As a major policy focus, teacher evaluation is currently the primary tool promoted to improve teaching quality. But evaluation alone is not enough. What will most transform teaching quality--and the profession--is the creation of a larger system that supports teaching and learning through on-the-job evaluation and professional development, and…

Teacher evaluation systems are being overhauled by states and districts across the United States. And, while intentions are admirable, the result for many new systems is that good--often excellent--teachers are lost in the process. In the end, students are the losers. In her new book, Linda Darling-Hammond makes a compelling case for a…

As teachers who care deeply about the quality of their own teaching and the development of teaching as a profession, the authors write this article from their conviction that performance assessments in teaching are a critical strategy for developing teachers' expertise and for improving the quality of teacher preparation. They note that the…

Parents, practitioners, and policymakers agree that the key to improving public education in America is placing highly skilled and effective teachers in all classrooms. Yet the nation still lacks a practical set of standards and assessments that can guarantee that teachers, particularly new teachers, are well prepared and ready to teach. This…

This report synthesizes what research says works in improving teacher skills and knowledge, what nations that outperform the United States in education are doing, and provides an analysis of newly available data from the federal Schools and Staffing Survey and other sources to indicate where the nation stands in building the capacity of educators…

The Report of the Carnegie Task Force on Teaching as a Profession is discussed with emphasis on the proposal to create a national professional standards board, so that board certification examinations would be administered by the profession. (MT)

Sets the context for examining a series of articles that highlight California's work on beginning teacher induction, discussing restructuring to connect teaching and learning, knowledge of student learning, teacher performance expectations, standards of practice, the role of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, implications for…