Resources for Donors
Resources for Donors
In 1999, education reform pioneer Lowell Milken and the Milken Family Foundation created TAP™: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement. TAP™ is a comprehensive school reform system that restructures and revitalizes the profession by offering teachers and principals a thriving learning environment with powerful opportunities to excel, and ultimately to improve student achievement.
Recognizing that piecemeal solutions have not proven equal to the task, Lowell Milken established the TAP system with four elements that work together to develop the skilled educators all of America's children deserve: multiple career paths, ongoing applied professional growth, instructionally focused accountability and performance-based compensation.
Rapidly growing demand for TAP's proven system of reform catalyzed the establishment of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) in 2005 as an independent 501(c)(3) public charity. Equipped with a staff drawn from education and business, combined with a broad coalition of school practitioners, NIET operates TAP and works to ensure the system's effectiveness and sustainability in diverse communities across the country.
As you consider supporting NIET and our efforts to improve teacher quality and student achievement, please view the following resources:
- Success Stories provides a sampling of the impact TAP has had on increasing student achievement and strengthening teacher quality — particularly in high-need schools where they need it the most.
- Read what leading policymakers and researchers as well as practitioners in the field view to be the benefits of TAP by visiting What People Are Saying About TAP.
- The growth of TAP has been supported by the generous funding of government, organizations, foundations and corporations committed to ensuring that all children in America receive the quality educational opportunities they need and deserve. View TAP Funders for a complete list.
- TAP is highlighted in Achieving Teacher and Principal Excellence: A Guidebook for Donors(PDF) by Andrew J. Rotherham as a "high-leverage philanthropic investment" in restructuring incentives “to encourage and reward excellence in teaching and leadership" in order to tackle America's human capital challenge.
- Ongoing partnerships among schools, government, unions, businesses and foundations have been essential in taking TAP this far. But with the need for effective teachers greater than ever before, your support is crucial to expanding TAP's reach. Please donate now to support our efforts.
Annissa Clayton, Mentor Teacher, Audelia Creek Elementary School, Dallas, Texas
"Where I came from, I thought I was a great teacher. TAP challenged me to recognize you can become better. It challenged me to go from good to great. I'm still working towards the great."