If one seeks to eliminate achievement gaps at elementary, middle, and secondary school levels, then it is essential that improvement efforts focus on implementing a series of initiatives. The initiatives must aim to achieve a targeted degree of implementation in a focused and progressive effort. Periodic evaluations of progress in reaching new standards help determine…

Teacher quality and related issues (i.e., teacher preparation, recruitment, and professional development) ranked among the highest priority areas among a sample of education policymakers surveyed by the Institute of Education Sciences. And it is not surprising that quality teaching also emerged as a central theme in one recent series of Policy Forums. These Policy Forums—designed…

American schools are not producing satisfactory results, and this problem is not likely to be solved until classrooms are filled with excellent teachers. There seems to be a national consensus about this problem and its solution, but how to achieve that solution is the subject of far less agreement. Our purpose here is to suggest…

Reformers argue that for schools to educate all children to higher standards, teachers need a deeper understanding of the content they teach, of specific areas of content that challenge students, and of effective strategies for meeting those challenges. As a result, more and more reform programs include intensive, continuing professional development that addresses these needs.…

As standards-based reform has directed attention to schools as the unit of organizational accountability with the most influence on teaching and learning, principals have become the education leaders most responsible for managing learning conditions. The movement to reform and improve schools demands that principals be visionaries focused on improving teaching and learning to ensure their…