Featured Post |
The RAMA data, published this week on the achievements of ninth-grade students, should trouble anyone who cares about the future of Israel’s children. RAMA, Israel’s National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation in Education, revealed two alarming realities: many students are not reaching the required level, and the gaps between population groups are enormous. For example, in native-language studies, only 44% of students in Hebrew-speaking schools reach the required level of achievement, compared with 19% in Arabic-speaking schools. In English, the situation is even worse: 27% compared with 9%, respectively. In science, the national figure is so low – at just 3% – that almost any internal breakdown becomes irrelevant.
Behind the data are our children. Not percentages, graphs, or tables. Before these gaps become a societal problem, they are first the pain of a child who experiences failure day after day in the very place where they are supposed to succeed. A learning gap that is not closed in time is not only a gap in knowledge. It can harm a child’s sense of capability, distance them from learning, and lead to hidden dropout. And when a child does not succeed over time, they may seek recognition, power,........