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Thank you, Carolyn Snowbarger, for that kind introduction and for all your hard work putting these workshops together. Carolyn used to be a teacher in Kansas. She's worked with thousands of students and brings over two decades of classroom experience to her job at the Department. In other words, she's been in your shoes. I like to think of her as the teacher behind the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative.

It's no secret that teaching is just about the hardest job out there. So when we thought up the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative, we talked to real teachers like you to find out how we could help. You told us that you wanted to hear how the top teachers in the country were getting results for their students. We listened. And we gathered together the best of the best.

I want to thank all the presenters for giving up their summer breaks to travel around the country helping their fellow teachers. I know how hard you work during the year. And I'm sure you could have used a nice vacation! I also want to thank all the teachers and administrators for being here and making this investment in your careers and ultimately, your students. It's also great to see Francie Alexander and Bibb Hubbard from Scholastic here today. I want to thank Scholastic and Target for helping us sponsor special events for teachers this summer.

I've been looking forward to attending one of these Teacher-to-Teacher workshops for a long time. It's not just because I like the sound of the Science and CSI course! I love meeting with teachers. And one of the best parts about my job is I get to talk with teachers all over the country.

Around the time I was confirmed by the Senate in January, my youngest daughter—typically an A or B student—brought home a D in science. What did I do? I went up to her school and met with her teachers to see what was going on.

Afterward, my daughter said, "I hated that you were in my school." I told her, "You get your grades up, and I'll get out of your school (at least temporarily)." And guess what? She got an A in science during the next grading period.

So my daughters are particularly happy that I'm here today because that means I'm visiting someone else's teacher for a change.

See, I know where the real action in education reform takes place. And it's not at the U.S. Department of Education. It happens in real classrooms with real teachers like you. As President Bush likes to say, teaching is a calling. And I'm here today to thank you for answering that call and to say we're committed to doing everything we can to help you get the job done.

Four years ago, we all took a look in the mirror and decided to do something that had never been done before. We made a commitment to close the achievement gap and provide every child with a quality education. That means all children, no matter their race or income level or zip code.

To most people, it was revolutionary. But to people like you who would give up your summers for your students, it was nothing new. You have brought that same attitude to work every day of your professional lives. You see potential in every child. You see it in their eyes, their faces, their smiles—when they raise their hands and beg to be called on, and even when they don't.

When we passed the No Child Left Behind Act, we knew the hard work of closing the achievement gap would fall on your shoulders. We also knew you wouldn't want it any other way. You never lose hope in a child. And as a nation, we're learning what you have always known. With a great teacher, every child can learn.

That's why professional development for teachers is such an important part of No Child Left Behind. In addition to these workshops, the Department's Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is providing teachers with the chance to participate in free online courses and to attend roundtables with senior officials from the U.S. Department of Education. Our e-Learning Web site already has logged almost 170,000 hits—and 42 states are now accepting courses taken on this Web site for credit. Our Department's Web site also has a searchable database of over 1,500 free teaching resources, ranging from lesson plans and maps to primary documents and artifacts.

We want to provide teachers with strategies that are proven to work. We have a lot of good scientific research on how children learn, and particularly on how they learn to read.

For example, we know there are a few basic skills all kids need to know before they can read Dr. Seuss or Harry Potter. They must know that print moves from left to right. They must understand that words are made up of sounds and that written letters represent spoken sounds. They need to be able to de-code words quickly and easily enough to see what sentences mean and build a collection of words they know. Finally, they must connect all these things together so that the words on the page actually mean something to them.

It's never too early to start teaching our students these skills. Our Early Reading First and Reading First programs are providing teachers with proven strategies for helping children learn to read. So far the program has helped almost 100,000 teachers. If we're serious about getting every child on grade level by 2014, we must make a commitment to doing what works in the classroom.

That's why you're here today. You want to hear from real teachers who are getting real results in the classroom. You want to learn what they're doing. After all, who better to teach teachers than excellent teachers?

For example, some of you had the chance to hear how Beth Hoff and Greg Murphy from Overland Park, Kan. use origami frogs and flight simulations to teach their seventh-graders about linear equations. I'm told teachers leave Beth and Greg's workshop with new ideas for teaching math and really cool-looking frogs! Apparently, the strategies really work, too. Math scores at Overland Trail Middle School have gone way up.

