When given the right training, support, and working conditions, teachers can and do succeed with high school students every day, even those who have the greatest challenges. However, to turn the success of a few dedicated teachers into the widespread success of many, policymakers at all levels must take a comprehensive and systemic approach to improving high school teaching so that more students graduate prepared for success in college, work, and life.

Improving teaching must start at the beginning by significantly raising the quality of teacher preparation programs so that they recruit top talent into education and adequately prepare them to work in low-performing high schools. States must find the right balance between setting high standards of entry into teaching and being flexible in recruiting a large pool of candidates for shortage areas. Districts must overhaul their sluggish and bureaucratic hiring processes that inadvertently discourage bright and qualified candidates from entering the classroom, and they, with states, must ensure that struggling students who are often poor and of color are given quality teachers just as much as their more affluent white peers.

Federal policymakers have a big role to play in helping states and districts develop data systems that can track where teachers work and how well they do in the classroom, as well as incentivizing smart accountability and support systems that place a premium on improving student learning. Armed with accurate data, policymakers and educators have the capital they need to better distribute teachers and improve the performance of teacher struggling to succeed with students.