Investing in Teaching

By Linda Darling-Hammond

This spring, a mother in Las Vegas talking with other parents about Nevada's proposed academic standards for students put her concerns this way: "My advice regarding the setting of standards is to make sure the teachers are capable of teaching them. Include something that tests teachers' skills and abilities."

We hear comments like this all the time. And we agree. If students are to learn more, teachers must have both the subject-matter knowledge and the teaching skills required to help their students reach higher standards.

Twenty months ago, the bipartisan National Commission on Teaching & America's Future--a 26-member panel of governors, legislators, business and community leaders, and educators--issued a set of recommendations designed to provide every student with a teacher who is competent and qualified. Those recommendations are taking...