RTI Implementation
Insights derived from the OR project are also focused on the implementation of reforms in educational systems. In order to implement a large-scale reform, deep and genuine partnerships must be built and nurtured between the academy and the educational field. It has been found that key people, such as students in advanced research studies, who are at the intersection of research and the educational field; literacy experts, who implement the programs in schools; and members of the district headquarters, are important players in promoting fruitful and mutually beneficial partnerships, and they are also agents of change in the educational field. The implementation of research-based projects, such as “OR – Green Light for Reading,” can ensure an economic return on funding research of this type in the short term to promote student participation in the program. Furthermore, such assimilation supports the delivery of research knowledge to teachers and language instructors in the educational field, which will ensure that the knowledge remains within the school system. The findings of this extensive study indicate that professional development at a municipal level lead to improving the knowledge of teachers as well as supporting struggling students. These findings support an Israeli model of reform based on research and pedagogical tools, which promotes truly beneficial partnerships between the academy and the educational field.
For further reading, link to paper of Dotan, Katzir, Lipka and Shaul: Implementation of RTI reform in Israel on a large scale: Extracting principles from the OR project in the city of Be’er Sheva