This chapter explores some of the key underlying forces impacting on teacher education internationally. The effect of globalization on curriculum and assessment processes with increased prescription and accountability, in particular on core skills such as literacy and numeracy, is evident. The construct of teacher education is identified as a policy problem in urgent need of reform. In the competitive world of education with each nation vying for top position on international achievement measures, distinctive responses are evident, yet the impact of globalization reveals a similarity in the responses across nations. The chapter illustrates how these common reform issues play out in a recognizable yet distinctive manner. In the final section of this chapter, six themes are identified from which teacher education globally may be portrayed and evaluated--professional status, the place of research as an evidence base, partnerships, governance, performability and accountability, and digitization. The themes present a common framework for teacher education on which international collaboration and comparative research can go forward to establish a needed evidence base. [For the complete volume, "Innovation and Accountability in Teacher Education: Setting Directions for New Cultures in Teacher Education. Teacher Education, Learning Innovation and Accountability," see ED595068.]