Since teachers are the key to educational reform, teacher self-evaluations are critical aspects of change. In an inservice course on teaching reading comprehension through retellings, teachers were asked to examine their practices and reflect on a different method of assessing student comprehension. Focus was on teacher change and fears of change when teachers were asked to use alternative assessment instruments in their classrooms. The study examined the change that occurred in teacher thought and practice as revealed through their reflections and whether they carried over these practices to their classrooms two years later. Participants, 23 classroom teachers from a rural southern community, taught a variety of subjects in kindergarten through high school. During a course on comprehension and retellings they were grouped in the class according to the grade level they taught, asked to collect retelling samples from their students and then write a group reflection report of their findings, as well as a reflection paper using a Teacher/Retelling Observation Sheet as a guideline and individual reflections of the process of using retellings as an assessment tool. Data indicated that 65% of the teachers perceived themselves as changing in their practices, but because of fears, misconceptions, and expectations recorded in their reflections, only 48% actually changed. Two years later, 18 of the original 23 responded to a follow-up survey. Results showed that 100% were using retellings as part of their curriculum. Purposes for using retellings indicated 69% for assessment, 50% for instruction, and 37% for a variety of reasons. (Contains 26 references. Appended are: retelling observation sheet, retellings research chart, follow-up survey, retelling checklist, and content analysis of the follow-up survey.) (NKA)