The Center for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) studied the background, implementation, and effects of curriculum policies, including graduation requirements, student testing, curriculum controls, and indicators. This document examines the findings about curriculum policy in the school context. A total of 188 interviews were conducted at the state level in six states and 524 interviews in 59 local schools within those states. This paper concentrates on curriculum policy in high schools. The paper discusses three perspectives of curriculum policy in the school context: (1) the school as mediator of policy outcomes; (2) the school as policy critic; and (3) the school as policy constructor. Next, a methodological discussion of curriculum policy analysis is presented, followed by reasons why the perspectives of policy and school context are likely to be different. The lessons learned from the school as policy mediator, policy critic, and policy constructor all point in a similar direction: schools and teachers must be actively engaged in the exercise of constructing a high quality curriculum for their students; some types of curriculum policy have the potential for increasing stratification and thus lowering the overall quality of instruction; and schools and teachers have their own perspectives on curriculum policy. (32 references) (SI)