The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act brings new urgency to the debate over teacher recruitment, preparation, and induction. Under NCLB, states must ensure that every public school classroom is staffed by a highly qualified teacher.

Based on the recently published, A Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom? Appraising Old Answers and New Ideas (Harvard Education Press), this Policy Perspectives paper lays out new approaches for ensuring high-quality teacher preparation while offering a candid assessment of the obstacles that may impede implementation of such approaches.