Computer Science and AI Studies in 100 Excellence Classes

When asked in surveys about their top priorities for education, parents and children in Israel respond immediately – English, mathematics, and computers. However, although English and mathematics are mandatory subjects as of elementary school, computer science is offered in Israel only as an elective subject in secondary school. Approximately 15,000 students learn computers in middle school as part of the excellence class curriculum, of which 11,000 graduate high-school with five units in computer science. The Ministry of Education now aims to double these numbers, as part of a new policy following the recommendations of the Perlmutter Committee on human talent for high-tech. Three hundred new excellence classes will be opened in the coming few years, mostly in the social periphery of Israel, with an emphasis on female students and Arab students.

In order to better understand the specific needs and opportunities in middle school, a few months ago we approached the Cyber Education Center (CEC). CEC was founded more than a decade ago by Unit 8200 of the IDF, the Israel National Cyber Directorate and the Rashi Foundation. Since then, CEC develops and operates after-school enrichment programs for a select group of capable students in the social periphery of Israel. They teach them advanced topics that are not part of the school curriculum, such as computer networks, big data analysis and machine learning. CEC is also a veteran partner of the foundation in developing a mathematics-based computers program for middle school (On-Top) for 1,500 students in 70 excellence classes across the country. Now, we asked CEC to evaluate the formal computer science curriculum and to plan how they can be of assistance and initiate significant upgrades.

In response, CEC decided to join hands with the Mofet Association, that operates 150 excellence classes and is in a process of increasing its scope of activity to 220 classes in the next few years. Currently, computer science is studied in 120 of these classes, with no obligatory curriculum. In practice, teachers choose mostly to teach computer language and coding technique. Only 25% of their students choose to continue their studies in the computer science five-unit track in high school. Therefore, Mofet is keen to have CEC at their side as a center of expertise that would help them raise the bar. The joint program they are proposing aims to operate in 100 excellence classes over three years, starting in seventh grade up to ninth grade.

The content of the program will begin with fundamentals of computer science, including programming and technique, incrementally reaching high-level computational thinking and the ability to solve complex problems. In ninth grade, elective advanced courses will be offered in areas of machine learning, artificial intelligence, protection of cyber systems, high level networks and mining of big data. The content will be adapted for instruction in both Hebrew and Arabic. The teachers will undergo designated professional training and receive individual coaching from the CEC staff. Success will be measured by doubling the rate of Mofet’s students who choose to major in computer science in high school.

* The text  above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors / Grant 525