AUSTIN – In an effort to recruit, reward and retain talented teachers, the Texas Education Agency is expanding the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) to six schools in the Austin and San Antonio areas in the fall of 2006.

Gov. Rick Perry ordered the expansion in November. This expansion brings the total number of TAP schools in Texas to nine. Three schools in the Richardson Independent School District – Audelia Creek Elementary School, Forest Meadow Junior High School and Thurgood Marshall Elementary School –implemented this program in fall 2005.

TAP is a comprehensive strategy to attract, develop, motivate and retain high quality teachers by providing multiple career options for classroom teachers. The program provides ongoing training, instructionally focused accountability, salary increases based on teacher’s duties, and bonuses to teachers based on teacher and student performance.

"We are pleased with the progress in Richardson, where we are already seeing positive responses to TAP. Now more districts will be able to take part in this comprehensive program," said Lewis C. Solmon, president of the Teacher Advancement Program Foundation. "I thank TEA and all those involved with TAP’s implementation, working for better student achievement and teacher quality in Texas. I especially acknowledge the leadership of Gov. Rick Perry, a true and courageous friend of school reforms that will increase student learning and reduce achievement gaps among income and ethnic groups."

Traditionally, salaries for teachers in Texas and most other states are tied to their years of classroom experience. The most common way for teachers to substantially increase their pay is to move into administration.

TAP offers teachers a way to advance professionally and earn higher salaries without leaving the classroom. It offers them multiple career paths as they become mentors and master teachers. As they move up the ranks, their responsibilities increase as does their pay.

TAP also involves restructuring the school schedule to provide time during the regular school day for teachers to meet, learn, plan, mentor and share with other teachers in an effort to improve instruction and their students’ academic achievement. This provides relevant, on-going professional development.

First created as an initiative of the Milken Family Foundation in 1999, TAP is currently used at more than 125 U.S. schools, impacting more than 56,000 students and 3,500 teachers.

For more information about TAP, please visit: http://www.tapschools.org/.

The six schools selected as new Texas TAP pilot sites are located in four independent school districts (ISDs) and will receive block grants to help them pay for some of the costs associated with the program.

Chosen as TAP schools are:

Hemphill Elementary School Hays Consolidated ISD $273,200

Wallace Middle School Hays Consolidated ISD $267,000

Susie Fuentes Elementary School Hays Consolidated ISD $260,000

Candlewood Elementary School Judson ISD $272,000

Lytle High School Lytle ISD $176,000

Blake Manor Elementary School Manor ISD $280,000

The schools are expected to implement the TAP program for the 2006-2007 school year.