Robert (Bob) Taggart, Ph.D., founder and president, is responsible for the strategic direction and management of Remediation and Training Institute (RTI). A believer in a "nuts and bolts" approach, he is an acknowledged visionary in more than one field, including educational technology, youth development, job training, program design, and social policy. Dr. Taggart has completed and published studies on the importance of basic skills, labor market-related hardship, learning gains of disadvantaged populations, electronic benefits transfer use in social welfare programs, learning incentive models, and the effectiveness of employment and training programs. Under his leadership, all of RTI's work - and especially development of the Extralearning system - is driven by research-based practical knowledge of what works.

Before founding RTI in 1982, Dr. Taggart headed the Carter Administration's multi-billion dollar youth employment and education initiatives, for which he authored policy statements, monographs and legislative recommendations that promoted the interests of disadvantaged and minority groups, particularly youth. Through his leadership, over 100 multi-site demonstration projects were initiated during the Carter years including tests of national service, apprenticeship in school, school-to-work transition, youth enterprises, and the use of computers in education. Prior to that, he was Executive Director of the National Center on Economic Policy, a think tank affiliated with George Washington University.

As he has for nearly 25 years, Taggart's vision guides RTI's curriculum development, technologies, program models, partnership development, policy work and international collaboration. He received a Ph.D. in labor economics from George Washington University and a B.S. in mathematics from The College of William and Mary.

back to top