In this article, the authors describe the strategic response of one teacher education program to the challenges of implementing a set of new high-stakes state teaching performance assessment policies. These state policy mandates were perceived by faculty and staff to intrude strongly on the integrity of local program values and practices. In a strategic effort to negotiate the tension between these perceptions and the institutional necessity of implementing the new policies, the authors developed an approach to policy implementation aimed at shifting the discourse of implementation from a focus on compliance to a focus on inquiry.