Introduction Ensuring that American classrooms have teachers who can provide quality instruction and positive interactions with students is of national interest and concern. Such focus is evidenced by the No Child Left Behind Act mandate that every American classroom be supplied with a certified and content-trained "highly qualified" teacher (No Child Left Behind Act of 2001). This directive is born out of the assumption that teachers who have content knowledge and credentialed training are best suited to serve students. Teacher credentials, however, have shown little predictive value in identifying which teachers are most successful for student outcomes (Hanushek & Rivkin, 2004; Pianta & Allen, 2008). Given this, new ways of thinking about what influences teachers to be effective in their instructional interactions with students are needed.
