Self Learning Course For Middle School Graduates

The PISA assessment is taken by 15-year-old students in 79 countries, and is based on their common denominator of mathematical content knowledge. For Israel, it means that the PISA mathematical content is equivalent to what is mostly taught in 8^th or 9^th grades. The reason for this, is that the goal of PISA is not to test knowledge, but rather the ability to apply it in real world contexts. This requires students to demonstrate their thinking skills, such as to reason mathematically and to formulate, employ and interpret mathematics to solve genuine problems.

Analyzing the framework that is planned for the 2021 PISA test in mathematics, the implications for Israel are even more complex. Most of the mathematical topics on which the assessment will be based are taught either in elementary school (such as percentages), in 8^th grade (such as statistics and volumes), or not at all (such as growth and decay problems). It makes sense to conclude that by the time Israeli students take the PISA exam at the age of 15, they either lack or probably have forgotten the relevant mathematical knowledge.

This gap is reflected not only in the international PISA exam, but also in the local context when students move from middle school to high school. The high school curriculum is very demanding, particularly the five-unit track, and students are expected to master what they learned in their middle school years, in order to build on top of it the more advanced skills. However, by the end of their three years in middle school, they have lost touch with many of the mathematical concepts they have learned along the years.

Therefore, we approached the Israel Center for Excellence Through Education, whom we recently commissioned to conduct a mapping of the existing study material in middle schools, in order to develop a refresher course for 9^th grade students. They are proposing to develop assignments that correspond both with PISA and with the requirements of the five-unit track. The course will include 15 assignments, both in Hebrew and in Arabic, intended for self-learning, offered at incremental difficulty levels, with detailed solutions, clues and explanations, as well as an assessment at the end of the course. Each topic will have an appendix, which will help the students to recall key mathematical principles.

The course will be placed on a designated website, which is aimed for self-learning, enabling students to practice and progress at their own pace, and in their free time, but will highlight where teacher involvement may be particularly helpful. Therefore, the website will also include a teacher’s guide. The assignments will be exposed to middle school mathematics teachers and will be open to all students who wish to make use of them. In order to enable 9^th grade students to start preparing towards 10^th grade already this coming year, seven assignments will be developed by April 2020.

* The text presented above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation Board / Grant 359