Policymakers and researchers continue to search for ways to improve K-12 education, which has led to an increased focus on teacher quality as an impetus for educational improvement. As such, current legislation under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) calls for highly qualified teachers in every classroom. But are the characteristics associated with highly qualified teachers associated with increases in student achievement gains? This article explores the relationships between first graders' achievement gains and policy-relevant teacher quality indicators. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), this study finds that NCLB successfully places emphasis on at-risk students--a category of students who would, in theory, benefit most from improved teacher quality; however, little support is offered for the perspective that NCLB's indicators of teacher quality are related to achievement gains for either at-risk students or for nonrisk students.