Consequently, teachers must engage in sustained, intellectually rigorous study of what they teach. In addition, those who teach the teachers must model strategies those teachers are being asked to use. Repertoire of instructional skills . All teachers need ongoing opportunities to learn and practice those strategies. Knowledge regarding students .
Good teachers understand the developmental needs of their students.
They also understand the strengths and challenges inherent in the cultures and communities from which those students come. Attitudes that support high levels of learning . Among other important beliefs, teachers must believe that virtually all their students can learn at high levels given appropriate instructional approaches and sufficient time and that their efforts can make a difference in their students' learning. If every student is to have a competent teacher, then virtually all their teachers must be learning virtually all the time. While that learning will occasionally happen in workshops and courses, most of it will occur as teachers plan lessons together, examine their students' work to find ways to improve it, observe one another teach, and plan improvements based on various data.