. Although some studies seek to draw direct lines between particular curriculum materials used and student outcomes, a majority of researchers argue that understanding whether and how teachers are implementing a given written curriculum resource1 with some measure of fidelity is necessary to determining its effects on learning (Stein, Remillard, & Smith, 2007). Over the last 2 decades, research has expanded to consider how teachers interpret, learn from, interact with, and generate curriculum resources. Over a similar timespan, the number and types of curriculum resources available to teachers have also expanded to include print, digital, and blended comprehensive curricula along with a slew of supplemental resources and tools available through the Internet.