Book excerpt: "Over the next 150 years, members of the Association stood ready to advance the cause of education. This advancement was neither steady nor easy. The Association endured many crises, some financial and some organizational. Pushed at times by charismatic leaders and driven at other times by the winds of cultural change, the Association was, and still is, an organization of individuals." "The history of ISTA is divided into three eras. The first period deals with the defining of the Association and chronicles its quest for universal public education, and its efforts to establish professional standards and secure benefits for teachers. Although this group of educators was a loosely knit association of individuals, they were able to accomplish much."--Jacket.