Dismissals for ineffective teaching, as distinguished from insubordination, immorality, or improper treatment of students, are rare because standards of teaching against which to juxtapose an individual teacher's behavior have not been available. However, abstract performance standards for teachers are beginning to emerge from research on teaching effectiveness. A table, compiled from research as well as field observation and task analyses of teaching in elementary and secondary schools, is presented as a model of stable standards of performance that will withstand judicial scrutiny. The first column heading of the table--behavior or quality--is subdivided into the following five categories: (1) instructional or pedagogical methods, (2) use of subject-matter, (3) direct outcomes of teaching, (4) interpersonal and organizational relationships, and (5) self-renewal. The second column--basis for claim of performance validation--contains letters that refer to authoritative sources of empirical data. The third column--illustrative court decisions--contains numbers that refer to cases cited in footnotes. A review of particular cases that illustrate instructional competency follows the table. The model is intended to provide teachers with comprehensive, stable, and valid performance standards. These standards also can be used to assess the work done, to provide corrective action, and to determine whether improvement has occurred. (MLF)