Clinical Teacher Residency Training Program For Mathematics Teachers In Arab Schools

In 2013 only 6.5% of the Arab high school students have graduated the advanced five-unit major in mathematics, in comparison to almost 10% of the Jewish students. This percentage reflects an ongoing decline since 2006 in similar proportions to the decline of Jewish students. This decrease was caused due to a growing shortage of adequately qualified teachers capable of teaching the 5-unit level in upper secondary schools. Current training programs are not focused in the advanced level and do not prepare the teachers to teach clinically to support each student and prevent the high drop-out rates that are so typical to advanced level mathematics studies in Israel.

Al-Qasemi Academic College of Education, an Arab college in the city of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, proposes to address these issues by creating a Clinical Teacher Residency Program for 75 new five-unit mathematics teachers. The college will recruit outstanding candidates with academic degrees in mathematics-based subjects via a competitive selection process. Their training will follow the teacher-residency model in which students participate in practical teaching experiences in schools. They will be closely supervised by master teachers, observe classes, be observed themselves, and receive feedback. The academic knowledge required of them will be intertwined with the practical experience and will be derived from it.

Al-Qasemi Academic College of Education was founded in 1989 with the support of the Education Ministry and with the encouragement and recognition of the Council for Higher Education, as the first academic institution located in an Arab city. Today the college has 2,515 students studying bachelors and masters degrees, including mathematics teaching for secondary schools and a mathematics program for career-changers. Four years ago, the College adopted the Professional Development School (PDS) training model which it uses to provide students with practical experience.

Students of the proposed program will learn three days a week, one of which in a high school where they will teach, observe and be instructed by an experienced five-unit mathematics master teacher and an instructional coach from Al-Qasemi College. On the two additional program days students will study mathematics and mathematical education courses in order to complete requirements for obtaining a teaching certificate. The program will train students to address the thinking and learning of each student, using various tools for monitoring and tracking strengths, difficulties and different needs of each student.

To support the successful placement of students after graduation, the college will cultivate a relationship with local authorities and schools in order to build a database of schools where there is a demand for program graduates. After graduation, the college will continue to provide individual professional tutoring over two years, by a specially appointed coordinator, at the school. The college will strive to build a strong network of program alumni, together with excellent teachers and instructional coaches.

* The text presented above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation Board / Grant 166