Covering the business of education and training

Nearly half of all teachers flee the profession within the first five years.

No doubt, new teachers are gungho, equipped, idealists and fighting made when they walk into their first classroom.

why do they leave within five years?

The Milken Family Foundation has initiated the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP).

This program provides guidance to new teachers well after they are hired.

Senior teachers are promoted to be mentors or "master teachers" and then work with their junior colleagues to improve their skills - especially in writing and math.

TAP also allows for pay incentives to teachers who teach tough subjects and get good results from their students.

TAP schools tend to earn higher test scores and their teacher retention is double the national average.

Now TAP is beginning to get national exposure and companies like Wal-Mart and the Broad Education Foundation are pitching in with donations.

According to the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) a spin-off of the TAP program, "Research shows that teacher quality is more important than most other factors."

Uh...I have always maintained that "A good teacher cannot always teach a bad student, but a good student can always learn something, even from a bad teacher."

It's good to see NIET at least make some difference.

What do you think?