Mathematics curriculum reform and teachers: what are the dilemmas

by Azita Manouchehri

Teachers do what they do for complex reasons. Research on teacher thinking generally indicates that teachers' personal theories and knowledge are a basis for classroom practice (Peterson, 1988; Peterson & Clark, 1978; Shavelson, 1976; Shavelson & Berliner, 1988; Yinger, 1979), but the nature of this relationship related to standards-based curriculum decision making and implementation is undeveloped (Ross et al., 1992). With rare exception (Keiser & Lambdin, 1996; Pennell, 1996; Pennell & Firestone, 1996), little research on teachers' interactions with innovative and standards-based curricula exists; no long-term studies highlighting challenges teachers face as they enact standards-based programs exist. In this article, I describe an 18-month study to gain insight into the process of evaluation and implementation of four standards-based curriculum programs by 51 middle school mathematics teachers from 10 school districts in the St. Louis, Missouri area. I provide a profile of factors appearing to enhance or impede participating middle school teachers' use of the programs.