Moving Past Teacher Certification and Retention

There's what seems like an unusually feisty editorial in USA Today titled Weeding out bad teachers (via Wonks) that, like the Times over the weekend (see below) suggests that improving instructional capacity -- keeping effective teachers, getting rid of bad ones, and training everyone better -- is key to making real improvements in the future.

It even seems to go so far as to endorse the Schwartenegger initiative in California.

The Wonks don't like it much (Addressing Only Half The Problem). They want administrators' feet held to the fire as well. OK. The blame game isn't going to help, that's for sure.

But where are the responsible, well-considered efforts to make tough improvements? Teacher quality can't just be all about certification and teacher retention.

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