Homepage / What Is Excellence?

Excellence is a high level of understanding, thinking and performance in which students are guided by the knowledge and skills they have acquired, using them intelligently and creatively to solve a new and complex situation under conditions of uncertainty.

Students at excellence level*:

*as defined by the Israel initiative on excellence in education (5p2) based on levels 5-6 of the OECD’s PISA framework.

Knowledge

Build a broad and deep knowledge-base, which enables them to conceptualize, generalize, extrapolate and apply it in different contexts, based on research they conducted and models for complex situations they designed. They see different aspects of a problem, know how to articulate their thoughts, how to solve problems and create new knowledge.

Skills

Develop logical, spatial and algorithmic modes of thinking and employ creative and critical abilities. They are able to plan and explain experimental methods as they make complex links between fields, sources of knowledge and different representations. They choose, compare, and evaluate strategies and draw conclusions at a high level of abstraction.

Character traits

Enjoy challenges and problem solving, take responsibility for their studies, are prepared to persevere and to withstand difficulties. They learn from mistakes, engage with complex and unfamiliar situations, and are assisted in this by resourcefulness, creativity and high interpersonal communication and collaborative abilities.

Values

Set ambitious goals for themselves and strive for truth, resolution, success, and breakthroughs. They demonstrate integrity, ethics and fairness as well as tolerance and openness to diverse opinions. They are aware of the moral responsibility stemming from the use of scientific knowledge and take action to improve the society in which they live.

Seven mathematical abilities defined by the top levels of the PISA framework

Communication
Extracting relevant information from complex text, graphs, tables and diagrams while extrapolating from other knowledge and unfamiliar orders of thinking, and the ability to express and justify the result.
Mathematization
Translating the problem into a mathematical model, selecting relevant variables, collecting measurements, creating charts, interpreting relationships by means of analogy under variable conditions, identifying assumptions and constraints and comparing between models.

Reasoning and argument
Analysis of information in order to create a multi-stage argument, built on connecting between variables, a chain of deductive reasoning, justification of analogies, and determination of generalizations comprised of multiple informational elements.
Representation
Choosing and interpreting a mathematical representation, translating between representations, comparing representations, understanding non-standard representations and adapting them to complex situations.
Strategic planning
Building a complex strategy while exchanging the form of information in order to find a comprehensive solution and evaluating different possible strategies and comparing them.
Using language and operations
Applying multi-stage mathematical processes while working flexibly with algebraic relationships, performing symbol manipulations, and use of rules, consensual definitions and formulas and of deep mathematical knowledge in order to arrive at results.
Use of mathematical tools
Using complex tools that allow for multiple operations, while engaging in thought to understand and assess the advantages and limitations of each tool.

Vision & Mission

Advisory Council

Sustainable Infrastructure