Pedagogical Support Network For Improving Achievements

The study of advanced Mathematics and Physics in Israeli high schools is diminishing. The number of students, who choose to study these subjects for high-level matriculation and perform well, is limited due to a number of factors. One of these factors is that most schools do not set a clear objective to continuously improve their achievement in Mathematics and Physics, and therefore lack school-wide support for the teaching and learning of these subjects which ensures that all staff members are committed to achieving the objective.

Amit is a veteran school network which has ninety schools across Israel, most of which are national religious high schools. Amit practices central operation; presenting their schools with vision and goals, setting success measures, and helping provide educational, pedagogical, management and organizational support in order to achieve the set objectives, while closely monitoring performance and reporting results.

The Amit network is proposing to develop a model for a school-based pedagogical support system designed to help high schools improve student achievement in Mathematics and Physics. Based on findings of extensive research performed by education scholar Anthony Bryk, Amit proposes to develop an intervention program to be pilot-tested in five public (non-selective) high schools. The program will focus on the five components which Bryk found to directly affect schools’ ability to lead students to significant academic achievement: a coherent, common and binding pedagogy for all teachers; high quality teaching; strong parent-teacher collaboration; a student-centered learning climate; and school leadership driven lo lead all of the above.

The first stage of the program will require selecting a project leader, identifying suitable schools to participate in the program, and preparing a detailed implementation plan. This stage will require delving into the Bryk model and customizing it for implementation in Israeli public high schools. The second stage will involve the development of the five components into concrete steps and working with the chosen schools to test them on the ground. The current thinking at Amit favors working with the school principals to define goals for improvement and then working with teachers to learn how to diagnose and monitor the learning progress of every student.

After three years of work in a school, Amit expects an increase of 40% in the number of students choosing to learn Advanced Mathematics and Physics and a decrease in drop-out rates from these subjects from approximately 50% to 20%. The ultimate goal is for at least 15% of school students in each school to graduate with high-level Mathematics and Physics matriculation. An external evaluation will be used to monitor progress and assess achievement according to these goals.

If successful, the project aims to be sustainable and transferrable to other high schools, and will be designed to be implemented at a reasonable cost to new schools. Amit estimates the cost per school will be no more than 100,000 NIS per year.

* The text presented above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation Board / Grant 51