TAPping into High Quality Teachers: Preliminary results from the Teacher Advancement Program comprehensive school reform

The Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) is a comprehensive school reform with the goal to attract, retain, and motivate quality teachers. By aggressively recruiting new teachers, providing a career continuum, introducing teacher-led professional development, implementing rigorous teacher accountability, and paying teachers based on their position, teaching skills, and how much their students achieve, TAP schools change their organizational structure to support and reward high-quality instruction. This study examined TAP's preliminary impact on student achievement and teacher attitudes. Using a multivariate-multilevel model for measuring student learning, we compared the growth in achievement of students from TAP schools to the growth in achievement of students from matched controls. Our preliminary results suggest that TAP schools' achievement grew significantly (E.S. = .35 and .41 for 2001 and 2002, respectively) more than controls. However, the magnitude of the achievement gains varied by school and fidelity of implementation.