Challenges for Teachers Attempting to Integrate a Mathematics Innovation

When teachers decide to use innovative materials in their classrooms, several questions arise. The fourth-grade teachers in this study answered these questions in different ways that greatly affected the success of the innovation. Data were collected through audiotaped semistructured interviews, teacher journals, and field notes. The data were analyzed using a social constructivist framework to determine how these teachers constructed a rationale for their use of the innovation. One teacher was able to foster mathematical constructions, relinquish control over the classroom and the curriculum, and feel validated in these processes by parents, administrators, students, and colleagues. Educators and researchers are encouraged to help teachers refine methods and establish links between their beliefs and effective innovation.