The dire state of education funding in California and across the nation means stakeholders must be smarter than ever about how they use their resources. Since teacher quality has emerged as one of the most powerful variables in student success, the focus of policy reform must be on building the capacity of teachers--now and in the future--to meet the challenges schools face. This is an executive summary of a report by ACT (Accomplished California Teachers) that examines teacher evaluation. The recommendations in this report are drawn from research, analysis of existing policies, input from academic experts, and several teachers' own experiences as promoters of quality teaching. This report offers recommendations on making teacher evaluation a more useful tool to advance the quality of teaching across California. [This report was conducted by the Accomplished California Teachers, a program of the National Board Resource Center at Stanford, in collaboration with the Center for Teaching Quality. For the full report, see ED511717.]