In order to improve teacher education and the quality of teaching in classrooms, it is necessary to know what characterizes a competent teacher, what the best curriculum is for developing competent beginning teachers, and how teacher competence can be measured. This report summarizes research on those topics and suggests the following: (1) Because competence depends on so many factors, developing and determining teacher competence is a complex matter. (2) The teacher training curriculum should be structured so that teacher candidates develop their own frameworks for decision making based on, among other things, research knowledge, subject matter knowledge, practical knowledge, ethics, conceptions of teaching, and the information they have about the particular teaching context and the particular children. (3) Standardized tests of teachers' knowledge, pupil achievement scores and teacher evaluations have not proved effective means of measuring competence. The report concludes with seven suggestions which would lay a groundwork for defining, developing, and determining competence in teachers. A reference list is included. (PS)