Israel in the bottom third of the international educational achievement table * One third of the 15-year-olds in the Israeli education system who have completed nine or 10 years of schooling do not understand what they are reading
Storm Rally

Achievements of 15-year-olds in the world in various fields
Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/lowgrades1.html
Israel is the most polarized Western country in the world in terms of knowledge gaps in reading comprehension in math and science, between the outstanding students (most of them from economically well-off homes) and the weak students (most of them from the lower education deciles); The scores of the Israeli students in reading comprehension, mathematical knowledge and scientific knowledge placed Israel in the bottom third of the international achievement table - these are the results of the international test "PISA-2002" which examined the level of knowledge and skills acquired by 300 thousand teenagers in 41 countries, in the ability to read and understand texts, in mathematics and in the sciences. The achievements of Israeli students in these fields are the lowest among the developed countries in the world.
The test ranked the knowledge of the 15-year-olds in reading comprehension into five levels, with level 1 being the lowest and level 5 being the highest. In Israel, 15% of the students who were tested for reading comprehension achieved results that were even lower than the minimum level, and another 18% were able to decipher the text they read at level 1.
In order to better understand the interpretation of the findings, at level 1 the students with reading difficulties were ranked, who, according to the authors of the test, are able to "extract only one piece of information from a simple text". Only 5% of the 4-year-olds in Israel were rated at level 15. For comparison, in Finland, the country that excels in reading comprehension, one in five students are at the 18.5% level) 5). The Israeli researchers in the study, the head of the School of Education at Bar-Ilan University Prof. Zamira Mbarech and Dr. Bracha Kramarski, explained that at level 5 "there are students who are able to understand long and complex texts. They are able to locate many pieces of information in the text, distinguish between what is important to address, distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information, understand the meaning of the text and evaluate and criticize what is written in it."
The average score obtained by the Israeli students in reading comprehension, in the international test held by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD - 452 points - places them in 31st place among 41 countries, the bottom third of the international achievement table. Israel has not been able to get out of this position in recent years in international tests different. The difference between the average score of the Finnish students who excel in reading comprehension (546) and the Israeli students is 94 points. The knowledge skills of the Israeli students in reading comprehension fall by about 50 points even from the world average score.
For comparison, the USA has a similar social profile to Israel - a high proportion of immigrants and a high disparity in income between the various citizens. However, the American students obtained an average score of 504 points in understanding what is called, which placed them in 16th place in the achievement table. Canada is also a country with immigration quotas higher than third world countries, but Canadian students are in 2nd place in the world in reading comprehension - an average score of 534. No western country achieved results low like Israel in the international reading comprehension test. Thailand, Bulgaria, Mexico and Argentina are countries whose achievements in reading comprehension fall short of Israel's.
The sad picture of the level of knowledge of Israeli students is not only reflected in the fact that the Israeli reading comprehension score is among the worst in the world, but also in the gap in the average score between the most outstanding students, most of whom were born to parents with a high level of education and income, and the weakest students, who come from poor families and lack of education. In Israel, the difference in points between the top decile and the top decile of students in reading comprehension is 282 points. The average score of the top scorers was 587, while the lowest score was .305. For comparison, the global average difference between the top scorers (score 623) and the weakest scores (score 366) is 257 points. In Finland and Canada, which are at the top of the table, the gap in the score between the excellent and the weak is 225 and 242 points, respectively - about 50 points below the Israeli gap in reading comprehension.
Focusing on the level of knowledge gaps between the outstanding and the weak is essential. She points out that the Israeli education system does not succeed in bridging the students' lack of knowledge at home. Prof. Mbarech and Dr. Kramerski noted in their analysis of the Israeli research: "Educational systems strive to overcome disparities arising from socioeconomic background and develop the achievements of all students, regardless of gender, origin, or socioeconomic background. Excellent education systems have even succeeded in this. In Finland, which excels, the rate of variation between schools is 1.7%, in Canada (2nd place) it is 8%, in Israel it is 31%.
The PISA test is different from international tests that have taken place so far in mathematics or reading comprehension. While the previous tests tested the level of knowledge the students acquired in school classes, the current test tested the students' literacy - the degree of general knowledge they acquired in mathematics, science and reading comprehension, following their years of study. The economic organization that carried out the study wanted to examine the skills in reading in mathematics and science, which educational systems manage to impart to their students based on the perception that these are the skills necessary for citizens in countries with developed economies. Therefore, in the reading comprehension test, the students were asked to demonstrate their understanding of the text by reading a short tourist brochure and even derive useful knowledge from it, such as the ability to plan an itinerary.
In the science chapter (see example), one of the questions required a correct solution to deciphering a written text at a high level, the ability to read graphs and draw conclusions from them, and a combination of high skill in reading comprehension and science. The knowledge that the students acquired in the school in the fields of science was enough to solve the question.
