One of the most important aspects of NCLB is its demand that states ensure a "highly qualified" teacher for every student. This provision draws much-needed attention to the importance of ensuring equitable student access to high-quality teachers, write the authors. Some aspects of the provision have raised legitimate concerns--including…

This brief will highlight three major findings from Southeast Center for Teaching Quality (SECTQ's) teacher surveys and interviews with more than 160 educators entitled "Unfulfilled Promise: Ensuring High Quality Teachers for Our Nation's Students". It will also profile two districts' approaches to meeting the requirements of NCLB and…

What is known about recruiting and retaining teachers for hard-to-staff-schools runs counter to many of the assumptions undergirding the teacher quality provisions of No Child Left Behind. Evidence regarding incentives, recruitment pathways, new teacher induction programs, and alternative routes shed considerable light on what needs to be done to…

At the same time that NCLB has given states a mandate to staff their classrooms with "highly qualified teachers," the federal government is pushing a dangerously narrow definition of the knowledge and skills that today's teachers need. Over the last decade, policy makers and business leaders have come to realize what parents have always…

This report presents the case-study findings from a cross-state investigation focused on Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, intended to deepen understanding around the influence of high stakes accountability on teacher learning and the capacity of districts and schools to support instructional practices…