Effective teachers are developed through preparation programs, but, more importantly, through continuing professional learning relevant to the students that they teach. To continue to grow, teachers need a supportive environment that allows them to develop their instructional skills through specific, actionable feedback. In fall 2019, the National…

With more than two decades of on-the-ground experience impacting 300,000 educators and 3 million students, NIET's success is grounded in research. The success of NIET's work is evident in the positive findings from evaluations of impact. In NIET's 2022-23 Research Summary, we summarize findings from five new studies and highlight selected findings…

In fall 2016, more than 50% of teachers in Kokomo, Indiana, were leaving the profession within their first three years. Within the district, low-performing schools in particular struggled to retain teachers. The costs of teacher attrition are high for districts. According to a report from the Learning Policy Institute, each teacher who leaves the…

Researchers at NIET and elsewhere have studied the effectiveness of "TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement" (TAP) in raising student achievement, improving the quality of instruction, and increasing the ability of high-need schools to recruit, retain and support effective teachers. This document provides summaries of some…

This report examines the ongoing effort to revamp teacher evaluations. After collecting and synthesizing data from 17 states and the District of Columbia, it provides five major lessons for policymakers. New evaluation systems are just one part of sweeping changes in American schools. Because the number and extent of these changes are daunting,…

The nation's teacher education programs are not producing the quantity or quality of teachers needed, particularly in needed subjects. The only way to ensure a strong enough pipeline of effective teachers to ensure equitable access is to dramatically increase how states are preparing prospective educators. The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship…

For over a decade, researchers at NIET [National Institute for Excellence in Teaching] and around the country have studied TAP™: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement. This document summarizes recent internal and external research, including three new studies demonstrating TAP's effectiveness at raising student achievement, improving the…

For years, researchers studying organizations and management have been interested in how well individuals "fit" with their work environment (Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, & Johnson, 2005), finding strong relationships between increased fit and positive employment outcomes, including increased performance and retention (Kristof-Brown et…

Created by the U.S. Congress in 2006, the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) represents the first federal initiative targeted directly at state and district efforts to introduce performance measures into educator compensation. TIF responds to a growing body of evidence that existing pay structures do not respond to labor force realities or adequately…

The combination of difficult economic times and increased accountability has led policymakers to call for evidence that students taught by National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)-certified teachers make greater achievement gains than those taught by non-NBPTS-certified teachers. Overall, studies show mixed results regarding the…

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal. The 2011 State Teacher…

Teacher quality is one of the most important predictors of a child's academic achievement, but schools in Indiana and across the nation are struggling to employ a full cadre of teachers who are qualified to instruct the subjects they are teaching. This policy brief explores the factors and circumstances behind the national struggle to meet the…