Master teachers are teachers who are both highly trained and skilled and are willing to share their knowledge about teaching with other teachers.  They are significant in the field of education because they show that the lack of high-quality teachers is a real problem in some areas of study.

Many people worry that our public education system is not good enough.  They lay at least part of the blame on teachers who, they say, are not well-qualified and well-trained.   Master teachers are an attempt to help deal with this problem.  Master teachers are typically teachers who have in some way proven that they are highly skilled in teaching in their particular area of study.  Master teachers are especially sought after in the areas of math and science.  These teachers are also given the task of helping other teachers learn how to be more effective.  In many districts in the US, teachers receive little or no help or mentoring once they start their first job.  This hampers their development.  Master teachers are meant to be used as a resource for helping improve the skills of all teachers. 

The need for master teachers shows that our system for training teachers both before and after they have jobs is not always as good as it could be.  This is the major significance of master teachers.