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Tafnit
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Overview
To close educational gaps and prevent dropping out from school through an accelerated learning program
Tafnit (the Hebrew word for "turnaround") was launched in 2000 with the aim of reducing educational gaps in elementary, junior-high and high schools, helping teenagers leave school with a matriculation diploma, and giving principals and teachers tools for helping weaker pupils fulfill their potential. During its first year, the program was implemented in 55 schools in the southern region, reaching a total of 2,450 pupils. This year, over 26,000 children in 250 schools all across the geographic and social periphery are participating in Tafnit.
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 | A 12th-grade math student receives
individual attention in a Tafnit classroom |
Principles
Everyone Can Do It! – Every child, with very few exceptions, is capable of doing well at school.
Chain of Success – Instead of failure after failure, the children must experience a chain of success so as to build self-confidence and restore the teacher's and parents' belief in the child's ability.
Accelerated Learning – Large gaps in knowledge can be closed through accelerated learning that breaks the regular classroom routine.
Results Orientation – The study program must be demanding and wholly directed towards achieving good results, led by a teacher who can generate the will to succeed.
Standards – The students must not merely improve their performance, but achieve high grades according to the national standard.
Differential Treatment – As children learn at different paces, there must be a differential investment of time and resources through small-group study and the employment of teaching assistants.
Significant Others – A coalition of program teacher, program coordinator and parents must be formed to encourage and direct the child towards self-confidence and scholastic success.
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In elementary and middle schools
The program is structured in three stages:
1. We identify the pupils with the lowest achievements in the grade (about 25% of all the children in the grade). These pupils participate in an accelerated learning program that aims to close the gap between these children and the rest of the class.
2. This stage consists of additional teaching hours for all the children in the grade, in order to raise their performance and bring them up to the national average for their grade.
3. The class returns to the regular learning program, and Tafnit's principles and methods continue to be applied by teachers and pupils.
In the junior-high schools, these stages are implemented so as to bring pupils from "low" to "high" streams.
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High schools
At this level, there are two models of Tafnit:
"Last Hurdle" Tafnit for Matriculation: Targets 11th and/or 12th grade pupils who are failing in one or two crucial matriculation subjects. The program enables these pupils to pass their "obstacle" subjects and gain a matriculation certificate.
Tafnit "Start" for Dropouts: Targets 9th graders who, according to the opinion of the school staff, are not capable of attaining matriculation, have poor record of achievement across the board, and are essentially hidden dropouts in danger of becoming actual dropouts. These pupils join a Tafnit class in 10th grade (following preparatory sessions during 9th grade), and by 12th grade are able to pass matriculation exams.
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Expansion over the years
Starting with less than 2,500 pupils at 54 schools in 2000/1, Tafnit has grown quickly to reach over 20,000 in 200 schools this year. In many locations, the program has been integrated in the Full School program. In the south, Tafnit is implemented through the Madarom project that promotes science and technology education in the southern region.
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Rashi's Involvement
Operating costs (about 25%)
Nationwide management (through the Foundation's subsidiary, the Association for Change in Education)
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Partners
Ministry of Education
Local authorities
Jewish Funders Network
Chais Family Foundation
Glencore Foundation
Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation
Philanthropic Partnership to Strengthen Northern Israel
Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) of the US State Dept.
KIAH
Israel Diamond Exchange
Check Point
Perach
Unit for Social Involvement, Ben-Gurion University
Isracorps - Training and Guidance Center for Service Year Volunteers
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