This publication contains two articles which focus on the teaching profession within the context of systemic reform. The first article, "Systemic Reform: Teachers and the Condition of Teaching," discusses the role and the preparation of teachers. The level of coordination among the various systems that relate to the teacher's role is greater for current systemic reform efforts than for earlier reform efforts. Professionalizing teaching may be a starting place for changing the role of the teacher, and both teacher preparation and teacher development are vital components of the overall process. With regard to policy development, ideas that support and promote systemic change include: coordinated policy development, new governance structures, new incentive structures, leadership development, and new teacher development systems. One promising teacher development strategy is the establishment of professional development schools. The second article, "Two-Way Streets: Improving Attraction and Access of Minorities to Teaching," focuses on the education pipeline that produces minority teachers. Demographic, economic, and social forces are producing an educational context which demands increasing representation of minority group teachers within the profession as part of a coordinated approach to providing equal access to education for all children. Both the informal context of education (e.g., family, community) and the formal context (e.g., schools, government, state boards of education, professional associations) influence whether minority group students are attracted and retained by the teacher preparation system. Ten proposals for improving minority access to teaching are listed. (IAH)