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Performance-Based Compensation
TAP™ changes the current pay system by providing additional compensation to teachers based on new roles and responsibilities, their accomplishments in the classroom and the performance of their students. The system also encourages districts to offer additional compensation to those who teach in "hard-to-staff" subjects and schools. As a result, teacher salaries are determined by more than years of teaching experience and professional development credits.
Salary augmentations are given to master and mentor teachers because these teachers take on more responsibility and authority, and work a longer school year than the typical classroom teacher.
All teachers in TAP schools are eligible for financial awards based upon the average of the scores they earn on multiple evaluations of their classroom teaching, as well as their classroom-level achievement growth and school-level achievement growth, both of which are measured using a value-added model.
It is recommended that performance awards are allocated according to the following breakdown:
- 50% Teacher evaluations based on Teaching Skills, Knowledge and Responsibilities Performance Standards
- 30% Individual classroom achievement growth
- 20% School-wide achievement growth
Rachel Hodgeson, Mentor Teacher, Lowery Intermediate School, Ascension Parish, Louisiana
"Because I teach students on campus just as they do, teachers know I am 'in the trenches' alongside them, and that has earned me a certain respect and has opened classroom doors that might have otherwise been closed . . . We have all grown exponentially through working in a TAP school, and our students reap the benefits daily."