The Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) 
, a comprehensive school reform program that we have reported on in past issues, has grown to serve more than 10,000 teachers and 100,000 students nationwide during the past decade. Run by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET), TAP includes a unique system of teacher evaluation, professional development, a career ladder, and performance bonuses.
Until now, the teacher evaluation system used by TAP was only available for schools that adopted the whole program. But with new national momentum and resources behind redesigning teacher evaluation and support, the NIET plans to broaden its work to provide states and school districts with the technical assistance needed to implement its teacher evaluation system. That includes their system design, the management of data systems, and the certification and training of evaluators.
A report published earlier this year, More than Measurement: The TAP System’s Lessons Learned for Designing Better Teacher Evaluation Systems , summarizes the 10 key lessons learned from a decade of research in public schools. Van Hook, NIET’s senior vice president, explains why educators should pay attention to lessons learned from TAP:
“TAP is the longest-sustained and most successful effort to radically transform teacher evaluation using multiple measures, including student achievement gains, in America today. What’s more, TAP’s teacher evaluation system has been tried and tested with thousands of teachers in real school settings over a significant period of time.”
In Texas, more than 50 schools have implemented the TAP system. Tammy Kreuz, Texas TAP executive director, validated the national research findings at a conference last November. Kreuz presented information showing how TAP teacher evaluations provide differentiated feedback on teacher performance; TAP classroom evaluations are aligned with value-added student achievement outcomes; TAP teachers become more effective over time; and TAP schools show higher retention of more effective teachers, and higher turnover of less effective teachers. More than 88 percent of TAP teachers surveyed during the 2009-10 school year noted that TAP had changed their instructional practices. That translated into all TAP schools showing achievement growth of one full year and 87 percent achieving more than a year of academic growth compared to their non-TAP peers.
