A Program Increasing The Percentage of 10th Grade Students Studying 5-Unit Mathematics

Municipal Program in Ramla to Increase the Percentage of 10th Grade Students Studying 5-Unit Mathematics to 25% by 2020

Municipal Program in Ramla to Increase the Percentage of 10th Grade Students Studying 5-Unit Mathematics to 25% by 2020The Ramla Foundation for Education

Local Partnerships

Grant amount

NIS 1,200,000

Grant term

Three Years

Date of Approval

March 2017

Status

Completed

Ramla is a disadvantaged city in the central district of Israel with a population of almost 66,000 residents. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority, and is home to a large population of new immigrants from the former Soviet Union. The fabric of its residents is reflected in the city’s education system, which is somewhat fragmented; there are 12 high schools under different ownership, including private schools, vocational schools, 6-year schools and independent junior high and high schools. These schools cater to 3,800 students, and in 2016, 56% of the 12th grade students graduated with a matriculation certificate.

In 2015, the city embarked on an initiative to improve its rate of 12^th grade students examined in 5-unit mathematics, which was very low, standing at 3%. As a first stage they joined “the New Five” program, and implemented foundation-supported school intervention programs with ORT and AMAL networks. While they are predicting a significant rise in 2017, to 6.9%, this rate remains lower than the national average, which grew during the same period to 15%.

Therefore, the city wishes to take additional action to address its specific condition. Its data shows that nearly 52% of 9th grade students learn in advanced level and excellence mathematics tracks. This is a very high number, however, only half of them are recommended by their teachers to continue to study 5-unit mathematics in 10th grade. In practice, there is a great variation between schools, but the average rate of 10th grade students selecting 5-unit studies is 12.2% of all students.

According to the district, the root for this shrinking number of students lies with junior high school teachers, who are unaware of the 5- unit goal and a few whose knowledge base and teaching quality are variable. On a city level, they conclude, there is a need for more knowledge sharing, cooperation and teamwork between teachers surrounding the student’s transition from junior high to high school. To address these issues, the municipality is planning a three-year program, aimed to balance the pipeline and increase the percentage of 10th grade students enrolled in 5-Unit mathematics tracks from 12% to 25%.

The program will include three elements:

Junior high school mathematics teachers. Up to 54 teachers from 14 schools will meet for ten sessions each year, led by an expert, such as the Davidson Institute, with the goal of taking greater responsibility for their students’ success in high school. The group will strengthen mathematical knowledge, learn to diversify their teaching strategies, and discuss and define their approach to excellence. In addition, each school in the program will receive instructional coaching for both individual teachers and small groups once every two weeks. The school-based coaching will focus on quality teaching, lesson observation and feedback, and creating school based communities of practice.
School-based mathematics departments. Twenty-four department heads from four junior high schools and eight high schools will work together to align the transition from 9^th to 10^th Together with teachers they will strive to create a common professional language and coordinated teaching methods, and to cultivate a shared responsibility for students and their academic achievements. This group will also participate in a three-day immersion seminar in the first year of the program to help establish them as a learning community and to improve collaboration between them.
School principals. The program will bring the principals of the twelve participating schools together in a community of practice to advance excellence in their schools through mathematics. As a first step, a 2-day residential seminar will consolidate them around shared vision and goals. Later on, led by the Ramla District Supervisor and over three years, they will work together as a group on producing a coherent instructional system in their schools, and empowering teachers to help students reach high academic achievement in mathematics. Together they will develop practices and processes for increasing excellence in their schools.

The program will be led by a full-time manager, who will be responsible for promoting excellence in mathematics for the city, and the city will add supplementary teaching hours for students. The manager will report to the head of education at the Ramla municipality and will be guided by a steering committee that will meet three times a year. It is hoped that if the program is successful at the junior high school level, then after six years, the rate of 5-unit mathematics graduates in Ramla will increase to 20%.

* The text presented above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation Board / Grant 248

Vision & Mission

Advisory Council

Sustainable Infrastructure