A critical overview at Israel's PISA 2018 results

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

References

1. Aharon, I. (2012). The new Haredim founded a new seminar "like Beit Ya'akov". Retrieved from https://www.kikar.co.il/
2. Alyan, N., Sela, R., & Ramati, T. (August 2012). Failed-Grade: The failing education system in East Jerusalem. Retrieved from https://law.acri.org.il/he/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Failed-Grade-en.pdf
3. Arlozorov, M. (13/12/2012). The success in the international tests – Reality of legend? Retrieved from http://www.themarker.com/news/1.1885101
4. Chai, Sh (12/12/2012). Without Ultra-Orthodox and Arab [students]. The jump-off in the [achievements] in the international tests. Retrieved from http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4318599,00.html
5. Chai, S. (12/12/2017). A new agreement with the teachers: Initial [monthly] salary of 8,000 Shekel. Retrieved from https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5055524,00.html
6. Dabul (Dvir), N. (3.12.2019). Left-behind in mathematics and struggling in reading: [Israeli] worrying results in the PISA [2018] results. Retrieved from https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/712417
7. Dattel, L. (6/12/2016). A catastrophe in education: The worst student in the west. Retrieved from The Marker web https://www.themarker.com/news/education/1.3144079
8. Dattel, L. (3/12/2019a). The big failure of the Ministry of Education: Israeli students deteriorated in all international tests. Retrieved from https://www.themarker.com/news/education/1.8217664

