Competition for Middle School

In the 21st century, with computers and robots implementing routine tasks, the modern work place requires much more sophisticated skills from its human employees. As a result, education systems around the world are transforming their curricula and pedagogy, so that students learn how to think deeply, plan thoroughly and interpret intelligently. In mathematics, procedural fluency and abstract thinking are complemented by modelling and reasoning skills needed for solving real world problems.

Such skills are at the heart of the PISA assessments, considered the global compass in education. In Israel, the mathematics curriculum maintains very high standards; however, it still concentrates on traditional concepts and methods. The future intention of the Ministry of Education is to incorporate applied mathematics for basic level ability groups, whereas for excellence class students, to leave it for supplementary teaching hours and after school enrichment activities.

In 2022, Israeli students will take part in the PISA research tests, together with students from 84 other education systems world-wide. It is reasonable to expect that our students will not excel on this exam since the curriculum, the pedagogy and the local tests that are practiced here point to different priorities than those set by the OECD. This mismatch is even more striking this year as a result of the Ministry of Education’s efforts to overcome learning gaps created during the pandemic by using supplementary teaching hours to teach the regular curriculum.

Regardless, the Ministry of Education and the Federation of Local Authorities approached the foundation with a proposal to organize a competition for middle school students focusing on applied mathematics. The competition will target ninth and tenth grade students who study in high ability groups and excellence classes. It will include 50 tasks of high order mathematical thinking in incremental levels of difficulty that will be presented in stages. The tasks are aligned with both the curriculum and the 5-6 proficiency levels of the PISA mathematics framework.

The competition will take place between January and February 2022 and will consist of three phases. The first aims to reach 20,000 students, engaging them in an online challenge and escape room over a period of two weeks, where they will solve 15 PISA tasks, including 7 which are in line with the PISA 5-6 proficiency levels. The second week-long stage will include 1,400 students who passed the first phase and were invited to a virtual escape room where they will be presented with 8 PISA tasks, including 5 which correspond to the PISA 5-6 proficiency levels. The first 350 students to solve the escape room tasks will be invited to a finals event where they will be asked to solve an additional 10 tasks aligned with the PISA 5-6 proficiency levels.

The mathematics tasks will be developed by Gali Shimoni, a well trusted expert knowledgeable about PISA tasks. All tasks will be presented in both Hebrew and Arabic. The National Superintendent for Mathematics and her team in the districts intend to encourage teachers to urge their students to join the competition and to practice similar tasks in their classes. The Federation of Local Authorities will do the same through their channels with municipalities across the country. The Ministry of Education will open a dedicated telephone line to provide support to the teachers whose students are taking part in the competition.

A designated media campaign to persuade students to participate will be organized and broadcast on television, radio and social media. The competition will end with prizes for the winners and for schools with the highest number of participating students.