Evaluating the Success of the Teacher Residency Programs

As of 2013 the foundation approved a series of teacher training programs, recruiting and preparing new math and science teachers in Israeli high schools. The programs target career changers and operate a model titled: Teacher Residency Programs, which is characterized by a rigorous selection process and a practical, in-school, training and mentoring. The programs are led by academic institutions across the country, representing Israel’s diverse communities.

So far the foundation approved 13,295,000 NIS for 8 such Teacher Residency Programs, in order to train 465 new teachers over the next several years [In addition the foundation approved 5,535,000 NIS for two other training programs, which use a different training model (Teach First Israel and Teacher-Researcher) training a total of 170 new teachers].

Each of the Teacher Residency programs developed its own nuance in implementing the program, however they all share the same goal and operating model. Therefore, in the recent year, the foundation has begun to convene the leaders of these programs to meet routinely, in order to share knowledge and develop mutual standards. As part of their collaboration, the leaders traveled to the US to meet with similar and more veteran programs, and recently they jointly held in Israel an international conference on the topic.

At this point, we acknowledge the need for a deep evaluation of these programs, their effectiveness and their impact on the field. We believe that an evaluation methodology which would suit this scenario is a methodology which is becoming more frequent in the social sector, named: ‘shared cluster evaluation’. This methodology aims to comparatively assess the individual progress of each program and to analyze their accumulated impact on teaching and learning and on teacher training practices.

In thinking through the required process we sought the advice of the Center for Educational Technology (CET), which operates a highly experienced evaluation unit. CET provided us insights on tools, process, product, budget and time table, and even offered to serve as an evaluator in this endeavor. Nevertheless, we recommend a different approach, in which we would issue a call for proposals among professional institutions and individuals, in order to be able to choose from several alternatives and research tools.

Therefore, we propose that in the coming three months we would prepare and publish a call for proposals, which would focus on how the programs are meeting their shared standards, their outcomes in schools, their ability to sustain their work after the grant is completed and how they collectively influence the training of teachers in Israel. The chosen evaluator will be expected to complete the first report by the next meeting of the Advisory Council in 2016 and a final report during 2017.

This process of a shared cluster evaluation is the first of such activities which we intend to perform in other realms of our work as well (for example: the teacher communities, the partnerships with municipalities, etc.). These evaluation reports are intended to document the foundation’s activity and to be part of a review of our work.

* The text presented above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation Board / Grant 177