ABSTRACT
Mathematics curriculum materials have historically been viewed as a key vehicle for infusing new ideas about teaching and learning into practice in order to affect large-scale, instructional reform. Theoretically, curriculum materials are wellpositioned to influence large numbers of teachers and classrooms. Educational institutions are set up to purchase and disseminate materials, and teachers are accustomed to using textbooks to guide instruction. Yet there is also evidence that curriculum program adoptions have had limited influence on teachers’ beliefs and approaches to instruction (Ball & Cohen, 1996, 2002; Coburn, 2001; Collopy, 2003; Fullan & Pomfret, 1977; Stein, Grover, & Henningsen, 1996). Although it may be relatively easy to get curriculum materials to large numbers of teachers, it is much more difficult to assure that those materials are used and used well.
