The need to define a teacher's job may strike readers as unnecessary. After all, aren't teachers hired to teach subjects and grade levels, mindful of the established standards for their state or province? Don't teachers sign a contract and undergo an annual performance evaluation? Yes, but . . . we contend that the lack of a more precise job description for teachers, along with concomitant expectations and appropriate appraisals, unwittingly interferes with desired school reforms. To state the problem more dramatically, we contend that many hardworking teachers actually harbor misunderstandings about what their job requires, and that many educational leaders unintentionally abet these misunderstandings by not confronting them or providing clearer expectations. In sum, there needs to be far greater clarity about a teacher's mission.