those of blue-collar workers. Teachers rarely have their own offices and lack the services that other professionals have access to, such as a secretary, telephone, typewriter, fax machine, or copier. The teacher's work day is highly structured, with little or no time for intellectual interaction with colleagues. Since the early 1980s, when the current drive to improve American education began, teaching has been a central focus. Many policymakers have become convinced that schools will not be able to produce better educated students without highly skilled, knowledgable teachers who are treated as professionals. As a first step, many states set stiffer requirements for entry into and graduation from teacher-preparation programs. They raised beginning teachers' pay, hoping to attract better-quality candidates. They also created incentives, such as forgiveable loans, to encourage good high school students to pursue careers in teaching. And some states required experienced teachers to pass minimum-competency tests to retain their licenses. In 1986, a landmark report issued by a task force of the Carnegie Corporation of New York called for radical changes in teaching to make it a true profession. The authors envisioned a different kind of teacher--flexible, up-to-date, able to lead children into deeper learning. The next step was for teachers to be mentors and coaches rather than dispensers of facts. Students would take more responsibility for their own education, and teachers would collaborate with them in a search for knowledge and understanding. The school structure would change so that teachers would be deeply involved in decision-making: Within broad curricular frameworks, teachers would decide how best to meet their goals. They would participate in the development of new performance-based assessments. They would be empowered to make decisions that affect instruction, budget, personnel, and scheduling. At the same time, though, the teac...
