A critical overview at Israel's PISA 2018 results

Year 2021, Volume: 9 Issue: 5, Special Issue on STEM Studies, Giftedness and Sustainability of Education, 1 - 10, 30.12.2021

Hanna David

Abstract

This article will present the results of the 2018 PISA International Tests of Israeli students. These tests have been administrated every three years since 2000 in mathematics, science and verbal literacy. The results of Israeli students have been compared to those of the OECD members as well as to those of all 79 participants of the PISA 2018. The first part of the article deals with the consensual harsh critique published in Israel as soon as the law achievements of Israeli students were revealed. It will show that the educational gaps among students from various socio-economic backgrounds, religions, and level of religiosity, as reflected by the school system they belong to. This has happened in spite of the substantial increase of resources Israel has adopted in the last decade, the very generous amount of money allocated to closing the educational gaps between the under-achieving sub-populations and non-minority, Jewish students, and the repeating declarations of all ministers of education and other official authorities about their personal commitment to strive for both closing the educational gaps and increasing its level. The second part of this article will deal with the fact that students who were expected to achieve poorly, have not been included in the PISA sample. These students were mainly Arab, as well as practically all Ultra-Orthodox boys. The Ultra-Orthodox girls included have not been a representative sample but rather a minority of girls belonging to this sector who do tale the matriculation examinations. As a result, the very disappointing results of Israeli student in the PISA 2018 tests have actually been much more inferior than published.

Keywords

Arab students, Haredi students, Israel, Mathematics, PISA

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