Quality early childhood education (ECE) has lasting benefits, and instructional materials are a crucial aspect of ECE. In this report, the authors present a national picture of how public school–based pre-K teachers used and combined instructional materials during the 2024–2025 school year. They provide recommendations for state and district leaders, curriculum providers, and early childhood program leaders.

How Public School–Based Pre-K Teachers Use and Combine Instructional Materials

Findings from the American Public School Pre-K Teacher Survey

Ashley Woo, Christopher Joseph Doss, Anna Shapiro, Elizabeth D. Steiner

ResearchPublished Dec 16, 2025

Quality early childhood education (ECE) has lasting benefits, and instructional materials are a crucial aspect of ECE. In this report, the authors draw from a nationally representative survey of pre-kindergarten (pre-K) teachers in public schools across the United States to describe how they used and combined instructional materials during the 2024–2025 school year.

The authors found that public school–based pre-K teachers used a variety of instructional materials in their classrooms, often combining publisher-developed comprehensive materials, domain-specific materials, and materials that they or other teachers created. Teachers who combined different types of materials had more-positive perceptions of their adequacy, likely because the use of multiple materials allowed them to draw on the strengths of different materials to fill in perceived quality gaps.

Teachers' reports suggest opportunities to improve their access to instructional materials that could help them address the learning needs of pre-K students. Only half of pre-K teachers said that their materials were adequate for supporting students with diverse learning needs, such as students with disabilities and English learners. In addition, while most teachers reported using a domain-specific language and literacy material, very few said that they used a domain-specific numeracy material. Instead, many teachers reported turning to self-created materials or Teachers Pay Teachers to support diverse learners and to teach numeracy.

The authors conclude with recommendations on how state and district education leaders, curriculum providers, funders, and policymakers can support the selection and coherent use of effective, developmentally-appropriate ECE instructional materials.

Key Findings

  • Eighty-five percent of teachers reported using multiple instructional materials. On average, teachers reported using three.
  • About three-quarters of teachers reported using a comprehensive instructional material covering multiple learning domains, and about three-quarters reported using materials focused on one domain (e.g., language and literacy, numeracy, or social-emotional learning).
  • Among domain-specific materials, the use of language and literacy materials was most common, and the use of numeracy materials was rare.
  • Although three-quarters or more of teachers reported that their materials were adequate for supporting student learning, only half said that they were adequate for supporting the needs of diverse learners.
  • About half of teachers reported using district-, teacher-, or self-created materials, likely to differentiate instruction for children with greater learning needs.
  • Teachers who combined different types of materials had more-positive perceptions of their adequacy.

Recommendations

  • State and district education leaders should provide clear policy guidance and professional learning to support the coherent selection and use of multiple instructional materials. Policy guidance might include language about the intentional selection of commercial materials that are designed to work together, and professional learning could focus on how to select or create supplementary materials that complement materials provided by the school or district.
  • Curriculum providers should revisit how well their materials support children with different learning needs.
  • Education funders and policymakers should encourage the development and use of domain-specific pre-K numeracy materials.

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Woo, Ashley, Christopher Joseph Doss, Anna Shapiro, and Elizabeth D. Steiner, How Public School–Based Pre-K Teachers Use and Combine Instructional Materials: Findings from the American Public School Pre-K Teacher Survey. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4412-1.html.
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This report is based on research funded by the Gates Foundation and conducted in the Education and Employment Program of RAND Education, Employment, and Infrastructure.

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