Teacher Qualifications

This McREL publication reviews the practices of five alternative teacher education programs and the implications these practices may have on related policy.

The Center for Great Teachers and Leaders is one of 22 comprehensive centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The Center's primary goal is to foster the capacity of practitioners and researchers to build and sustain a system of support for teachers and leaders. It is operated by the American Institutes for Research. Its partner organizations include the Council of Chief State School Officers and Public Impact.

The Center for Teaching Quality improves student learning through developing teacher leadership, conducting practical research and engaging various communities.

The Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education uses insights from research to address special education personnel issues.

The Council for Professional Recognition works to improve the professional status of early childhood care providers.

This U.S. Department of Education website provides information on highly qualified teacher plans.

This U.S. Department of Education website provides letters to chief state school officers regarding states' efforts in meeting the highly qualified teachers goal.

The NGA Center for Best Practices is helping Governors and their advisors address a variety of critical issues. This portion of the site presents information about effective teachers.

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards advance the quality of teaching and learning by developing professional standards for accomplished teaching, creating a voluntary system to certify teachers who meet those standards and integrating certified teachers into educational reform efforts.

The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing every child with competent, caring, qualified teachers in schools organized for success.

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education is the professional accrediting body for colleges and universities that prepare teachers and other professional personnel for work in elementary and secondary schools.

The National Council on Teacher Quality advocates for reforms in a broad range of teacher policies at the federal, state, and local levels in order to increase the number of effective teachers.

This Education Week article provides encouragement for those who champion mental health awareness in schools by reporting increasing recognition that the current conditions in schools are insufficient to address the mental-health issues that affect the lives of many students.  The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one out of every four or five young people under the age of 18 experiences a mental-health disorder—such as anxiety or severe depression—each year. The U.S. Department of Education's Healthy Students, Promising Futures initiative compiled research that shows increased physical activity, access to nutritious food, and comprehensive health education improve academic outcomes and reduce tobacco and alcohol use among students. To measure the impact of health education efforts, the CDC developed an analytical tool for schools to compare their programs with the CDC's characteristics of an effective health curriculum.

This link to the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality website accesses its State Database of Teacher Evaluation Policies. As noted at its website, this database "collects information on state-level teacher evaluation policies across multiple states and organizes the information under the eight key components of a comprehensive teacher evaluation system."

This U.S. Department of Education website contains resources related to teacher quality and the No Child Left Behind Act.