Teachers’ Curriculum Fidelity: Analyzing How Teachers Implement and Adapt the Curriculum

Year 2026, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, 61 - 84, 29.12.2025

Fatma Özüdoğru , Gülten Sakallıoğlu

https://doi.org/10.63612/ijesp.1776104

Abstract

The study aims to analyze teachers’ opinions about the fidelity of their curriculum by investigating their curriculum implementation and adaptation practices, as well as the factors that affect their fidelity. The study employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. In the first phase, quantitative data were collected using a scale to determine teachers’ general fidelity levels. In the second phase, qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 19 teachers selected using maximum variation sampling, who worked at different school levels in a district of a city located in the Aegean region of Türkiye, during the spring semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. For qualitative data analysis, both descriptive and content analysis were used. The research findings showed that teachers partially adhere to the curriculum. Teachers pay attention to student readiness during the implementation of learning goals, content, and the teaching and learning process. Teachers make several adaptations during the implementation, such as adding higher-level goals, simplifying, handling the content according to the centralized exam, or changing the grading criteria. It was also indicated that teachers’ fidelity is affected by a variety of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, school context, teacher characteristics, student characteristics, curriculum, school administration, and parental involvement. Based upon the results of the study, it is suggested that teachers should be provided with more flexibility during the implementation process for several reasons, such as student readiness and school context.

Keywords

Curriculum fidelity , implementation , adaptation

Ethical Statement

The ethics application for the study was made on 12/10/2021 and the research was carried out with the approval of Uşak University Ethics Commission dated 07/10/2021 and numbered E-89784354-050.99-42558.

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