Managed and supported by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET), TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement was introduced in 1999 to attract, motivate, and retain talent in teaching by providing opportunities for career advancement, professional development, evaluation, and performance-based compensation. Each of TAP's…

Recent state and federal policies generally focus on the individual teacher rather than the school organization. These reforms seem to assume that a teacher can do it all, that an individual who succeeds in one school can succeed in any school and, conversely, that a teacher who fails in one classroom will fail in all others. However, there is no…

The use of performance-based pay, or merit pay, has become a topic of increased focus in education circles in recent years. Questions about the effectiveness of these types of programs, coupled with a variety of criticisms about the benefits of merit pay, have resulted in teachers viewing this type of incentive structure with much skepticism. In…

When proposing performance pay for teachers, reformers first must answer three questions: What is the definition of teacher performance? What is the definition of student performance? and What are the goals of schooling? Reformers also need to examine the assumptions that guide their proposals and prepare to deal with the implementation issues…

Peer-Mediated Self-Appraisal facilitates merit pay decisions by combining summative (standard professional review) and formative (teaching processes and strategies) evaluation. It requires clear teaching standards, objective measures, and community acceptance of teachers as professionals. Two figures compare formative and summative evaluation and…