In 2015, the Trump Foundation embarked on a pilot year of serving as a convener. We took on this role as a proactive step to increase coherence, collaboration and effectiveness between programs and to encourage sustainability of the foundation’s strategy among its partners. We did so in response to the request and expectation expressed by […]
Three years ago, the foundation established an online community, under the name: “It’s Time for Education” (Higiya Zman Hinuch). It quickly became extremely active, and today comprises the largest social media educational community in Israel with a membership of over 30,000 teachers, potential teaching candidates, and people interested in mathematics and science education. This unique […]
Rishon LeZion is Israel’s fourth largest city, with a population of close to 236,000 inhabitants, located along the central coastal plain, south of Tel Aviv. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Israel, and is the third-youngest city in the country, as 31.1% of the population are children and teenagers, and 61.4% of all residents are […]
In order to further widen the pipeline of potential students and increase their readiness for 5-unit study in high school, junior high school students need to build a solid foundation of mathematics knowledge and skills. In recent years, the middle-school curriculum has been significantly revised in line with this need, to include tasks that invite […]
Petach Tikva is a large city in the Central District of Israel, with one of Israel’s fastest growing populations, numbering approximately 225,000 residents, with 40% national Orthodox or ultra-Orthodox. About 14,500 students attend secondary education in the city (2,400 per year group). There are eight high schools in the secular system (of which 6 have […]
Typical professional development courses for teachers involve lectures by academic experts, enriching the participants with theories and innovations. As this sort of training has proved to have limited effect on the quality of teaching, successful education systems around the world have decided to make their in-service training programs more practical, by using different tools that […]
The Naggar School of Photography, Media, New Music, Animation and Phototherapy, teaches 140 undergraduate art students and produces several gallery exhibitions every year. The Naggar School proposes to curate a photography and video art exhibition on teachers, which aims to grapple with and capture the realities of teaching practice. It will present approximately forty images […]
Three years ago, the foundation supported a physics diagnostics program at the Weizmann Institute, which aimed to develop a database of 150 diagnostic assignments, designed to help teachers diagnose students’ difficulties, typical errors and common misconceptions. In addition, they aimed to develop one hundred short learning tasks and teaching strategies to help the teacher adapt […]
Junior High mathematics and science classes are large, students have varied knowledge and abilities, and the curriculum is packed and fast-paced. As a result, it is difficult for teachers to diagnose each individual student’s capabilities and difficulties in real-time and adapt teaching methods accordingly. A consequence of this is that many teachers teach to the […]
As five-unit mathematics classes become larger and more diverse, we are seeing selective teaching, which identifies and cultivates only the excelling students, shift towards a more nurturing teaching, one that diagnoses and addresses the abilities and difficulties of each student. This transition is however very difficult, as studies show that many teachers tend to be […]
One-hundred high schools are at the core of the recently established National Initiative to increase excellence in mathematics and science education. Titled: Mathematics First, the program aims to significantly increase the number of students graduating high school with science and mathematics matriculation over a period of five years. Within this framework, the Ministry of Education […]
Advanced level mathematics teachers face similar challenges, however they rarely collaborate with each other, and typically refrain from participating in professional development workshops. In other countries and in other subject areas in Israel, teacher isolation is curtailed by engaging them in professional learning communities, in which they share their knowhow, consult with peers and improve […]
The Trump Foundation’s clinical teaching strategy relies on teachers jointly developing their practice in the framework of a ‘professional learning community’ (PLC). Currently we support six programs at the Weizmann Institute, Haifa University, Branco Weiss Institute and Kadima-Mada, which operate dozens of PLCs for hundreds of teachers of physics, mathematics, chemistry and STEM subject heads […]
International testing in education allows for comparison across countries and cultures and mutual learning. As a result of this comparative data, policy makers around the world have discovered that there are common issues with education reform and that lessons for overcoming those issues are often transferable. The longitudinal data and its analysis have been influential […]
The Ministry of Education intends to set a national target for high school physics graduates, in line with the growing demand for mathematics and science education. This will require additional teaching hours, nurturing clinical teaching expertise to reduce dropouts, improving instruction in junior high school to increase selection, and opening new classes in upper secondary […]
