Enhancing and Enacting Curricular Progressions in Elementary Mathematics

Abstract

In this study, we examined how curricular resources supported three expert teachers in their enactment of progressions. Using a video-stimulated interview process, we documented the multiple types of progressions identified, described, and enacted by the teachers. Results indicate that the teachers used four different types of progressions—mathematical concepts, instructional activities, number choices, and student solutions—and that the progressions were embedded within each other. This study contributes to the field’s understanding of the ways in which expert teachers make use of curriculum- and research-based progressions in their teaching practices.

Notes

1. ¹Investigations is a standards-based curriculum (one that is based on standards put forth by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [1989, 2000]) grounded in the premise that instruction should expand and develop students’ own mathematical ideas (TERC, 2012).

2. ²All names are pseudonyms.