Reform Ideas in New Book Aim for Teacher Excellence

"Improving teacher quality is a necessary - indeed the key - ingredient for improving our nation's schools," write editors Dan Goldhaber and Jane Hannaway in "Creating a New Teaching Profession." Goldhaber and Hannaway argue that without bold reforms, the future economic well-being of the United States is at risk.

An unmistakable sense of urgency runs throughout "Creating a New Teaching Profession," with the top scholars and practitioners who coauthor the book underscoring that current systems for training, hiring, retaining, and rewarding teachers not only are imperfect, but are detrimental to building the best teacher workforce possible. Contributors to the book propose such major reforms as remaking longstanding teacher training systems and using private-sector approaches to modernize recruitment and compensation.

High-profile education leaders, including New York City Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, respond to the proposals, putting the ideas into real-world context and offering political and operational perspectives.

"Creating a New Teaching Profession" tackles its topic from every angle and finds that any successful effort to boost teacher effectiveness must be ambitious and multifaceted, with changes everywhere from professional education programs to retirement packages.

"Creating a New Teaching Profession," edited by Dan Goldhaber and Jane Hannaway, is available from the Urban Institute Press (ISBN 978-0-87766-762-9, paperback, 321 pages, $29.50). Order online at http://www.uipress.org , call 410-516-6956, or dial 1-800-537-5487 toll-free. Read more, including the introductory chapter, at http://www.urban.org/books/newteachingprofession .

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