Three years ago, Levinsky College pioneered the ‘Delta’ Teacher Residency Program as a one-year teacher training and alumni support program for career-changers who wish to re-train as junior-high school mathematics and science teachers. It caters to 30 student teachers per year, 20 in mathematics and 10 in the sciences, and so far it has trained […]
Master teachers are at the core of clinical teaching. They tutor new teachers, orchestrate the school-based teaching community, coach veteran teachers and lead evidence-based learning in communities of practice. This cadre of professionals is a crucial cornerstone for improvement in teacher learning and practice, however they still have no formal position, nor recognition as such […]
The Education Ministry operates an instructional support system for mathematics teachers on a national scale. The system relies on seven national-level instructional coaches (responsible for high-school, middle-school, Arab sector, integration of technology, information and knowledge, matriculation exams, and teaching accreditation) as well as eight district instructors. In parallel, each District operates its own coaching system, […]
Enabling teachers to learn from practice, while focusing on student learning and thinking, is at the heart of the Trump Foundation’s strategy. We learned that teachers improve their own practice, shifting from textbook-centered to student-focused teaching when they document their own teaching and receive feedback from a colleague or an instructional coach. On this basis, […]
Many people in Israel are passionate about fulfilling an untapped potential of female students in areas such as advanced mathematics, the sciences and technology. As a consequence, programs encouraging girls to take a greater part in mathematics and the sciences are operating in schools across the country. Most of them offer extracurricular and supplementary activity, […]
Over the last ten years, several Haredi (Ultra-orthodox) schools for female-students have switched from internal matriculation exams to external state matriculation. Previously, students studied mathematics at a three-unit level and some sat equivalency examinations through the Szold Institute. Around five years ago, as part of the increased demand to study software engineering, 50 schools began […]
In 2012 the Trump Master Teacher Award was launched in order to recognize excellent teaching of mathematics and the sciences. The award aims to convey to the public a clearer sense of what constitutes quality teaching. Our intention is to reward and celebrate master teachers of mathematics and the sciences, and introduce them to the […]
The expected imminent retirement of many mathematics and science teachers is both a challenge and an opportunity for Israel’s education system. In order for talented people to enter the shoes of veteran teachers, according to our strategy, talented people will need to be persuaded that they are making the right career choice. They will need […]
As part of the Ministry of Education program for doubling the number of 5-unit mathematics students in Israel, they stated a goal to double the number of 5-unit mathematics teachers. To this end, the Ministry is leading a new two-year program to expand the certification of experienced mathematics teachers to teach the five-unit track. The […]
The Trump Foundation is unique in the sense that it is highly concentrated to achieve a very specific measurable goal – to improve teaching so that more students graduate their high school studies with mathematics and science majors. The foundation’s portfolio reflects this focus, and although each project acts independently, they all share the same […]
The Arab society of Israel represents 20% of the population, and has unique educational characteristics that distinguish it from the Hebrew speaking school system. Arab students learn in a separate education stream, in Arabic, and have a relatively low eligibility for matriculation (45%), with a high variation between ethnic and religious communities. The percentage of […]
Almost five years have passed since the Trump Foundation was established, and our portfolio of grants and projects has grown, developed and diversified. With over 143 grants, which have already been approved, our partner organizations are aiming for a mutual goal to increase the number of excelling students. Each of them brings its unique expertise, […]
Israel is facing a growing shortage of math and science teachers, especially in post-primary schools, and moreover, those who teach five study units in the track. As a result of this shortage, many high schools are forced to close or consolidate classrooms, or employ teachers with training or backgrounds who are insufficient to teach these […]
With the imminent retirement of a large number of Mathematics and Science teachers, the coming years will witness a growing shortage of teachers in these disciplines. In order to sustain and improve Israel’s performance in education, this shortage will need to be filled by new highly talented and well-trained teachers. Talented people, however, will only […]
Much of the material from across the world of education on effective and high-quality teaching is only available in English. These books and articles represent cutting edge knowhow on teaching practice, particularly on methods to implement clinical classroom proficiencies, which are very much needed in Israeli schools and particularly for mathematics and science teaching in […]