At times, there is a special responsibility for the oldest in the room to speak up.

Last spring, Barbara Madeloni, the director of the secondary-teacher education program at the University of Massachusetts, thought it was time.

She believed her voice and experience would count for something. Ms. Madeloni is 55 and has been overseeing the university’s program to train middle and high school teachers for nine years. During that time, she has repeatedly been rated “outstanding.” (“We applaud Dr. Madeloni for her work,” read her December 2011 evaluation.)

Then things turned. Last spring, in an interview with me, she spoke out against a new licensing system for teachers that is being tested at UMass and has been implemented in several states.

Usually, university professors and classroom teachers decide whether to grant a license after observing the candidates for six months in real school settings.