The Milken Family Foundation’s Teacher Advancement Program is based on five principles aimed at creating new opportunities for teachers and at heightening accountability.
- Multiple Career Paths: New avenues of career advancement are provided so that those with exemplary skills may be given new leadership roles in which they can help develop the skills of their colleagues.
- Market-Driven Compensation: Teachers are paid based on their performance in the classroom and on the results seen in their students, instead of solely on years of experience and education.
- Performance-Based Accountability: Teachers are evaluated and promoted based on how they measure up against agreed-upon standards for what they should know and be able to do.
- Ongoing, Applied Professional Growth: Teachers are given ample time, on a regular basis, to work collaboratively with others on ways to improve their instruction.
- Expanded Supply of High-Quality Teachers: Alternative-licensure programs are established to attract more nontraditional teaching candidates. At the school level, Milken suggests creating part-time teaching positions for retired teachers wanting to return to the profession and for professionals from other fields interested in teaching occasional courses.
