Elementary mathematics curriculum: State policy, COVID-19, and teacher control
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Bima Sapkota 1 * , Amy M. Olson 2 , Mona Baniahmadi 3
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1 Department of Teaching and Learning, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA2 Educational Foundations & Leadership, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA3 Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA* Corresponding Author

Abstract

In the U.S., teachers navigate a wide range of factors when curating and adapting curricular resources, including state and district policies, technological accessibility, and contextual conditions such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We used state-level political affiliations to examine how elementary teachers in 46 U.S. states curated and implemented mathematics curricular resources before and during the pandemic. We then examined teachers’ responses from 10 states representing Republican, Democratic, and split political affiliations across geographic regions to identify contextual factors shaping curricular curation and implementation during pandemic teaching. Our findings showed that state policies only partially shaped teachers’ curricular curation and implementation, as teachers across political contexts encountered similar constraints and opportunities related to student access, engagement, technological resources, and instructional demands. Teachers also described a shift in Fall 2020 toward more structured online schooling, including increased expectations for student attendance, academic work, and learning. We also found some aspects that were influenced by state policy. Teachers in Republican states reported using more mathematics curricular resources before the pandemic and having greater curricular control during remote teaching, although teachers’ preparation for remote teaching did not differ by political affiliation. We discuss implications for better positioning teachers to exercise curricular agency when navigating politically and contextually complex circumstances and unforeseen disruptions.

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 22, Issue 9, September 2026, Article No: em2913

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/19278

Publication date: 18 Sep 2026

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