Lowell Milken, Milken Family Foundation
July 2002
Lowell Milken invented the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) three years ago and, in this new 50-page publication from the Milken Family Foundation, he explains what's happened to it so far. It's also a fine introduction to the (five) principles and practices of TAP, if you haven't previously made their acquaintance-and that's worthwhile because the privately-led TAP is one of the most creative and smartest approaches so far devised for restructuring the teaching profession and expanding the supply of good teachers. It can also be adapted to specific state and local (and even school-level) circumstances. Indeed, it's been adapted since its invention, due to the stickiness of the original proposal to rework teacher salaries completely. The modified version places heavier emphasis on "augmenting" salaries and giving performance awards. (These changes also boost the dollar cost of implementing TAP in a school or school system while mitigating the political cost and organizational angst.) Though TAP hasn't been going long enough to be fully evaluated, it's being picked up by a number of states and school systems and is well worth your attention. You can obtain this report by surfing to http://www.mff.org/publications/publications.taf?page=303.
