IDI will explore how to improve Israel's performance on the PISA assessment, with an emphasis on excelling students, gaps and readiness for the 21st century job market
The pandemic caught the Israeli education system unprepared. School facilities instantly closed in mid-March 2020, forcing teachers and students to tackle the new circumstances through distance teaching, independent learning and pedagogical initiatives. Teachers and students had to find creative ways to maintain educational continuity from their homes. The Ministry of Education tried to provide them with immediate support, but it soon turned out that regardless of all the efforts, the scope of learning was decreasing and gaps were widening.
Public criticism erupted, coming from parents, journalists and education experts, pointing to a variety of difficulties and malfunctions. Some claimed that the education system is overly centralized and that it must allow for more flexibility and professional judgment at the local level. Others argued that the curriculum is old fashioned, dense and boring, and that it must focus and adapt to the 21st century and become much more relevant to students. When middle schools were last in line to reopen, many observers noticed that they lack purpose and require significant restructuring.
On the brighter side, this year can create unique opportunities for education once the pandemic is over. Throughout the year, mathematical models appeared all over our screens, helping us to understand what was happening. Doctors are considered heroes and scientists are perceived as super-heroes who now save humanity with vaccines. The sense of importance of mathematics and science is now evident and can translate into a boost in motivation for learning and excelling in these areas. This motivation is enhanced by a sense of nostalgia, as most are excited about returning to in-school learning, craving to restart their educational journeys.
These challenges and opportunities lead Israel’s education system to a crossroads. The coming elections open a window for a serious education plan with a clear vision and an operational program. Thinking about this need, we consulted with the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) and the Ministry of Finance. As a result, the IDI is proposing to organize the preparation of such plan. The IDI is a non-profit organization that specializes in bringing together research, policy and practice, and in convening cross-sectoral discussions on issues that relate to the economy, the job market, health, education and the environment.
In May 2021, the IDI intends to invite twenty participants to two 2-day retreats, in order to focus on the needs of the education plan and devise the solutions. The participants will be leading figures from the Ministries of Education and Finance, local authorities, universities, industry, the unions, parents, the civic sector, as well as school principals and teachers. The process will be chaired by Shimshon Shoshani, who served as Director General of the Ministry of Education three separate times. A research team will prepare background material, conduct surveys and focus groups, and assist in writing the final report.
The program plans to address key issues, such as the low performance of Israeli students on the OECD PISA assessments, which reflect the low rate of excelling students, huge gaps and a general lack of readiness for the job market. It will also concentrate on the national curriculum and the need to focus on relevant content and skills, as well as on ways to ensure high quality teaching. The draft report will be presented in a special session at the IDI annual conference in June 2021, followed by a six-month process to prepare the final version.
Our expectation is that the plan will explore how to improve Israel’s performance on the PISA assessment, with an emphasis on excelling students, gaps and readiness for the 21st century job market.