Purpose: In 2010, the Russian Federation began introducing the new educational standards as a national reform designed to improve education quality. This study aims to identify how teachers feel about the reform to evaluate its intermediate effects. Design/methodology/approach: The study took place in Tatarstan, one of the regions of Russia. The mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was used: the first phase involved a survey for 123 teachers and at the second phase 10 teachers participated in semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Findings: The findings of the study reveal that most teachers are still adapting to the new standards and feel only partly prepared to work within the new system. Teachers acknowledge that the reform is necessary, but there are some confusion and disagreement about what the new standards imply and how they should be implemented. Practical implications: The study argues that teachers have to both feel positive about reforms and perceive themselves to be prepared to address them before they can feel motivated to support them. The results might have been affected by social desirability bias as the number of those viewing the new standard positively is overwhelmingly high. At the same time, teachers report low levels of motivation. Originality/value: There is a clear dearth in scholarly literature dealing with the Russian educational context and available in English. In addition, there is hardly any research on Russian teachers' motivation and attitude towards the new educational standards.