In Turkey, nationwide, one curriculum is adapted but research conducted shows that curriculum is not implemented as it is written, and teachers adapt programs according to their own beliefs and experiences. (Bümen & Yazıcılar, 2020) Curriculum fidelity shows to what extent teachers implement the curriculum as it is. There are various studies done about curriculum fidelity but none of them specifically focus on school types and only a handful of them mention it as a factor affecting curriculum fidelity of teachers. But in their findings Erdal Bay et all. (2016) states that school-environment is the factor that affects curriculum fidelity the most. Based on this, the purpose of this study is to investigate teachers' curriculum fidelity levels and to see if there are any differences between the curriculum fidelity level of teachers working in private schools and public schools. 

With the mentioned aim, the study includes the following questions:

1. What are the Curriculum Fidelity levels of teachers in Türkiye?

2. What are the Curriculum Fidelity levels of teachers who are working in public schools?

3. What are the Curriculum Fidelity levels of teachers who are working in private schools?

4. Is there a relationship between the type of school the teachers are working at and they are curriculum Fidelity levels?

Quantitative research will be done in order to answer the research questions. A causal-comparative study is carried as school types are the differences that already exist and cannot be manipulated by the researcher. By surveying the teachers in private schools and public schools, any difference in their curriculum fidelity levels will be explained. 

This study follows quantitative research in order to examine the relationships between teachers’ curriculum fidelity levels and the school type they are working at. A causal-comparative study is carried as school types are the differences that already exist and cannot be manipulated. By surveying the teachers in private schools and public schools ,any difference in their curriculum fidelity levels can be explained. Teachers in Turkey who are actively teaching either at a public school or a private school who follows the national curriculum makes the population of the study. Samples are selected thought convenience sampling method. Data is collected through Curriculum Fidelity Scale by Burul & Tezci (2018). Demographic questions about teachers' experiences in the field, gender, type of school they are working at (which is the focus of the study), the department they are teaching at, and the faculty they graduated from are also asked. The data is collected via google forms and the SPSS application is used for data analysis. Since the binary cluster comparison is included in the research, “t-test” analysis and descriptive analysis are conducted. The “Curriculum Adherence Scale”, which is a likert type scale, was prepared by Cihangir Burul and Erdogan Tezci in 2018 for Cihangir Burul's master's thesis titled "Examining the Relationship between Teachers' Preferences for the Curriculum Design Approach and Their Curriculum Fidelity" in order to determine teachers' curriculum fidelity levels. The scale consists of 42 items and 7 factors. There are seven dimensions in the scale: compliance, duration, quality of application, program differences, participants' reactions, teacher education and school climate. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of the content is designated as .91. It can be said that the reliability analysis results for both the general and sub-dimensions of the scale reflect a sufficient and good level. (Burul&Tezci, 2022)

The collected data is analyzed using Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) and t-test. The results of the study shows no relationship between the type of school the teachers are working at and their curriculum fidelity levels but the relationship with the other elements such as the asked demographic questions about their experience in the field, gender, the department they are teaching at, and the faculty they graduated from etc. can also be examined to see differences.

Burul, C., & Tezci, E. (2022). Öğretmenlerin Öğretim Programına Bağlılıklarını Belirlemeye Yönelik Bir Ölçek Geliştirme Çalışması. Milli Eğitim Dergisi, 51(235), 2417-2446. https://doi.org/10.37669/milliegitim.896628 Bümen, N. T., & Yazıcılar, Ü. (2020). A case study on the teachers’ curriculum adaptations: Dierences in state and private high school. Journal of Gazi Education Faculty, 40(1), 183–224. https://doi.org/10.17152/gefad.595058 Döş, B., Bay, E., Kahramanoğlu, R., Özpolat, E. T. (2017). Programa Bağliliği Etkileyen Faktörlerin Analizi. Mehmet Akif Ersoy Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi(43), 110-137. https://doi.org/10.21764/efd.02208