Grant amount
NIS 800,000
A Program To Increase The Rate Of Five-Unit Mathematics Students In The City Of Herzeliya
Program in Herzliya to Increase the Rate of Five-Unit Mathematics Students to 30% of the City's High School Graduates
Program in Herzliya to Increase the Rate of Five-Unit Mathematics Students to 30% of the City's High School Graduates
Herzliya is a city of 100,000 residents which is located north to Tel-Aviv and is considered one of Israel’s top performing cities. The city’s education system, which serves 17,000 students in six high schools, is also renowned for its high level of teaching and learning. However, with such potential and capacity it is surprising to learn that the percentage of high school students graduating with five units in mathematics has significantly decreased in recent years, from 30% in 2008 to 22% in 2015.
The Mayor and his education department have noticed this trend with grave concern, and begun to investigate the causes which triggered the decline. Their initial conclusions are that they need to deepen the mathematics knowledge of teachers and to help them improve their teaching praxis so that they are better able to address the needs of students with diverse abilities and difficulties. They also noted a widening gap between lower and upper secondary schools, which results in students insufficiently prepared for the five unit track in 10th grade.
To tackle these problems the municipality has added teaching hours, sent teachers to in-service training courses and enlisted external intervention programs. As these scattered steps have not bared satisfactory fruit the municipality has concluded that it needs to take a more systemic and ambitious approach. The goal of the new plan, which was set by the Mayor, is to reverse the negative trajectory and return to a 30% rate in the coming four years.
The suggested program includes the following elements: The first is to align school management practices with the goal to enable more students to take the five unit track, to better coordinate between lower and upper secondary schools, and to engage parents in supporting their children’s learning. The second will concentrate on teachers’ clinical practices, by conducting seminars and workshops in partnership with the Weizmann Institute, the Technion and Branco Weiss. The third will focus on students, by opening regional learning groups for struggling students as well as for students who demonstrated high potential however need additional support.