The need for new forms of schooling with a learner-centered focus underlies the urgency to retool and enhance the systems that are used to leverage improvements in teaching and learning. In order to transform education at this most fundamental level, policy leaders and educators must focus on crafting integrated systems for defining and developing teacher effectiveness. These policies must take into account capacity building for educators. Solutions cannot be brief or superficial; they must address widespread inconsistencies in what students are expected to achieve and the knowledge and competencies teachers must bring to ensure their success. This brief examines the misalignment of current policies that shape teacher development in the United States and suggests ways to reframe human capital systems to deliver on the promise of next-generation learning. (Contains 57 endnotes.)