Tying teachers' pay to their classroom performance should, says Victor Lavy, improve the current educational system both by clarifying teaching goals and by attracting and retaining the most productive teachers. But implementing pay for performance poses many practical challenges, because measuring individual teachers' performance is difficult.…

A study was initiated to determine how preservice teachers would rate selected teacher competencies on relative importance and learning potential. Grooming and health, subject matter knowledge, and classroom maintenance were considered most learnable. Important competencies were respecting students, showing maturity, and showing interest in…