America's students are tested regularly, and the results serve as justification for closing schools, firing principals, awarding merits, and focusing professional development and curriculum reform. However, little attention is paid to measuring the opportunities to learn that teachers create in classrooms—the quantity and quality of classroom instruction and relationships between teachers and students. Nearly all state certification standards for "highly qualified teachers" focus on degree status. However, despite evidence that teachers' instructional practices and relationships with students account for a substantial portion of the "added value" derived from attending school, observations of classroom experiences for large samples of students and teachers are limited.
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