ASU honors American for TAP leadership

Glendale American is the winner of the Impact Award for TAP Implementation from ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teacher’s College.

The award recognizes the work of American teachers and staff for the significant increase and improvement in the functioning of the school as a result of the implementation of the TAP (Teacher Assistance Program) System for Teacher and Student Advancement.

“This is a wonderful recognition of the excellent work our teachers have put in for the last three years,” said Principal Kellie Duguid. “TAP has changed the way we do business at Glendale American. Over the past four years our school has gone from a school of individuals working independently of each other to a school of system thinkers and working as a whole for the benefit of our students.”

American began to implement TAP four years ago. In that time the school has consistently demonstrated growth in a variety of surveys that measure teacher satisfaction and growth, as well as its teacher effectiveness scores.

“The biggest changes we have seen is in our teachers working as a team and taking ownership of their teacher effectiveness,” Duguid said. “Our teachers challenge our school leadership team to continue to improve our instruction and ultimately assist our teachers to continue to improve.”

Through its participation in TAP, now in its fourth year, American teachers are offered multiple career paths, ongoing professional growth, instructionally focused accountability and performance-based compensation. The comprehensive implementation of TAP is proven to improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement. At American, it is paying dividends. Teacher cluster groups analyze student achievement data as they work to implement and evaluate teaching strategies that target specific student needs. The collaborative time each week has brought grade-level teams, as well as the whole school, together to grow, share ideas and apply what they learn in the cluster groups into the classroom.

This is the second time American is being recognized for its work with TAP. In 2011, American was recognized as a TAP School of Promise at the National TAP Conference.

American is one of 60 schools across the Valley of the Sun participating in TAP. As an average, school-wide growth scores have increased 10 percent for the first three years of the grant. Seventy-five percent of all teachers were considered effective teachers based on their evaluation scores through the TAP System.