Study Tour to Poland

Poland is one of the top 15 countries on the PISA international assessment, with 16% of its students excelling in mathematics (compared to 8.8% in Israel). Over the past 20 years, Poland has demonstrated a remarkable improvement, the result of a comprehensive reform of its education system. Commencing in 1999, the reform included structural change to postpone streaming, upgrade of the curriculum and tests to focus on reasoning and problem solving, and providing local authorities and schools with autonomy to exercise their professional judgment.

One of the leaders of this reform was Zbigniew Marciniak, who was Deputy Minister of Education at the time, in charge of curriculum. Today he serves as chairperson of the PISA Mathematics Expert Group and is a consultant to the foundation. In discussion with Marciniak, we are proposing to organize a study visit to Poland in October 2021, pending COVID restrictions. A five-day visit is planned which will include meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Education, teachers’ professional development, curriculum development, assessment and school visits.
The delegation will be comprised of seven members of the foundation’s grantee partners, including academic scholars in mathematics and science education who lead joint programs with the foundation, as well as representatives of the Israeli Ministry of Education. An education reporter from the Israeli 12 News Channel will join the delegation. Upon their return to Israel, they will prepare a detailed report to be shared with the professional community and a TV documentary will be broadcasted on prime time news.

* The text  above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors / Grant 452