In current study we interviewed 21 mathematics teachers who aspired to reform-based mathematics instruction. It was our hope to establish whether there were common traits among this teacher population, which could have influenced their supportive disposition towards innovative instruction. The participants shared several characteristics. (1) They were confident in their ability to control student learning and possessed a detailed vision of the type of teaching that could advance student learning; (2) They held strong philosophical views on the role of education in general and of mathematics in particular, they believed them to be apparatuses for social change; (3) They assumed teaching as a moral and ethical act and themselves as change agents; and (4) They viewed their implementation of the Standards as work in progress. [This research was supported by the office of the President at Central Michigan University for the project, "The Practice and Research of Mathematics Reform: Listening to Teachers' Voices," (PRIF 174-01). For complete proceedings, see ED500858.]