Aligned by Design: How Teacher Compensation Reform Can Support and Reinforce Other Educational Reforms

Written for CAP by leading education researcher Craig Jerald, this report counteracts the failures of existing professional development and evaluation systems by citing TAP as a comprehensive system that reforms teacher compensation, along with other support structures, in an effective and sustainable way. Jerald uses TAP to illustrate the importance of building human capital at the school and district levels. The report notes that performance compensation for master and mentor teachers in TAP schools--the "less famous" aspect of this performance-pay reform--is essential to its ability to not only recognize and reward effective teaching but to also systemically generate improvements in teacher effectiveness.