Report Shows TAP System Increases Student Achievement, Educator Effectiveness and Attitudes Long Term

Santa Monica, CA — Educators implementing TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement show gains in student achievement driven by consistent improvement in teacher practices, according to a report released today by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET). What's more, these improvements in teacher and student performance increase over time.

The new research finds 79% of first-year TAP schools achieve a year's worth of growth or more each year, compared with 77% of non-TAP schools. Campuses continuing TAP beyond two years see a greater impact on student achievement: 88% of those schools experience a year's worth of growth or more compared to the 77% for control schools.

The study further demonstrates that the steady increases in learning growth correspond to improvements in instructional practices over time. The results were found by examining changes to the observational scores of 5,469 teachers nationwide over a two-year period. The teachers moved from an average teacher observational score (TAP's Skills, Knowledge, and Responsibilities score) of 3.11 on a 5–point scale in fall 2012 to 3.48 in spring 2014, demonstrating statistically significant improvement.

As educator effectiveness and student achievement increase over time, so do teachers' support of TAP principles and the system's ability to bring teachers together.

Findings from an NIET survey monitoring attitudes over a nine-year period (2005-2014) show that more teachers report high levels of collegiality. Teachers also increasingly report strong levels of support for TAP's elements of multiple career paths, ongoing applied professional growth, instructionally focused accountability (educator evaluation) and performance-based compensation.

There was a notable increase in support for educator evaluation—jumping from 78% in 2005 to 89% in 2014. Also, performance-based compensation experienced a 27% spike in support, from 49% in 2005 to 76% in 2014.

TAP administrators, in turn, are highlighting TAP's overall impact on their schools. 96% reported that their teachers are more effective. 97% noted that TAP's evaluation system improves instructional practice. 98% declared that TAP's professional growth activities contribute to collegiality. And 99% credited TAP's professional growth activities for improving instructional practice.

"This new research adds to over 15 years of consistent findings," said Dr. Gary Stark, NIET president and CEO. "Multiple researchers investigating TAP in different locations using varied methodological approaches each reach the same conclusion: the TAP System consistently yields a positive impact on schools, teachers and student achievement."

Read and download the full 2015 Research Summary, including more information about these studies.

Initiatives of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching are improving the educational experience for more than 200,000 educators and 2.5 million students. For more information about NIET, visit www.niet.org.