Expanding Teacher Training to Integrate Mental Skills into Mathematics for Excellence Students in the Central District
A year ago, the Trump Foundation approached the Sagol School Program at Reichman University to conduct an in-depth qualitative study to identify the emotional skills essential for students in excellence tracks in Israel. The study aimed to identify which skills teachers need to impart to help students succeed. Interviews were conducted with school principals, teachers, and students from excellence classes in both central and peripheral regions, as well as across different sectors of Israeli society.
The study revealed that excellence track students are characterized by goal-setting, ambition, and a strong drive for excellence, both personally and as encouraged by their parents. However, to thrive, they need skills to manage stress, workload, difficulties, and failure, as well as time management and prioritization abilities. A key insight was that these students must be convinced that effort and learning can lead to cognitive improvement and academic growth.
Following the study, the Sagol School partnered with the Central District of the Ministry of Education to integrate these mental skills into mathematics education. The Central District has been a long-standing partner of the Trump Foundation, with a proven track record in expanding five-unit mathematics enrollment. Together, they launched a pilot program consisting of 10 hours of professional development for the district’s communities of mathematics teachers.
Building on the pilot’s success, the Sagol School Program and the district are now seeking the foundation’s support to train 400 mathematics teachers of middle and high school excellence tracks, equipping them with tools to teach mental skills to their students. The training program will span 60 hours over one year, including seminars and workshops. To ensure the skills are effectively imparted, the district will allocate two weekly teaching hours for each trained teacher to implement these methods in their mathematics lessons.
Additionally, the program will provide three years of training for 50 district mathematics instructors, enabling them to coach teachers on how to integrate mental skills into their mathematics lessons. This approach is designed to ensure that by the program’s conclusion, the district will have the capacity to sustain and expand the initiative independently, without relying on external experts.
Throughout the program, annual conferences and dedicated training days will be held to reinforce best practices and foster professional collaboration. An evaluation study will accompany the initiative, assessing the implementation of mental tools, their integration into mathematics instruction, and their impact on student perseverance and success
* The text above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors / Grant 600