In the current school year, 18,050 high school students completed 5-unit mathematics, reflecting more than a 100% growth from 8,869 graduates in 2012. These graduates were promised that ‘5 units will open the doors’ for them, to university, and consequently into the job market. Now, the eyes turn to the higher education system, in order […]
In a recent press conference, the Minister of Education publically announced that Israel has succeeded to meet its goal of doubling the number of high school graduates who majored the five-unit track in mathematics. “We saved the Startup Nation”, he declared with pride, followed by an elaborated report on performance and next steps by the […]
The Foundation’s partnerships with municipalities have increased in the previous school year to 15 cities. Each municipality defines an ambitious goal for increasing its number of five-unit high school graduates in mathematics and prepares a plan to support the teachers, harness the principals and engage the parents. In order to sustain this growing portfolio, last […]
“Five Club” was established in 2015 by the University of Haifa (assisted by a grant from the Trump Foundation) in order to create and operate professional learning communities (PLCs) for 5-unit mathematics teachers across the country. In these communities, the teachers work systematically in order to improve their teaching practices by analyzing their students’ learning, […]
Ofakim is a small city in the Southern District of Israel with a population of approximately 28,000. It was founded in 1955 as a development town, absorbing Jewish immigrants mostly from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Iran, India and Romania. Residents used to work at local textile factories, until they closed and then in construction and agriculture. […]
The city of Yavne has approximately 50,000 residents and over the past three years has been undergoing a process of growth. In the next few years the city’s population will increase further to 100,000. Yavne is home to diverse communities with large socio-economic gaps between them. Its education system comprises two small and two large […]
Human talent is Israel’s most important resource. We take pride in our scientists and entrepreneurs who successfully built, and continue to build, a small “start-up nation” and a striving economy in a very difficult region and against all odds. For a country under a continuous security threat and with demanding military needs, staying the course […]
The Einstein school of mathematics at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem is a world-renowned mathematics department. Its faculty comprises highly talented mathematicians, including, Elon Lindenstrauss, the 2010 Fields Medal Laurate and David Kazhdan and Alex Lubotzki, winners of the Israel Prize in mathematics. Several of them have been active along the years on an individual […]
The foundation’s strategy is focused on expanding the circle of excellence of mathematics and the sciences in high schools. Therefore, most of our efforts are dedicated to nurturing clinical teaching in the 5-unit track in the upper secondary school level (grades 10-12). However, in recent years, we have turned our attention to also smooth the […]
School principals are central to the effort of implementing clinical teaching and expanding the circle of 5-unit mathematics in their schools. They need to define ambitious goals based on data and to mobilize their staff and harness external resources to achieve these goals. They need to help create school-based communities of practice, develop a coherent […]
In recent years, physics classes have become larger and more diverse, and the failure rate from these classes increased to more than 20%. The foundation prepared for this moment by nurturing the development of diagnostic assignments, helping teachers identify learning difficulties of individual students in real time and respond immediately. Two grants to the Weizmann […]
In recent years, the foundation established city-based programs and partnerships with 17 municipalities that have prioritized excellence in mathematics and science studies in their cities. Underlying these programs are ambitious goals, set by city mayors to increase the number of students successfully graduating 5-unit mathematics. In the coming year, the foundation intends to expand the […]
An investment in programs and professional development of physics teachers in recent years has led to a 45% increase in the number of physics students – 7,892 students took the 5-unit matriculation in 2011 and 11,500 in 2017. The side effects of this sharp growth are more diverse classrooms and higher dropout and failure rates. […]
Over the last five years, at the initiative of the foundation’s partners, Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) for science and mathematics teachers have sprouted up across the country. Focusing on student learning and clinical teaching, these PLCs have become a significant platform for teachers’ professional development. With the proliferation of the PLCs, the Ministry of Education […]
Over the past seven years, the Trump Foundation and its partners have worked together to expand the circle of mathematics and science excellence in Israeli high schools. Our portfolio of grants and projects has grown, developed and diversified, and today we are working with close to 250 grantees, partners and stakeholders to achieve impact on […]