9. Dattel, L. (3/12/2019b). Crisis in Arab society: the education system went 15 years back. Retrieved from https://www.themarker.com/news/education/1.8218330
10. Dattel, L (13/5/2019). One third of Israel's religious students are exempt from studying math, science and English. Retrieved from https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/haredi-exemptions-from-core-curriculum-soaring-1.7225781
11. David, H. (2008). Educational gaps between Jews and Arabs in Israel. Al-Nibras, Articles in Education, Science & Society, 4, 35-53.
12. David, H. (2009). The Arab gifted child in Israel: Book summary. Gifted Education Press Quarterly, 23(4), 9-15.
13. David, H. (2014a). Are Christian Arabs the New Israeli Jews? Reflections on the Educational Level of Arab Christians in Israel. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Studies, 21(3) 175-187.
14. David, H. (2014b). The gifted Arab child in Israel. Saarbruecken, Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing.
15. David, H. (2015). The PISA Results in mathematics and science: A comparison between Israel and Turkey. Journal for the Education of the Young Scientist and Giftedness, 3(1), 22-28.
16. David, H. (2017). Gifted Education in the Middle East. In: S. Pfeiffer, E. Shaunessy-Dedrick & M. Foley Nicpon (Eds.), APA Handbook of Giftedness and Talent (pp. 113-129). Washington, DC: APA Books.
17. Ettinger, Y. (2011). Only 4 Yeshiva-high-schools enable Torah studies and learning for the matriculation certification. Retrieved from https://www.haaretz.co.il/misc/1.1070607
18. Grønmo, L. S. (2010). Low achievement in mathematics in compulsory school as evidenced by TIMSS and PISA. In B. Sriraman, C. Bergsten, S. Goodchild, G. Pálsdóttir, B. Dahl, & L. Haapasalo (Eds.), The first sourcebook on Nordic research in mathematics education (pp. 49-69). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
19. Harari, O. (15/11/2016). The [Israeli] Minister of Education launched the "we shall meet at 5" [=5-point matriculation examination, the highest Israeli high school level math exam]. Retrieved from https://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/333691
20. Hole, A., Grønmo, L.S. & Onstad, T. (2018). The dependence on mathematical theory in TIMSS, PISA and TIMSS Advanced test items and its relation to student achievement. Large-scale Assessments in Education, 6(3). doi: 10.1186/s40536-018-0055-0
21. Ilan, Sh (23/10/2018). A new report: The gaps between the rich and the poor in Israel are among the highest in the OECD. Retrieved from https://www.calcalist.co.il/local/articles/0,7340,L-3748225,00.html
22. Ilan, Sh. (3/12/2019). The PISA 2019 test: The Israeli students' grades are lower than the OECD average. Retrieved from https://www.calcalist.co.il/local/articles/0,7340,L-3775025,00.html
23. The Jewish Agency for Israel (2020). Introduction: The Diversity of Israeli Society. Retrieved from http://archive.jewishagency.org/society-and-politics/content/36171
24. Kashti, O. (11.12.2012). What is not said about the international tests. Retrieved from http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/1.1884223
25. Kashti, O. (4/12/2019). The PISA [2018] results are the first symptoms: The Israeli education system is ill. Retrieved from https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/.premium-MAGAZINE-1.8221015
26. Kogahinof, L. (3/12/2019). The PISA 2018 test: Israel took the first place in [educational] gaps; the lowest ever record in the achievements of the Arab students. Retrieved from https://www.kan.org.il/item/?itemid=62767
27. Korach, M. & Choshen, M. (2019). Jerusalem: Facts and Trends. The State of the City and Changing Trends. Jerusalem institute for Policy Research, Publication No. 505. Retrieved from https://jerusaleminstitute.org.il/en/publications/facts-and-trends-2019/
28. Krakowski, M. (19/9/2019). The truth about secular studies in Haredi schools. Retrieved from https://forward.com/opinion/431757/the-truth-about-secular-studies-in-haredi-schools/
29. Kregenbild, T. (22/12/2028). The Israeli Education system: The PISA test. Retrieved from https://easyconomy.com
30. Livnat, O. (3/12/2019). The Israeli average grades is lower than the OECD average. Retrieved from https://www.maariv.co.il/news/israel/Article-733006
31. Malach, G., Choshen, M., & Chaner, L. (2016). The annual of the Ultra-Orthodox society in Israel. Retrieved from https://www.idi.org.il/media/7882/haredi_shnaton.pdf
32. Ma'or, D., & Dattel, L. (17/12/2019). A world education expert: "Israel should not learn from the best countries in the world – the children are miserable there". Retrieved from https://www.themarker.com/news/education/.premium-1.8279177
33. Meniv, O. (12/12/2012). About a quarter of Israeli students did not participate in the international tests. Retrieved from http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/421/734.html?hp=1&cat=404&loc=1
34. Ministry of Finance (2018). A new agreement for [salaries of] high school teachers (14/3/2018). Retrieved from the The Ministry of Finance web https://mof.gov.il/Releases/Pages/morim_heskem.aspx
35. OECD (2019). PISA 2018 Results (Volume I): What Students Know and Can Do, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5f07c754-en
36. PISA 2015 (December 2016). PISA – Programme for International Student Assessment. An Israeli view (2016) (in Hebrew). Retrieved from http://meyda.education.gov.il/files/Rama/PISA_2015_Full_Report_8_Chapters.pdf
37. PISA 2018: Programme for International Student Assessment. An Israeli view (2019). Literacy of 15-year-old Israeli students in reading, mathematics and science (in Hebrew). The State of Israel, The Ministry of education: The National Institute for Educational Measurement and Evaluation. Retrieved from http://meyda.education.gov.il/files/Rama/PISA_2018_Report.pdf
38. PISA 2018 Global Competence (2018). Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisa-2018-global-competence.htm
39. Poverty rates and social gaps in Israel (2016). The 2015 annual report of the Social Security Institute (in Hebrew). Retrieved from https://www.btl.gov.il/Publications/oni_report/Documents/oni2015.pdf
40. Press release (31/12/2018). 9.0 million citizens lived in Israel on the turn of the year 2019. Retrieved from https://www.cbs.gov.il
41. Ramon, A. (2018). The Arabs of East Jerusalem, what next? The residency and citizenship issues – state of the art and policy recommendations (in Hebrew). Retrieved from https://jerusaleminstitute.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Pub A record of all times in students taking the 5-point [highest level] math matriculation examinations (2017). Retrieved from the [Israeli Ministry of Education web https://edu.gov.il/owlHeb/Pages/math-record.aspx
42. Report of The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (2017). East Jerusalem: Facts and data (in Hebrew). Retrieved from https://www.acri.org.il
43. Sha'Alan, H. (18/9/2015). The excellent [schools] are striking: A glimpse into the ecclesiastical schools. Retrieved from https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4701593,00.html
44. Shadma, A. (2014). 'Leading' Arab schools in Israel: Review of the phenomenon, and the future social-economic integration of their graduates. Retrieved from https://employment.molsa.gov.il/Research/Documents/X12892.pdf
45. Spiegel, A. (2011). "But the study of Torah is equal to them all". Ultra-Orthodox education for boys in Jerusalem. Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research, Publication No. 405. Retrieved from https://jerusaleminstitute.org.il/en/publications/facts-and-trends-2019/
46. Statistical Abstracts of Israel – No. 70 (2019). Jerusalem: The Central bureau of Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.cbs.gov.il/en/publications/Pages/2019/Statistical-Abstract-of-Israel-2019-No-70.aspx
47. Tversky, D. (3/12/2019). The under average level of the [Israeli] education system. The PISA test: Deterioration of the achievements of Israeli students and the increase of the gaps between the rich and the poor. Retrieved from https://www.davar1.co.il/202048
48. Tzadkani, R. (9/12/2019). Did the Israeli education system really fail? Retrieved from https://www.kipa.co.il
49. Tzipori, E. (10/4/2017). The bog failure of the Education budget. Retrieved from https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001184658
50. Yanko, A. (3/12/2019). Decrease in the scores and gigantic gaps between Jewish and Arab students: The Pisa test results. Retrieved from https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5636364,00.html
51. Yarkechy, D. (3.12.2019). Weak in reading, mathematics and science: The exposure of the grades of Israeli students. Retrieved from https://news.walla.co.il/item/3327160