The National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) invites you to join us at our 9th Annual National TAP™: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement Conference . The event will be held April 17 - 19, 2009 , at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Los Angeles, California .
Multiplying networking opportunities, the National TAP Conference will once again be held in conjunction with the Milken National Education Conference (NEC)—an annual gathering of Milken Educator Award recipients and distinguished representatives from academia, government, business and the community to tackle solutions to America’s biggest challenges in education.
The event, themed Comprehensive Teacher Quality Reform: Policy and Practice for a New Era , will allow TAP Conference attendees to participate in both hands-on TAP sessions and NEC sessions, as well as forge connections with the newest class of Milken Educators.
As a new direction for success, TAP has been essential to improving teacher quality and student achievement because it offers a powerful reform package that helps teachers and students reach their highest potential. With TAP's career advancement opportunities, ongoing professional development, fair and transparent accountability system and competitive compensation, teachers receive the tools and support they need to reach the ultimate goal: student learning .
At the conference's helm, Lowell Milken, NIET chairman and TAP founder, will deliver a special welcome presentation on Friday evening, April 17. Over the next two days, conference sessions will provide answers to many of the questions raised by those already implementing TAP, as well as those interested in learning more about TAP’s comprehensive system of reform. Hearing directly from teachers, principals, specialists and others involved with TAP’s daily implementation will add an invaluable benefit to the conference experience. Panel topics will include:
- Keeping the Momentum Going in Challenging Times
- Prioritizing the Education Agenda
- Effectively Using Value-Added Data at the Classroom Level
- Partners in Implementing TAP
- Recruiting Talented Instructional Leaders
- School Board Leadership in TAP
- Transforming a School: Stories from the Field
- Principal Leadership, Evaluation and Compensation
All participants together will spark exciting and highly meaningful conversations to achieve
Teacher Excellence...Student Achievement...Opportunities for All .
Betty Crawford, Former TEA UniServ Coordinator, Knox County Education Association, Tennessee
"After looking at TAP, we thought it was a really good program if you implemented it fully and properly. After educating schools and staff members about what TAP entailed, the program was ratified by all the membership. Once people were educated about TAP, they understood that this isn’t just about test scores: this is about staff development. This is about growing as a teacher. And that’s what we did."