Under the current No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, American school districts and students can be rewarded or punished for not meeting adequate yearly progress (AYP). Currently each of the 50 states are tasked with issuing teacher certification. This can result in 50 different sets of standards for one to become a teacher, and then that teacher is tasked to help school districts students meet national standards.
I propose that the Department of Education issue a required credential to become a teacher in the United States. Through a national teaching test, the federal government can help ensure that those be tasked with meeting NCLB standards and AYP are up to that task.