Describes and praises ways in which the Holmes Group report, committed to redesigning the education of teachers, goes beyond prior movements to reform teacher education. Urges the active cooperation of universities, granting agencies, politicians, faculties, teachers, and others in supporting and accomplishing the required changes. (IW)

This article summarizes the effects of NCLB on school districts based on four years of evaluations conducted by the Center on Education Policy as part of the most comprehensive and continuous overview being undertaken of that policy.

This exploration of the teaching profession, the institutionalization of teacher education, and the relationship between knowledge and practice in teaching argues that a set of latent contradictions (including quantity versus quality and excellence versus equity) and defensive reactions to these contradictions darkens the prospects of teaching…

The author recommends that teachers receive a strong liberal education followed by a two-year postbaccalaureate training program. In addition, the schools must be reorganized to include hierarchically structured teams of teachers headed by those with even further professional training and higher pay. (Author/JM)

Data indicate that teaching attracts and retains a disproportionately high percentage of those with low measured academic ability and fails to attract and retain those with high ability. If policy makers wish to change this situation, they must be prepared to pay the price. (Author)

While researchers continue to debate teacher qualifications, explore how to get more qualified teachers into urban schools serving low-income students, or try to determine whether teachers who are successful with middle-class students would also be successful with pupils in low-income urban schools, one practicable idea can easily be overlooked.…

Describes the report "Tomorrow's Teachers," prepared by the Holmes Group--an organization of 39 education deans committed to the reform of teacher education and of the teaching profession. Explains the group's plans for involving other universities in the pursuit of these goals at regional and national levels. (IW)

The Holmes Group report and the Carnegie Task Force report concur on the American problem of decreasing standards for entry into teaching during times of teacher shortage. This article compares and contrasts the two reports, refers to similar proposals, and raises issues not covered in either report. Four footnotes are appended. (IW)