Second Cohort of a Course for Leaders of City-Based Programs to Advance Excellence in the Teaching and Learning of High School Mathematics

Tel Aviv University, host of the Institute for Local Government, will establish a training course for 20 municipal excellence program managers

Tel Aviv University, host of the Institute for Local Government, will establish a training course for 20 municipal excellence program managersTel Aviv University

Clinical Teaching

Grant Amount

NIS 125,000

Grant Term

One Year

Date of Approval

June 2018

Status

Completed

In recent years, the foundation established city-based programs and partnerships with 17 municipalities that have prioritized excellence in mathematics and science studies in their cities. Underlying these programs are ambitious goals, set by city mayors to increase the number of students successfully graduating 5-unit mathematics. In the coming year, the foundation intends to expand the partnerships portfolio to 25 cities.

In order to improve the effectiveness of this process, a year ago the foundation approached Mr. Itzik Cohen, former deputy General Director of the Ministry of Education, and an expert in education in local authorities. In collaboration with Bar-Ilan University, Cohen developed a training course for the leaders of the city-based partnerships. A first cohort with 18 participants has now completed the one-year course.

The graduates report that the course was highly effective. It helped them and their cities learn from one another, to share best practices and difficulties and to learn how to improve their programs. They however noted that they still lack advanced tools for data-driven management, that they need more time for learning from practice, and that following completion of the course, they wish to engage in peer discussions regarding the challenges they face.

In preparation towards a second cohort, these lessons have been taken into consideration. Therefore, the proposed program will include the following themes:

Pedagogic management, exposure to clinical teaching programs, including assessment and monitoring of student learning, personalization, operation of professional teacher communities, and the use of video recordings of classroom teaching.
Systemic management, learning how to implement intervention programs, how to cope professionally and organizationally in the municipality, to carry out assessment and monitoring and to engage in constructive dialogue with school principals, colleagues in the municipality, and relevant departments in the Ministry of Education.
Data-driven management, becoming familiar with pedagogic and diagnostic data systems and learn how to translate municipal goals and measurements into a system of data collection, monitoring, analysis, and improvement.

The course will include 20 participants and consist of 18 five-hour sessions and three days of visits to municipalities that run excellence programs, for a total of 120 study hours.

In consultation with the foundation’s Grants Committee, we suggest that the host university will move to Tel Aviv University. Tel Aviv University is home to the Local Authority Institute, which in December 2017 received a grant from the foundation to establish a professional network for the “Cities of Excellence”.

* The text presented above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation Board / Grant 293

Vision & Mission

Advisory Council

Sustainable Infrastructure