Grant amount
450,000 NIS
Professional learning communities to adapt the curriculum
Professional Learning Communities for 400 Middle School Mathematics Teachers to Facilitate Curriculum Adaptations Aligned with the PISA Framework
Professional Learning Communities for 400 Middle School Mathematics Teachers to Facilitate Curriculum Adaptations Aligned with the PISA Framework
In January 2023, the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the University of Haifa, embarked on a three-year process of adapting the national mathematics curriculum in middle school. The Ministry was convinced that alongside its traditional focus on procedural fluency and abstract thinking, the curriculum should also include applied modelling and reasoning skills. A joint team with the University of Haifa, supported by the foundation, was tasked to select real life learning assignments from the portfolio that was developed by the foundation’s partners, adapt them to all levels of learning and incorporate them into the Ministry’s database for teachers.
So far, 60 learning assignments have been prepared and uploaded to the database. One hundred thirty teacher leaders have participated in a special course during the summer, training them to use the assignments and to mentor 2,500 additional teachers in the coming years. This year’s plan was to create 30 professional learning communities for 600 teachers, who would be trained to use the assignments in their classrooms. However, due to the war, the Ministry of Education decided to halt all its budgets dedicated to the professional development of teachers. Attempts by professionals and the media to persuade policy makers to reverse this freeze have so far been unsuccessful.
Since 520 teachers were already registered to participate in these learning communities, the University of Haifa and the Ministry’s Mathematics Department approached the foundation for immediate assistance. Six learning communities for 120 of the teachers will be funded by municipalities that collaborate with the foundation, while the remaining 20 communities for 400 teachers need funding. The University and the Ministry emphasized that implementing the curriculum change relies on these teachers. Therefore, we are proposing to temporarily substitute for the government and to fund 20 learning communities for 400 teachers over up to one year, or until the budget from the government returns.
* The text above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors / Grant 560