Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Curriculum and Instruction
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
As standards-based curriculum reforms expand across the United States, school districts have increasingly adopted scripted curricular materials to promote coherence across classroom practice and strengthen alignment to standardized assessments. Within Louisiana, efforts to align English instruction to the Common Core State Standards manifested in the creation of the ELA Guidebooks curriculum by the Louisiana Department of Education. Guidebooks provides teachers with sequenced units of instruction organized around a central novel, explicit directions, pacing guidance, and cumulative writing tasks aligned to central unit questions. This qualitative study explored how secondary (i.e., grades 6-12) English teachers perceived and described their experiences implementing and utilizing the ELA Guidebooks curriculum within one Louisiana school district. Specifically, research questions examined the influence on teachers’ perceived efficacy and sense of professional identity. Guided by a phenomenological approach, data was collected through six semi-structured individual interviews. Data was transcribed and iteratively analyzed to establish themes derived from the data. Interview findings indicate that participants’ experiences were characterized by tension between curriculum implementation expectations and responsiveness to students’ perceived needs. Participants described mixed perceptions of student learning outcomes relating to instructional rigor, academic success, and types of thinking. Participants also noted various changes to their professional practice, including reflection on lesson rigor and professional collaboration. After the initial findings, a focus group of three teachers was conducted to further explore, nuance, and complicate the interview findings. Implications of this study include practical knowledge for school and district leaders responsible for curriculum implementation, insights into the effects of curriculum fidelity and its influence on teachers’ classroom experiences, and contributions to broader literature on the influence of curriculum reform and implementation on teacher efficacy and identity.
Date
3-26-2026
Recommended Citation
Dufrene, Bodie, "Secondary English Teachers’ Perceptions and Experiences with the ELA Guidebooks Curriculum: A Phenomenological Study" (2026). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 7055.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/7055
Committee Chair
Quinn, Molly
LSU Acknowledgement
1
LSU Accessibility Acknowledgment
1