By 2024, the aim of Ein Mahil is for 82 of their ninth grade students (39%) and in Yafia, for 105 (33%) ninth grade students to graduate excellence classes
Less than one percent of Israel’s Arabic-speaking students have reached excellence levels on the 2018 PISA exam in mathematics, as compared to more than ten percent among the Hebrew speakers. This untapped potential in Arab schools led the foundation to dedicate a special effort, which began with an online program initiated by the Center for Educational Technology and in which 300 middle school students now participate. Learning materials that are currently being developed in universities are translated into Arabic. As a result, there is an initial interest by municipalities to use the new content and open new excellence classes. Joint programs with municipalities are already in motion in Umm al-Fahem and Kfar Kana.
As part of this emerging movement, we were approached by two small Arab local councils in the Lower Galilee – Yafia (20,000 residents) and Ein Mahil (13,000 residents). Each has two middle schools, and the top 10% of their graduates leave to study in prestigious high schools in Nazareth. They do so partly because the opportunities to learn at a high level within the local setting is still limited. In 2019, only 8.5% of the twelfth graders in Yafia and 4.4% in Ein Mahil matriculated in the five-unit track in mathematics. Because of this weakness, there is a constant dilemma among local educators as to whether and how to push students to levels of excellence.
In discussion with the foundation, the two local councils dove deep into their education data. They noticed that by ninth grade, 22% of students (62 in Ein Mahil and 55 in Yafia) study in their local excellence classes. When analyzing what happens in these classes, it turned out that supplementary hours are used for enrichment and preparation for the psychometric exam. When enrolling in 10th grade, only 15% choose the five-unit track, and many drop down during high school. The councils concluded that the quality of content and teaching in the middle school excellence classes is inadequate.
Representatives of both councils met and discovered their common situation. They then decided to join hands in a three-year plan in which they will build a stronger foundation of excellence in their middle schools, so that students will be able to engage in high-order mathematical thinking and solve advanced, real-life complex problems. In order to do so they will open four additional excellence classes (two in each local council), dedicating four additional weekly teaching hours in mathematics and science for the 8th and 9th grades.
To improve the quality of teaching, they will organize professional learning communities for 16 mathematics and 16 science teachers of the excellence classes. These communities will be operated by an academic institution, which will train the teachers to teach advanced content. The communities will also be attended by 10th grade teachers to work on a smoother transition from middle to high school. The councils expect that due to the program, more students will enroll in the five-unit track in high school. Therefore, they are simultaneously planning to organize a community for the five-unit mathematics high school teachers to improve their teaching practices.
The heads of both local councils jointly agreed to select a program manager from Ein Mahil, who is a teacher in both councils, and a program coordinator from Yafia. Each participating school will appoint an excellence coordinator and the school principals will meet routinely to learn and plan together. By 2024, the aim of Ein Mahil is for 82 of their ninth grade students (39%) and in Yafia, for 105 (33%) ninth grade students to graduate excellence classes. The goal is for 75% of the graduates of excellence classes to succeed on a diagnostic test, developed to align with the top 5-6 levels of the PISA tests.