Data for this study were gathered from a larger study conducted by the Research Institute for Studies in Education at Iowa State University during Spring, 1982. The purpose of the study was to determine the characteristics of the best teacher. Responses from 698 public respondents, 562 teachers, and 294 students were compared to determine if the perceptions of the three groups regarding the characteristics of the best teacher significantly differed, to determine if the perceptions of those trained in or engaged in education of what characterized the best teacher significantly differed from the perceptions of the general public, and to determine if selected social variables were significantly related to perceptions of the best teacher's characteristics;Significant chi-square values affirmed the hypotheses that students, teachers, and public respondents maintained different perceptions of what characterized the best teacher, and that the perceptions of those trained in or engaged in education differed from those of the general public concerning attributes that characterized the best teacher;No significant relationships between within group characteristics of students and teachers and their perceptions of the characteristics of the best teacher were observed. Only the educational level of public respondents and their perceptions of best teacher characteristics were found to be significantly related.