A city-wide program in Sakhnin will confront drop-out rates and develop a cadre of excellent leading 5-unit mathematics teachers
Sakhnin is a small city of 29,000 residents, located in the Lower Galilee in the Northern District of Israel. The city’s population is Arab, mostly Muslim, with a sizeable Christian minority. There are two public high schools owned by the municipality, which serve approximately 1,500 students. In 2013, 63.6% of the 12th grade students were eligible for matriculation. The city is also home to an elite private high school, attended mainly by external students, and a minority of local residents.Mathematics and science achievement in the city are poor, but stable. In 2015, only 39 majored the 5-unit mathematics, 44 majored 5-unit physics tracks and approximately half the students who are prepared for 5-unit mathematics in junior high school dropped to lower levels in high school. According to the city, the dropout rates can be attributed to the fact that students perceive these subjects as very difficult, and fear failure. Their motivation to succeed is rather low, because many students go on to study abroad in universities and colleges in Jordan, Egypt or Eastern Europe, where entry requirements are lower than in Israel.
To deal with these high dropout rates, Sakhnin municipality has decided almost two years ago to begin with investing in informal science education in the city, so that students and parents will be more attuned to the importance and relevance of these issues. Through a collaboration with the Davidson Institute of Science Education, they have provided a variety of extra-curricular enrichment programs for children from primary to high school, and activities for the public. In addition, in order to expand the ‘pipeline’ of students who will be able to major in mathematics and the sciences, Sakhnin also partnered with Mofet, which opened classes of advanced level for 100 7th to 9th grade students showing aptitude for 5-unit studies.
Now they feel that they are ready to directly confront the dropout rates and to work with the 5-units teachers in order to assist them in this effort. In the municipality schools there are 6 teachers of 5-unit physics and 15 teachers of 4 and 5-unit mathematics, and the municipality proposes to engage them in professional communities of practice. They will meet regularly in order to foster clinical teaching skills by using classroom-based videos and additional techniques, which have not yet been specified. Leading teachers from the city will guide these communities and with the support of the Davidson Institute, provide instructional coaching for the veteran and new five-unit teachers, helping them to adapt teaching methods to diverse populations in the heterogeneous classroom.
After three years, the program aims to increase the average rate of students taking advanced-level mathematics and physics matriculation by 50%, reaching 60 graduates a year, and to develop a cadre of excellent leading teachers in Sakhnin who will be able to sustain the effort in the city’s schools.