CONTRACT AVAILABLE FROM PUB TYPE

This brief addresses four areas of opportunity to influence teacher quality. These areas of opportunity are used to create a framework to help state and district policymakers comprehensively address teacher quality. There are a number of policy levers or strategies that can be used as part of a comprehensive approach to improving teacher quality. They include: preservice teacher education (scholarships, loans, and loan-forgiveness as incentives to enter teacher training, licensure/certification requirements, accreditation of teacher preparation programs, and models of exemplary practices and programs); recruitment and selection (effective communication, teacher mobility policies, and alternate approaches to entering teaching); inservice teacher education (professional learning, induction programs, compensation and quality teaching, and re-certification); and retention (working conditions and compensation and retention). Overall, an approach that addresses each stage of a teacher's career is the best strategy for improving teacher quality. Standards supporting high levels of teache