Stanford Prof. Linda Darling-Hammond, Obama's transition team-leader for education, is one of the nation's top experts on teaching and learning, assessment, and progressive education generally. Her expertise in these areas make it vital that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan appoint her to a top post in the Department of Education. She offers leadership on NCLB reform efforts - particularly in the areas of assessment and teacher training - that other rumored appointees can't match.