Promoting Rigorous Standards for Teachers

State standards and assessments for teachers should reflect the increasing knowledge and skills that teaching demands. We must do more to encourage and reward good teaching and the acquisition of new knowledge and skills.

• Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants

Three discretionary grant programs designed to increase student achievement through comprehensive approaches to improving teacher quality:
• State Grants to support comprehensive statewide reforms to improve teacher quality
• Partnership Grants to bring about fundamental change and improvement in teacher education
• Teacher Recruitment Grants to reduce shortages of qualified teachers in high-need school districts
• National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

A nonprofit organization, governed by a 63-member board of directors, a majority of whom are classroom teachers, that established high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. The National Board continues to develop and operate a national voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet those standards.

• The Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium

A consortium of state education agencies, higher education institutions, and national educational organizations working to strengthen initial licensure by developing performance-based assessments.

• State Report Cards on Teacher Quality

Required by Title II of the Higher Education Act. States must prepare public "report cards" on teacher quality, including the percentage of teachers who are teaching under sub-standard licenses, and the quality of teacher education programs. Draft data collection instructions, data definitions, forms, and additional compiling information for these annual reports is now available.

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