On Recruiting Teachers

from "Teaching for America," by Thomas Friedman, New York Times, 11/20/10

If you look at the countries leading the pack ... (like Finland and Denmark), one thing stands out: they insist that their teachers come from the top one-third of their college graduating classes.

Arne Duncan: “Three countries that outperform us — Singapore, South Korea, Finland — don’t let anyone teach who doesn’t come from the top third of their graduating class. And in South Korea, they refer to their teachers as ‘nation builders.’ ”

There are 3.2 million active teachers in America today. In the next decade, half (the baby boomers) will retire. How we recruit, train, support, evaluate and compensate their successors “is going to shape public education for the next 30 years,” said Duncan.