The sampling of teachers for nationwide surveys offers a challenging endeavor in obtaining a representative and adequate sample to truly represent opinions of the teachers. Ten national surveys of public school teachers conducted between 1980 and 1985 are presented with respect to their sampling design and procedures. Concepts and theoretical considerations provide the background of the critical review. This paper discusses adequacy and representativeness as criteria of a good sample, sample design, bias, sampling error, sampling frame and unit, multistage and stratified sampling, and sample size allocation. Problems associated with prevailing sampling practices include: (1) lack of sampling frame or list of all public school teachers from which a sample may be drawn; (2) the question of assurance that the sample drawn is representative of the target population of public school teachers; (3) the theoretical connection between a sample design and the computation of estimates from the results; (4) the recognition and knowledge of the quantitative relationship between the sample design and the precision of estimates; and (5) reporting results that demonstrate validity, and willingness and ability to sort out the strengths and weaknesses of the survey. Solutions to these interrelated problems are discussed. (PN)