Governors set education goals. (Government spotlight: the latest news about education from the U.S. government).

Education reform isn't new to gubernatorial agendas. But the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act is giving state leaders extra impetus to examine their education policies and legislation. As attendance at two recent conferences demonstrates, they're eager to learn from fellow states and from experts in the field.

In December, 20 governors attended a symposium hosted by the Chapel Hill, N.C.-based James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy. Founded by and named for the former North Carolina governor, the institute helps states develop goals related to education reform.

"The good news is that we've gotten lots of positive feedback, including from governors who could not attend," says Executive Director Judith Rizzo.

Highlights of the conference, called "Public Education in Your State: Setting the Agenda and Staying the Course, a Symposium by Governors for Governors," included speeches by: U.S Secretary of Education Rod Paige; board member Gov. Paul Patton on his decision to make Kentucky a pro-education state; and Roy Romer, Los Angeles school chief and former Colorado governor, on what he's learned from his role reversal.

Gov. Michael Easley of North Carolina and his senior education advisor, J. B. Buxton, attended the event. A week earlier, in, November, North Carolina was one of five states chosen to participate in "Building a Profession: Recruiting and Retaining High Quality Teachers for the Nation's Classrooms," a seminar hosted by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices in Charlotte, N.C.

According to Buxton, various issues are fueling his state's need for 100,000 high-quality teachers in the next 10 years, including the new law, population growth and the governor's push to reduce class size in primary grades. "We've never addressed in any serious way how to keep teachers in our classrooms," Buxton says. "We need to overhaul how we collect our data because right now it's hard to target strategies for keeping them around."

Tightening certification criteria for teachers will also be critical because "if teachers don't know their content, students can't master the standards we've put in place," says Dane Linn, director of the center's education policy division.

According to Linn, the seminar goes hand-in-hand with an initiative the NGA chairman, Gov. Patton, announced in July: Reaching New Heights: Turning Around Low-Performing Schools. It has three ingredients: improving teaching in low-performing schools; building the instructional leadership capacity of school administrators; and developing accountability systems that support school improvement.

Desktop Reference Guide for No Child Left Behind

It's 180 pages long with more than 60 specific program how-to guides for educators to address the newest federal education legislation.

No Child Left Behind: A Desktop Reference spells out various concerns, including what's new under the law, key requirements, how it achieves quality, and key activities for state education agencies. * www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html