(article originally appeared in the March 24, 2006, edition of the Opelika-Auburn News, www.oanow.com,  Beverly Harvey, staff writer)

As dean of the College of Education at Auburn University, Frances Kochan enjoys talking with education majors and seeing their commitment and passion for teaching.

As a recently appointed member of Gov. Riley's Teacher Certification and Licensure Committee, Kochan wants to find ways for teachers in Alabama to remain just as passionate about teaching throughout their professional careers.

The committee, part of the Governor's Commission on Quality Teaching, has joined a variety of state educators - teachers, principals and school superintendents - with business people to find ways to prepare, support and place high-quality teachers in every classroom.

So far, the committee, which will exist for five years, has met two times in the past two months, with plans to meet again in April, Kochan said.

"We're having some very deep conversations about what we need to do to identify, recruit, educate and retain high-quality teachers," she said.

Kochan defined high-quality teachers as those "who know content, who know pedagogy and who have an absolute commitment to every child in the room."

"They know what to teach, and they know how to teach it and that's what we try to do here," she added, referring to the AU College of Education.

The greatest challenge the committee faces, Kochan said, is to ensure that teacher certification in Alabama is a "meaningful process" instead of simply putting people in classrooms on the assumption that just anyone can be a teacher.

"That's driven by the recognition that research says that the most important factor in students' achievement is the effectiveness of the teacher," Kochan said.

Attracting and retaining high-quality teachers in Alabama is also a concern for Kochan.

One way to stem a teachers' shortage in the state, as well as the nation, is to provide professional development and incentives for experienced teachers, and in-school mentoring programs for beginning teachers, she said.

Incentives such as low-interest home loans would encourage people to go into and to stay in the teaching profession, Kochan said. "Especially in counties or schools where resources are limited," she said.

Mentoring programs connecting experienced teachers with new teachers in schools can also help to retain teachers, she said.

Higher education institutions across the state, including Auburn University, can also play an important role in preparing new teachers and supporting experienced teachers, Kochan said.

"There's knowledge in K-12 that higher ed needs, and there's knowledge in higher ed that K-12 needs," she said. "So, the closer that relationship is the stronger that will be."

Professional development with teachers through in-service and off-campus programs links university professors to those in the teaching profession, helping teachers to learn new ways to address challenges in the classroom.

The programs offer another bonus - providing valuable insight as to how to better prepare education majors before they land their first teaching job.

"If we are well-connected to the schools, we're going to have a better understanding of what students will need as teachers," Kochan said.

At the end of the five-year period, the committee plans to have initiatives in place that will motivate people to go into and stay in education, Kochan said. They will also have proposals for the governor and state legislation to consider concerning the issue of teacher certification and licensing in Alabama, she said.

"(In order to) have faith that if a person has certification then they are in fact ready and able to teach," Kochan said.