As five-unit mathematics classes become larger and more diverse, mathematics teaching is shifting to attempt to address the abilities and difficulties of each student. At present, a growing number of teachers are seeking tools and methods based on analyzing student understanding, that will enable them to be able to respond to the needs of every […]
Over the last six years, Israel has seen a 20% increase in the number of advanced-level physics students that complete 5-unit physics matriculation, from 7,892 students in 2011 to 9,483 students in 2016. This trend is strongly felt in the ORT-Israel school network, where 1,900 students are studying physics in 12th grade in 2018. ORT-Israel […]
Since 2015, the Trump Foundation has placed a growing emphasis on creating networks and convening partners in order to increase coherence, collaboration and effectiveness between programs, and to encourage sustainability of the foundation’s strategy among its partners. Our strategic roadmap describes convening as an “amplifying activity” to our strategic programs and in response to feedback […]
In 2013, at the initiative of Prof. Yoram Harpaz, the foundation approached the Branco Weiss Institute and the Yediyot Aharonot Publishing House, to curate, translate and publish a series of books on quality teaching. Four books have been translated to Hebrew thus far, representing a diversity of thought on the topic by scholars from around […]
Rahat is a Bedouin city in the South of Israel with a population of 64,500. It is the largest Bedouin city in the world and is on the lower end of the national socio economic scale in Israel. Rahat is home to 8,000 high school students who study in eight high schools, all operated by the municipality, […]
As the foundation’s focus shifts to expanding the pipeline of excellence, and broadening and deepening our work in junior high school, we are eager, together with the foundation’s partners, to learn the best way of working with junior high schools to advance excellence in five unit tracks and form our policy and specific strategy in […]
Over the past six years, the Trump Foundation has developed a portfolio of programs to advance its goal to help expand the circle of excellence in mathematics and science studies in high schools. The programs are designed in line with a strategic roadmap, harnessing talent into teaching, nurturing clinical teaching expertise and supporting high quality […]
At the core of the international PISA tests are skill and proficiency-based tasks that reflect real-life challenges. The mathematics test invites 15 year-old students to use mathematics reasoning as well as quantitative thinking in order to solve daily life problems. Contexts vary from determining accurate dosage of antibiotic drugs, calculating the levels of energy needed […]
Student selection of five-unit mathematics in high school has become more straightforward in recent years. The motivation is practical, as it provides students with a ‘golden key’ to enter prestigious technology units in the army, competitive departments in universities, and high paying jobs in the labor market later on. Students receive individual matriculation grades, which […]
Over the past four years, we have been gradually collaborating with municipalities across Israel that prioritize the advancement of mathematics and science studies in high school. We chose to work with cities, because in Israel they are directly responsible for high schools, hiring their personnel and allocating their budget. We have joined their effort to […]
The traditional approach in teaching mathematics and science in Israeli high schools has been exclusive and selective. Teachers tended to focus on teaching the material in depth and at pace, while relying on the students to self-regulate their effort. In practice, the first months of tenth grade and the first matriculation of eleventh grade, served […]
“Mathematics First”, the National program for increasing the number of 5-unit graduates began in 2015 in a rush – it was launched after the beginning of the school year and quickly recruited 100 schools to the program. Together with the Education Ministry, we approached the Center for Educational Technology (CET) and asked them to reach […]
The ‘collective impact’ coalition around excellence in mathematics and the sciences is acknowledged as an important element in the national effort to increase five-unit graduation rates in high school in Israel. The convening of dozens of stakeholders from government, industry, academia and the civil sector to jointly focus on a shared mission has had a […]
The foundation is currently collaborating with five school networks (ORT, Amit, Darca, Amal and Branco Weiss), in order to increase the number of five units graduates in mathematics. Among these, ORT is the largest network with 100,000 students in 205 educational institutions throughout the country, 90% of which are located in the social periphery. A […]
In the past, most professional development for teachers in Israel has taken place in off-campus institutions, delivered by external experts, disconnected from daily school life and challenges. However, in recent years, following best practice of high performing education systems around the world, there is a growing tendency in Israel to encourage in-school peer-to-peer professional development. […]