In the early 1980s, process-product research to determine effective teaching practices was replacing efforts to "teacher-proof" the curriculum. Now 30 years later, although both these efforts did not lead to hoped-for changes, scientifically based research and data-driven instruction dominate the improvement discourse. Given the current…

One of the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act that has gained prominence as a policy focus only in the last several years is the requirement that poor and minority children be served by highly qualified teachers to no less a degree than other, more affluent children. Under the Obama administration, the focus on "highly qualified"…