School- or district-provided instructional materials are key resources as teachers work to support learning and ensure that what students learn is aligned with local, state, and national goals. To use them effectively, teachers analyze materials carefully, becoming deeply familiar with the scope and sequence of a unit and with the core academic content, tasks, and activities of individual lessons. They then adapt them to meet the needs of specific learners and contexts.
States and school districts increasingly adopt specific instructional materials as a strategy for pursuing equity. In theory, well-designed instructional materials ensure that all students receive instruction in standards-aligned, grade-level appropriate content. When districts stipulate that teachers use them, they reduce the possibility that teachers will choose to use materials that result in some children receiving instruction in less challenging and less relevant material. To contribute to children’s learning, however, instructional materials must be used with skill. In particular, teachers must understand how to adapt materials to the needs of specific learners and contexts and how to ensure that materials contain sufficient scaffolds and framing to support cultural relevance and equitable practice.