Curriculum Control and Teachers' Perceptions of Autonomy and Satisfaction

High school mathematics and social studies teachers were studied to determine the influence of curriculum control policies on their sense of autonomy and job satisfaction. Control policies were found to have their largest effects on content decisions in mathematics. Nevertheless, teachers in all conditions studied reported relatively high degrees of personal control over both content and pedagogy. Further, there was little evidence that teachers felt less efficacious or satisfied about their jobs because of curriculum policy constraints.