The Szold Institute will publish a report in Hebrew and Arabic, which they will share with the public and in the educational media
The Arab society of Israel represents 20% of the population, and has unique educational characteristics that distinguish it from the Hebrew speaking school system. Arab students learn in a separate education stream, in Arabic, and have a relatively low eligibility for matriculation (45%), with a high variation between ethnic and religious communities. The percentage of students who graduate 5-unit mathematics is comparatively low – it was 7.1% in 2013, compared to 10.2% in the Jewish sector – maintaining a persistent and stable gap over the years between the two societies. Nevertheless, in physics and chemistry, Arab students do very well, with 9.3% of the twelfth grade matriculating in physics in 2013 and 16.8% in chemistry, compared to 8.4% and 5.9% respectively in the Jewish sector. Typically, female students in Arab school achieve higher grades than male students, and tend to take advance science majors in much higher proportions.Many of the foundation’s programs operate also in Arab schools, however so far only a few were specifically developed for the Arab education system. They were designed by adapting models that were originally created for the general population, and include professional teacher communities, a teacher residency program, and a municipal intervention. This experience leads us to think that there may be differences, which require adapting a sub-strategy to the unique needs and characteristics of the community.
For example, in Hebrew-speaking schools, there is a high correlation between the percentage of students excelling in the PISA examinations at the age of 15 and those matriculating at the 5-unit level at the age of 18. In the Arab schools there is no such correlation, and in fact, almost no outstanding students in the PISA examinations. In the Arab schools, unlike the Hebrew-speaking schools, there seems to be little shortage of mathematics and science teachers. Teachers are younger on average, and more highly educated than teachers are in the Jewish sector.
In order to deepen our knowledge and understand the needs of the Arab education system in Israel, the foundation approached the Henrietta Szold Institute, a veteran and experienced non-profit organization, which conducts educational and social scientific research and has worked with the foundation in the past on a number of studies.
In discussion with the Institute, they propose a study over the course of seven months, to be led by an Arab principal researcher. The study will focus on identifying if there is an untapped potential for increasing the number of high school students majoring in mathematics, by addressing the following questions:
The Szold Institute will rely on questionnaires and focus groups of teachers, students and education officials and will establish a steering committee, to function as a sounding board. The study will result in a report in Hebrew and Arabic, to be distributed to the public and in the educational media.