Under the 1998 reauthorization of Title II of the Higher Education Act, the secretary of education is required to issue annual reports to Congress on the state of teacher quality nationwide. "Meeting the Highly Qualified Teachers Challenge" is the inaugural report on this important issue. The 1998 reauthorization also established a reporting system for states and institutions of higher education to collect information on the quality of their teacher training programs. Data collected under the Title II reporting system are available at www.title2.org and include information on state teacher certification requirements, the performance of prospective teachers on state licensure tests and the number of teachers hired on temporary or emergency certificates. This report contains a variety of data collected under the requirements of Title II of the "Higher Education Act". Last amended in 1998, Title II requires three annual reports on teacher preparation. It attempts to do more than present the key findings from the Title II reporting system. It also seeks to place these findings within the context of state and federal policy and rigorous scientific research. Chapter One, "The Quest for Highly Qualified Teachers", provides a summary of the sweeping reforms enacted by the "No Child Left Behind Act", especially the new requirement that all teachers be "highly qualified" by 2005-2006. It also draws upon solid research to answer the question: What do we know about highly qualified teachers? Chapter Two, "Preparing and Certifying Highly Qualified Teachers: Today's Broken System and Its Alternative", investigates how teacher recruitment, preparation and certification systems in place today impede the development of highly qualified teachers and presents a more promising model for the future. Chapter Three, "Are States Doing Enough to Produce Highly Qualified Teachers? Lessons from the Title II Reporting System", presents findings from the Title II reporting system, as well as rigorous evidence from other sources, about the "state of the states" vis-a-vis the preparation and certification of highly qualified teachers. Chapter Four, "Looking Forward: A Highly Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom", the concluding chapter, presents some final insights into the state of teacher quality today and offers suggestions for states as they seek to meet the requirements of the "No Child Left Behind Act" to provide a highly qualified teacher in every classroom. Appended are: (1) Issues in Implementing Title II Requirements for Data Collection and Reporting; and (2) Selected Data Tables. (Contains 16 figures, 2 tables and 30 endnotes.)