Teachers beliefs about the curriculum and students of courses intended to be equivalent to Algebra I

The purpose of this study was to describe some beliefs that secondary teachers had about the curriculum and students of courses intended to be equivalent to Algebra I. In order to identify common and diverse beliefs among these teachers, a 16-item survey questionnaire was sent to 200 teachers of algebra-equivalent courses in two Southeastern states where Algebra I or its equivalent was a requirement for graduation. Twelve teachers were selected to take part in a series of interviews and classroom observations to better understand how beliefs about the curricula and their students affected practice. This study applied qualitative methodology using an phenomenological research perspective.; While many teachers believed that Applied Mathematics and Fundamentals of Algebra (two course that met the algebra graduation requirement) were not equivalent in content or depth to Algebra I, they did believe that these two courses were an improvement over general and remedial mathematics. Beliefs about students appeared to influence teacher practice more than beliefs about curricula and this determined how teachers implemented the intended curriculum. The beliefs teachers held about their students seemed to determine to what degree they felt responsibility for their students learning. Teachers in this study described students enrolled in algebra-equivalent courses as "different" from college-intending students. This difference was caused for despair and discouragement for some teachers while others accepted it with an optimism that they incorporated into their practice.