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Instructionally Focused Accountability
TAP™ provides a comprehensive system for evaluating teachers that rewards them for how well they teach their students. Teachers are held accountable for meeting the TAP Teaching Skills, Knowledge and Responsibilities Performance Standards, research-based standards based on twenty-six indicators and operationalized against a five-point scale rubric. Teachers are also responsible for the academic growth of their students.
Each teacher is evaluated four to six times a year, during announced and unannounced observations by multiple, trained and certified evaluators using the TAP Teaching Skills, Knowledge and Responsibilities Performance Standards . Prior to announced evaluations, evaluators meet with teachers for a pre-conference to discuss the upcoming evaluation. All evaluations are followed up with a post-conference session between the observed teacher and the evaluator to discuss reinforcements and refinements intended to help the teacher strengthen his/her instructional practice.
Every teacher is also evaluated individually based on how much learning growth the students in his or her classroom have achieved during the school year. Further, all teachers in the school are evaluated collectively based on the learning growth of all students in the school. Through this structure, TAP makes it possible to consider multiple measures of teacher effectiveness.
TAP also provides ongoing training, mentoring and classroom support during the school day to help teachers meet these accountability standards, as well as providing financial incentives for success.
Sarah Acorn, Middle School Humanities Teacher, Discovery Canyon Campus, Colorado Springs, Colorado
"Having mentor and master teachers is the most beneficial element of TAP. One huge bonus I've seen as a teacher is automatically having someone I know I can go to when I struggle with getting kids to learn a concept or behavior in the classroom . . ."