The report includes both important findings and recommendations. The essential competencies of an effective teacher are command of subject , preparation in effective pedagogical practice , and high overall academic performance . Strong and effective teacher education programs share common characteristics. The academic capacity of graduates who enter teaching is comparable to that of college graduates overall for prospective secondary school teachers, but below average for prospective elementary school teachers.
Teachers are inadequately prepared to understand and apply technology to teaching.
There is an opportunity to transform the quality of teachers in American schools with the hiring of at least 2.5 million teachers in the next decade. Special effort and further incentives will be needed to address shortages in high poverty schools, in special needs programs, in the sciences , and among minority teachers. Demand for new teachers can be reduced significantly by reducing teacher attrition . The professional environment in which teachers work is inadequate to attract and retain enough high quality individuals to meet the demand. The report goes on to present 10 action agenda items for the presidents to follow.