The focus of this report is on policies and practices for assuring the quality of teacher education programs and of teachers who graduate from those programs. International interest in policies that promote teacher quality has increased markedly in recent years (OECD, 2005). With mounting evidence that the most important in school influence on student achievement, is teachers’ knowledge and skill (e.g., Hattie, 2008; Hanushek, 2004) policymakers have been giving closer attention to strategies that will recruit, prepare and retain the best possible teachers. These strategies call for clear and valid descriptions of what good teachers know and do, which teaching standards aim to provide. This report reviews recent approaches to developing standards for beginning teachers in several countries, the characteristics of well-written standards and standards-based teacher education.