Teacher Development Seen Key to Unified Reforms

By Karen Diegmueller

State policymakers must develop a unified vision for reform that has teacher development at its core, according to a report issued last week by the National Conference of State Legislatures and Recruiting New Teachers Inc.

The report, which was based on a workshop attended by state legislators and education-policy analysts last fall, also urges state policymakers to adopt teacher-development policies that foster improvement rather than dictate new behavior.

Moreover, the report suggests, states can more readily link local reform to the national reform agenda...