This paper shows that policymakers and researchers have changed their views about school improvement and the role of teachers in the process, suggesting that educational reform initiatives challenge classroom teachers to make sense of new policies, ideas, programs, and their own work. It examines calls for reform, highlighting: the 1957 launch of Sputnik, after which Americans questioned public school quality; the 1983 publication, A Nation at Risk, which called for school reform; the 1989 Governors' education summit, which set the stage for two important reforms; and the 1995-96 Third Annual Mathematics and Science Study, which showed that America has not yet reached its mathematics and science achievement goals. The paper notes that teachers need more help as new conceptions of reform and teacher learning become more popular. It discusses directions of change, emphasizing: a systematic approach to school reform, providing teachers with opportunities to learn, and improving the quality of teaching through teacher learning. The paper proposes that supporting teachers in their development of a stance toward their practice which emphasizes learning and learners can promote instructional coherence and improved student learning. It examines six dimensions of teachers' work: knowledge, professionalism, collaboration, instruction, agency, and authority. (Contains 44 references.) (SM)