We're seeing great results all across the country. Your hard work is paying off. Earlier this month, we got the results of the Nation's Long-Term Report Card for Education or NAEP [National Assessment of Educational Progress]. The results show how students have fared in reading and math over the last three decades.

It's big news because as you know, we're not talking about just any old test. NAEP is the gold standard of assessment.

Back in Texas, we like to say, "In God we trust—all others bring data." And with this data, we can see we're moving in the right direction. Scores are rising; the achievement gap is closing; and No Child Left Behind is working.

• Nationally, reading scores for 9-year-olds increased more over the last five years than in all the years between 1971 and 1999 combined! And African-American and Hispanic students posted the biggest gains.

• In math, scores for 9- and 13-year-olds reached all-time highs as well. Hispanic 9-year-olds alone saw their scores rise by 17 points over just the last five years! For those of you unfamiliar with the Nation's Report Card, a 17-point increase is enormous.

These gains are a credit to you and your students. When someone says a child can't learn, you see a child who just needs a chance. Where many people see an impossible challenge, you see opportunity and hope. These results testify to the power of high expectations.

It's no coincidence that 9- and 13-year-olds made the biggest gains on the Nation's Report Card, and scores for 17-year-olds stayed pretty flat. No Child Left Behind focused on our younger students. Now we must extend the benefits of high standards and accountability to our high schools.

We know our high school students can make this same type of progress too. You get more when you expect more. I think about teachers like Chauncey Veatch, who was Teacher of the Year in 2002. He couldn't be here today, but you all had the chance to hear his inspiring words yesterday. He works in a California school district where few families speak English as a first language.

Every year, he requests to have students facing the greatest challenges. He helps them beat the odds and overcome challenges like drugs and gangs. Last year, all but five of the seniors in his government and economics course went on to college. The remaining five are serving in our armed forces. We couldn't be prouder. They're following their teacher's example.

Chauncey served in the United States Army before becoming a teacher through the Troops-to-Teachers program. This program has helped thousands of soldiers bring their can-do attitude to high-poverty schools. Great teachers can come from all walks of life. And we must make sure we have policies that are bringing great teachers to schools, not keeping them out. Talented teachers need to be in classrooms, not stuck behind bureaucratic red tape.

As you all know, nothing helps a student learn as much as a great teacher. Unfortunately, the schools that could most benefit from highly qualified teachers often have the hardest time attracting them. Our high-poverty schools face a real teaching crisis. To fill vacancies, they often must resort to emergency and temporary hires.

And we have a system that sometimes doesn't give the teachers who want to help these students the support they deserve. While most professions reward those willing to take on the hardest assignments, the public school system often does the opposite. Many school systems even offer de facto incentives for teachers to leave high-need schools.

It makes no sense, but that's the way the system has worked for decades. It's not fair to our students. And it's not fair to you all. You deserve better.

We must reward teachers who make real progress closing the achievement gap in the most challenging classrooms. That's why President Bush proposed a new Teacher Incentive Fund. This fund would provide states with money to reward teachers who take the toughest jobs and achieve real results.

According to a study by the bipartisan Teaching Commission, over 75 percent of Americans and public school teachers support extra financial rewards for teachers willing to work in our neediest schools. It's just good economics. And last week, I was glad to see the House Committee on Education and the Workforce take an important step toward creating and funding the Teacher Incentive Fund.

If we are going to realize the full potential of No Child Left Behind, it's going to be because of teachers like you. During the course of the summer, several thousand teachers will have the opportunity to attend these workshops. And we hope each of you will bring what you learn back to your schools and share it with your colleagues. What you learn here at this workshop will not just help your students; it will also help your fellow teachers and their students.

Thanks again for coming today. I know how committed you are to your students. You understand how high the stakes are. It's why you work the long hours. It's why you're here today in the middle of the summer. After all, we know there really is no summer break for teachers. The work never ends. And you never give up on a child. That's why I know together, we will give every child a quality education. Keep up the good work.

Thank you.

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