Excellent teaching is one of the most effective means in preventing reading difficulties. A recent study of more than 1,000 school districts found that every additional dollar spent on developing the qualifications of teachers netted improvements in student achievement greater than any other use of school resources. Yet districts currently spend less than one half of one percent of their resources on staff development.

Teacher education must be viewed in a new way: as a career-long undertaking, rather than something that is completed with the receipt of a bachelor ’s or