This paper discusses the implications of research on effective schools and classrooms for teacher training programs. References to research focus on studies of schools and classrooms in which nearly all students demonstrated at least minimum mastery on standardized achievement tests of mathematics and reading. At issue are the questions of whether there are important pedagogical lessons to be learned from the descriptions and analyses of effective schools and classrooms, and whether these lessons have implications for the design of teacher training programs. The author attempts to explicate important elements of teacher training that ought to reflect lessons learned from research. More specifically, three contextual aspects (intellectual, psychometric, and organizational) of what is regarded by the author as essential knowledge for beginning educators are discussed. (JMK)