Continuously Uncertain Reform Effort

This study examined teachers ’ attitudes and beliefs in one over-performing urban/suburban high school of the state-mandated curriculum framework under conditions that I label a continuously uncertain reform effort or a top-down mandated curriculum involving constant mixed-messages as to its content, accountability demands, and future existence. Data were collected from three sources: interviews (N=3), a survey of the department (N=16), and their students ’ (N=372) outcomes on the state pilot exam. Results from this study suggest that the teachers in this department expressed significant knowledge of the framework, held consistently negative views of the framework, and openly expressed diminished use of the framework in their teaching due to its political nature and lack of teacher contribution. The Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA) of 1993 had a monumental effect on the public education system in Massachusetts. In less than a decade and a half, Massachusetts drastically reformed state oversight of education and embraced the standards-based movement in education. During this time, Massachusetts published statewide curriculum frameworks1 in most subjects, including math, English Language Arts, science, and history/social science