Chapter 8: The Teacher Advancement Program

I am pleased to be here today to talk to you about some issues that have become more common in today’s educational jargon—teacher career advancement opportunities, relevant and directed professional development, rigorous accountability, and performance-based compensation. Today I will give you a sense of what we have been doing at the Milken Family Foundation regarding these issues.

The Milken Family Foundation was founded in the early 1980s to focus philanthropy primarily in the areas of education and medical research. In 1987, we started the Milken Educator Awards, which is now in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Over the years, we have researched educational issues such as the early accountability and standards movement, preschool education, and various small-scale reforms. However, what we soon realized was that without a high quality teacher in the classroom, no piece of technology, no program of study, no standard, and no accountability system can be used effectively to impact student achievement. Thus in 1998, we began focusing on developing a comprehensive model that would attract, develop, motivate, and retain talented teachers in the profession.