What constitutes a high quality teacher education program and what standards teacher candidates should meet before receiving their teaching credential? This volume advances deep understanding of the nature and sources of policy affecting the preparation of teachers in the U.S. and the conflicts or interconnections of these policies with the broader field of education policy. Contributions from actors in the policy world and experts representing the stakeholders are balanced and based on issues currently facing the field. Policy is viewed as evolving and political. The connection or lack thereof between policy and research is examined. Policy case studies ground the principles developed within specific chapters in practice and illustrate that policy questions and solutions are continually evolving and unsettled. Chapter-end commentaries by the editors relate the focus of each chapter to the overarching themes of the book: policy formation, policy influences, policy paradoxes, and connections to research. This volume is an essential resource for understanding and resolving today's uncertainty and confusion over teacher education policy. Chapters of this book include: (1) Teacher Education Policy Context (Nicholas M. Michelli and Penelope M. Earley); (2) Perspectives on Federal Policy: (a) Foot-Dragging and Overreaching: The Story of Federal Teacher Policy (Frederick Hess); (b) Federal Politics and Policy: A Misalignment of Incentives (Neal McCluskey); (3) Dimensions of Teacher Education Accountability: A Louisiana Perspective on Value Added (M. Jayne Fleener and Patricia D. Exner); (4) Changing Standards, Changing Needs: The Gauntlet of Teacher Education Reform (Catherine Emihovich, Thomas Dana, Theresa Vernetson, and Elayne Colon); (5) Assessing State and Federal Policies to Evaluate the Quality of Teacher Preparation programs (Ken Zeichner); (6) Shallow Roots: The Effect of Leaders and Leadership on State Policy (E. Lynne Weisenbach); (7) Partnership for Teacher Education: The Case of Montclair State University and its School-University Partnership (Ada Beth Cutler, Frank Alvarez, and Susan Taylor); (8) United We Stand: Divided We Fail Our Communities and Hence the Public Good (Van Dempsey and Deborah Shanley); (9) Teacher Education Policy and Social Justice (Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Kim Fries); and (10) Editors' Reflections: (a) Making Sense of Teacher Education Policy and Moving Toward a Common World View (Nicholas M. Michelli); (b) The Future of Teacher Education (David G. Imig); (c) A Modest Approach to Deconstructing Teacher Education Policy (Penelope M. Earley). A glossary is included.