Teaching Focus Called the Key in Reform Push

By Ann Bradley

The single most important strategy for achieving America's education goals is to recruit, prepare, and support excellent teachers for every school, concludes a report released here last week by a private commission.

Policymakers must embrace what parents have always known, the report says: Good teachers are the most important element of successful learning. But, the authors write, instead of being recognized as the linchpin of reform efforts, teaching often has been ignored.

The 151-page report, from the National Commission on Teaching & America's Future, offers a scathing indictment of current practices, including inadequate teacher education, bureaucratic hiring procedures, and the placement of...