Professional standards for teachers and administrators exert an impact on education but do not guarantee a good education. Standards merely ensure that teachers and administrators are sufficiently equipped to educate students, not that they will be adept at it. Without standards, anyone might be allowed to teach, whether they themselves had an education or not. Standards at least provide minimum guidelines that teachers and educators must follow in order to be placed in a position where they can participate in educating students.
Realistically, standards cannot have much impact on the factors that mean the most in generating outstanding teachers and administrators-a passion for their subject, a fervent desire to teach and inspire students, and the ability to understand how students learn and what will intrigue and engage them to learn. Credentials are no more than a baseline; they are not an indicator of how well a teacher or administrator can do his/her job. It is more than possible that a teacher or administrator can meet all of the standards and criteria set forth by the authoritative bodies and still be abysmal educators.
On the other hand, standards can exert an influence on education indirectly in terms of the textbooks and educational methods used, the equipment provided, and the other complements of education. In a school system where foreign language standards are high, for example, there may be native foreign language teachers, language labs, and a variety of other appurtenances that systems without such standards generally lack. Thus, standards are essential building blocks that promote good education even though they cannot directly produce it.
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