Increasing the Rate of High-Tech Matriculation in Hadera from 9% to 15% (180 students) by 2029

Hadera is a city in central Israel, ranked below average on the socio-economic scale, and home to 110,000 residents. It operates nine high schools that serve more than 7,500 students. In 2023, 13.4% of twelfth-grade students matriculated with five units in mathematics (compared to the national average of 16.3%), and 8.6% (107 students) with a high-tech matriculation (compared to the national average of 10.9%).

Four years ago, the municipality partnered with the foundation with the objective of increasing the excellence pipeline. The joint program included the creation of advanced mathematics tracks in middle school and teaching applied mathematics with support from the Technion. As a result, 33% of the ninth-grade students (365 students) are currently learning advanced mathematics and 250 tenth grade students are enrolled in the five-unit track.

Hadera now wishes to build on this bigger pipeline to increase its high-tech matriculation to 15% by 2029. They are planning to achieve this by encouraging the students of the advanced mathematics track to choose both five-unit mathematics and physics majors. Since physics is taught in only three schools and by only eight teachers, the intention is to hire five additional teachers, and to open physics classes in four schools.

The new teachers will be trained at the local science museum (Technoda) and then join the veteran teachers in a joint professional learning community. The Technoda will also host special seminars for 125 ninth grade students with the potential to enroll in the five-unit physics track next year. These students will meet with scientists, visit high-tech companies, and be encouraged to choose physics in high school.

To keep track of progress, the municipality plans to appoint coordinators in eight middle and high schools, so that students in the program will receive personalized support. These coordinators will share their knowhow in a community of practice. Alongside this, during the four years of the program, the municipality will convene conferences and workshops for principals and teachers.

In consultation with the foundation, we advised them to pay special attention to the participation of female students. In 2023, only 30% of the graduates of the high-tech matriculation track in Hadera were female students, and most of the students of five-unit mathematics who do not study physics, are female students. In addition, we asked the municipality to consider upgrading some of the elements in the program to include AI components.

* The text above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors / Grant 594