Teachers play a vital role in the lives of their students. The most talented teachers not only share their knowledge, they also challenge young minds, serve as role models, and recognize the individual talents that will help their students succeed.

Research has demonstrated that the effectiveness of the teacher in the classroom is the most important school-based factor in student achievement, and having an effective teacher can close achievement gaps. Yet, too often, good teachers are not rewarded for their success, given opportunities to improve their craft, or supported for choosing to teach in a high need school. As a result, far too many teachers leave the profession too quickly, and the best qualified ones who remain rarely reach the students who have the highest need.

The Teacher Advancement Program (TAP), run by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, was designed to recruit, retain, develop and motivate talented teachers, who are instrumental in a child’s academic success. Their program currently operates in 225 schools in 15 states and continues to grow across the nation.

TAP is a research-based program that develops a leadership team of expert master and mentor teachers working with the principal. The leadership team provides the expertise for school-based professional development tied directly to student needs, classroom evaluations and coaching that truly differentiates teaching effectiveness and identifies and supports individual teacher improvement. TAP also provides performance-based compensation based on student achievement growth as well as classroom evaluations of teacher effectiveness.

"TAP brings a multifaceted solution to the multifaceted challenge of attracting, retaining and developing teaching talent in high need schools, " said Kristan Van Hook of NIET. "We find teachers provided with powerful opportunities for professional growth and collaboration with peers, welcome detailed and rigorous evaluation, accountability for results, and performance pay. For example, more than ninety two percent of TAP teachers surveyed support its rigorous accountability for results."

The Joyce Foundation recently awarded a grant to the National Institute to strengthen TAP in Chicago and to release a new study, which a national coalition of organizations will use to work for teacher pay reforms at the federal and state level.

Education advocates have challenged policy makers on new ways to compensate teachers for advancing student learning, developing new and relevant skills, and teaching in high need schools. While additional federal money has been earmarked for new programs to improve teacher effectiveness, which includes performance pay, the case must still be made that reforms like TAP are effective at improving student achievement. This new TAP research, highlighting how much more effective TAP schools are in making significantly more than one year’s academic growth compared with similar non-TAP schools, will help make that case.

TAP’s work in Chicago began in 2006 with a federal grant to pilot the program in 40 high-need Chicago schools. Funding from Joyce will help TAP fill needs not covered by federal money, including hiring an expert instructor to build the expertise of Master and Mentor teachers, provide additional support to the neediest schools, and create new ways to support principals of TAP schools to help sustained instructional improvement and student achievement growth. The Chicago Teachers Union, Chicago Public Education Fund, and the Broad Foundation are key partners.

"In almost every professional field employees are compensated for the quality jobs that they perform, so why should education be any different?," says Chicago TAP Director Ann Chan. "We have seen positive results in TAP schools in Chicago and across America when teachers are given powerful opportunities for career advancement, ongoing professional development and recognition for outstanding achievement."

Find out more about Education programs funded by the Joyce Foundation by clicking here.