One of the issues not fully discussed in this chapter, but extremely important to you as a new professional, is the compensation of teachers. We discussed in chapters 10 and 11 how accountability procedures are now being put in place that hold teachers accountable for the achievement and performance of their students. That discussion is important because many reform critics are now beginning to argue that differentiated pay models for teachers can and should be instituted to reward high-performing teachers and to "punish" low-performing teachers.

One such performance-based compensation system is the Milken Teacher Advancement Program. (TAP). There are now at least 36 TAP schools and they use student progress, academic achievement, and a demonstration of professional performance as a means of rewarding and compensating teachers.

What problems and benefits do you see to such Milken models?

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No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires that a highly qualified teacher be in every U.S. classroom by 2005-2006. Teachers who are newly hired and who are teaching in schools that receive Title I money had to meet the criteria by 2002-2003. To be highly qualified, a teacher must hold a bachelor's degree, be fully and appropriately certificated, and demonstrate that he or she possesses the requisite content knowledge for the subject being taught. Interestingly, it is up to each state to devise the criteria to determine whether teachers meet the federal mandate. You might find it interesting to see how your state stands relative to the NCLB mandate. Wisconsin seems to have the most highly qualified teachers (98.6 percent) and Alaska, the fewest (16 percent). Why do you think it might be easier for Wisconsin than for Alaska to fulfill the NCLB mandate? How does your state stand? See the October 29, 2003 issue of Education Week for an article titled "States Claim Teachers are 'Qualified'." The link for Education Week is http://www.edweek.org.