Teachers’ perceptions of the official curriculum: Problem solving and rigor

Abstract

This contribution to curriculum ergonomics focuses on teachers’ perceptions of problem solving and rigor in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, the curricular aims and objectives component of the official curriculum in the U.S. Our analyses involve 89 middle school mathematics teachers (MSMTs) using two different types of district-adopted textbooks: thinking device (TD) and delivery mechanism (DM). We found that MSMTs’ perceptions of problem solving and rigor in the Common Core varied by textbook type. Consequently, while this paper examines teachers’ perceptions of curricular aims and objectives, it was apparent that another component of the official curriculum, teachers’ district-adopted textbooks, played a strong role in influencing these perceptions. The implications of these results are discussed.