Since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 linked federal monies to student performance on standardized tests, schools have faced increased pressure to provide high quality writing instruction. As district administrators search for curricula to support that instruction, they increasingly turn to scripted curricula. Scripted curricula is designed to spell out what the teacher should do, and in some cases, precisely what the teacher should say. Self-efficacy theory and its applications to teacher self-efficacy guided this interpretative phenomenological analysis of the lived experiences of six teachers as they navigated the district-mandated implementation of the Lucy Calkins Units of Study writing curriculum. Detailed analysis of participants' interviews revealed four interrelated findings: the manner in which the district communicated regarding the new curriculum negatively affected teachers' implementation, the Units of Study curriculum required a philosophical shift for some teachers, teachers felt most effective when they used their own toolbox to purposefully combine methods based on their understandings of students' needs, and teachers felt that training and purposeful collaboration were necessary when implementing new curricula. The data supported existing literature stating that self-efficacy can predict the likelihood that teachers will implement new projects successfully and that teachers are most successful in meeting students' needs when they use their own professional judgment to select a variety of materials. These findings are relevant to district administrators as they consider adoption of new curricula and ways to communicate with and support teachers during implementation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]