How to Make “What Works” Work: A Role for the Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour

Abstract

This article identifies the need for New Zealand schools to implement empirically-based research strategies in order to improve achievement outcomes for students whose needs they are failing to meet. The article highlights the gap between research and practice, and the construct of acceptability is examined as a possible explanation for the gap. Variables affecting the acceptability of interventions are analysed under three headings – the intervention, the teacher and the support needed to bring about change. Finally, the paper makes a case for the suitability of the Resource Teachers Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) to fill the role of a scientist-practitioner in order to link the theoretical positions of the academic researcher and the teacher at the front line.