Abstract
This study examines how teachers in Kazakhstan experience the implementation of a large-scale, top-down school improvement initiative, the “Targeted Schools” program. Drawing on semistructured interviews with 32 teachers across three regions, thematic analysis revealed three patterns: administrative shock stemming from opaque school selection criteria; superficial professional development characterized by misaligned content and compulsory testing under degrading conditions; and psycho-emotional burnout accompanied by defensive collective behavior, the study conceptualizes as forced solidarity. The findings demonstrate how uncritical policy borrowing produces compliance without genuine improvement, and how accountability-driven reform, absent adequate capacity and relational trust, systematically undermines teacher professional identity. Implications for the design of equitable school improvement policy are discussed.