Daliyat al-Carmel and Isfiya Municipal Program

The Druze community in Israel comprises 143,000 citizens living mainly in the north of Israel. Daliyat al-Carmel (18,000 residents) and Isfiya (13,000 residents) are two local councils with a majority of Druze residents. In 2003, these two councils were merged to form Carmel City, however the new city was dissolved in 2008 and the two councils resumed their independent status, though with continuous cooperation between them. With reference to education, 435 students from both councils attend three joint middle and high schools.

Regarding mathematics studies, 17% (73) of the middle school students graduate from excellence classes in ninth grade, and 24% enroll in 10^th grade in the five-unit track. However, only 12% in Daliyat al-Carmel and 8% in Isfiya actually take the five-unit matriculation exam at the end of 12^th grade. The councils estimate that this drop down, as well as a tendency of excelling students to study in Haifa schools, are a result of the limited local offerings that enable students to learn in excellence classes in middle school.

The councils are therefore preparing to expand the opportunity to learn at a high level to many more students. They are proposing a three-year program in which five new excellence classes for eighth and ninth grade students will be added, targeting the 109 (25%) students who currently attend high-ability classes. In the excellence classes, students will receive four supplementary learning hours during which they will learn high-level applied mathematics and mathematics-based science studies.

Academic organizations that develop applied mathematics tasks and mathematics-based science tasks will be recruited to guide the teachers on how to teach the applied tasks. The mathematics and science teachers of the six excellence classes in 8^th-10^th grades will participate in professional learning communities with the academic organization, which will train and mentor them throughout the program. In addition, seminars and workshops will be organized for the school principals and mathematics department heads in order to ensure their buy-in.

The councils’ goal is that by 2024, 223 of their ninth grade students (42%) will graduate from excellence classes. The desired outcome is for 80% of the students to succeed on a diagnostic test developed to align with the top 5-6 levels of the PISA tests.