With the early-education field continuing to grow nationally, it's increasingly clear that the key to good programs is teacher quality. As a recent reminder of this, Robert Pianta, the dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, published an opinion piece in The Washington Post in February on the urgent need for accountability in teacher preparation. His essay underscores the fact that education degrees do not necessarily lead to teacher effectiveness—and that education professors are resistant to making sure that they do. As Pianta wrote, &quo...