This fastback explains that better teaching is the key to higher student achievement, and improving the quality of both teachers and their teaching is an important challenge for departments of education and schools nationwide. The fastback focuses on: "Enhancing Teacher Quality" (content knowledge, licensure and certification, and teaching out of field); "Enhancing Teaching Quality" (teacher observation and evaluation and teachers' beliefs about student learning); "Assigning Effective Teachers to Challenging Students"; "Professional Development" (teacher induction and mentoring programs, instructional coaching, and national teacher certification); and "Recruitment and Retention." Recommendations for schools to help ensure high quality teachers and teaching include: hire teachers with majors in their field and full professional certification; make student achievement a factor in teacher evaluation; encourage successful colleagues to provide ongoing support to novice teachers; expect high standards and high success for all students; remove ineffective teachers; end out-of-field teaching; and provide career ladders and other incentives to attract and keep high quality teachers. (Contains 46 references.) (SM)