Reform of teacher preparation is once again in the air. In his first major speech about education, President Obama said that "recruiting, preparing, and rewarding outstanding teachers" will be one of the new administration's top priorities. The priorities set forth in the stimulus package, as well as the Congressional debates about the future of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act--or "No Child Left Behind"--will return collective attention to preparation and retention of highly qualified teachers. Meanwhile, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education is redesigning its standards for the preparation of those teachers. Even with all those efforts, improving teacher preparation will be difficult unless new and more-definitive models of excellence--a gold standard--are established for schools of education. However, concludes the author, unless those actually in teacher education are willing to embrace the idea of striving for excellence rather than meeting an acceptable minimum standard, it will be hard to gain the respect of education's many critics, and to prepare the first-rate teachers that American students need.