Charles Barone, DFER's Director of Federal Policy, with a column based on DFER's report, Ticket to Teach (attached):

Despite all the talk about how to fix education, reform is likely to fall far short of expectations if we don't fundamentally change the way we recruit, prepare and retain good teachers.

We need to attract the best and brightest, provide the highest-quality preparation and reward them commensurate with our higher expectations.

A nationwide "Ticket to Teach" effort aimed at these goals that is deliberate, sustained and relentless is one good place to start. As we saw with Race to the Top, a relatively small amount of funding spurred dozens of states toward significant reform. Something on the same scale could happen with the teacher-prep sector if we make better use of the monies and policies we have — and provide additional, targeted investments.

First, we must create motivators that drive interest in teaching, pair high expectations with high rewards and attract top college students before they even choose a career. This is already being done in high-achieving countries like Singapore and Finland.

Several woefully underused and poorly publicized federal programs could aid these efforts.

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Let's reform teaching for students

By CHARLES BARONE | 1/14/11 4:41 AM EST

www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47579.html