The international test focused on reading comprehension, but also incorporated chapters that tested the mathematical knowledge and scientific knowledge of the 15-year-olds. The representative sample of the Israeli students included 4,500 teenagers from 165 state, state-religious schools, and for the first time in international tests, also ultra-orthodox students. Even in the math section and the science section, the scores of the Israeli students were among the lowest in the world. In mathematics, Israel's average score of 433 placed it 31st out of 41 countries, while the score in science, 434, relegated the students to 33rd place.
In mathematics, Hong Kong tops the international achievement table (average score 560) followed by Japan (557) and Korea (547). The Western countries that excel in mathematics are New Zealand (score 537, 4th place in the achievement table) and Finland (score 536, 5th place). The overall average score of US students in mathematics — 493 placed them in 20th place in the table. The gaps in mathematical knowledge between the most outstanding Israeli students in mathematics and the weakest are even greater than in reading comprehension. The gap in Israeli mathematical knowledge is 337 points - the highest among developed countries. The top decile of The Israeli students got an average score of 596 points and the bottom decile got an average score of 259 points. This score is low 108 points above the international average.High knowledge gaps were also found among the Israeli students in scientific knowledge - a difference of 319 points between the best scores (596) and the weakest scores (277).
Chairman of the Education Committee: a committee of inquiry to examine the failure of the system for generations
The Ministry of Education apparently expected a public uproar following the publication of the report and announced the day before yesterday - when the test results were in their hands but had not yet been released - about the establishment of a committee of experts to ascertain the causes of the low achievements of the students of the divisions. The current failure of the Israeli education system resonates all the more against the background of the fact that their achievements The low scores of the students were reflected twice in the last few weeks - in the international reading comprehension test for 4th graders and in the tests The National Ministry of Education in Mathematics and Reading Comprehension (Mitsav).
The Chairman of the Education Committee, MK Ilan Shelgi (Change) announced in light of the report's findings that he intends to initiate the establishment of a parliamentary committee of inquiry to examine the failure of the education system for generations. Surprised," said Shelgi. He called on the government to act immediately to inject budgets into education, also at the expense of the defense budget. "This is no joke," he added. "The advantage in our human quality is in danger and it is possible that now, after the war in Iraq and the regional changes, a percentage of the defense budget can be diverted to education."
The public uproar following the achievements of Israeli students in reading comprehension, mathematics and science in the international test "PISA-2002" is understandable, but the poor achievements of the Israeli education system have been known to the decision makers for at least five years.
In the international mathematics test (TIMSS 1999), the results of which were published three years ago, the 466th grade students received a score of XNUMX points, which placed them in the bottom third of the international table.
It is possible that this low achievement would have been avoided if the Minister of Education at the time, Yitzhak Levy (MDF), had kept his promise to establish a committee to investigate the failure of 6th grade students in the Ministry of Education's national feedback test, the results of which were published two years before the failure in the international math test. 4th graders in Hebrew education, who achieved an average score of 1997, and Arab students who received an average score of XNUMX in a national test (Feedback XNUMX) cannot achieve achievements in an international test that examines and quantifies the same mathematical knowledge that was found to be lacking in the national test held two years earlier, without the ministry taking any steps to correct it.
The ministry intends to check the unsatisfactory achievements of the HTAB, but the students' low achievements are already evident in elementary school. In the international reading comprehension test (PIRLS-2001) for fourth graders, the results of which were published a few weeks ago, the Israeli students received an average score of 509 Points that placed them in the last third, close to the achievements of the students from Turkey and Morocco and far from the leaders of the table, the Swedes.
A well-founded knowledge of reading comprehension is essential for success in studies. Without the ability to understand what is being read, it is impossible, for example, to solve problems in mathematics or physics, or to understand a chapter in biology - subjects that belong to the fields of science. 4th graders whose reading comprehension achievements are poor, often reach 8th grade. It may not be impossible that half of them failed in math and a third of them failed in reading comprehension, as shown by the Ministry of Education's national Mitzvah (School Efficiency and Growth Indicators) tests, the results of which were recently published.
Expert committees to examine the insufficient knowledge of the elementary education system, as will now be established by the Ministry of Education, have already been established in recent years. A committee chaired by Prof. Rina Shapira to examine the lack of knowledge of elementary school students in reading comprehension, recommended two years ago to the Ministry of Education to change the language teaching method to a method that would include learning the phonetic components of the language. The Ministry of Education is supposed to start this next school year. A committee headed by Prof. Nava Ben-Zvi recommended to the Ministry of Education several years ago to change the way students are trained in teaching colleges, among other things, as a means of improving students' achievements in mathematics.
At a time when the education budget is cut 11 times a year and a half, the Ministry of Education may find it difficult to improve student achievement. As a result of these cuts, in the next academic year each elementary school student will learn one hour less per week and the cut for high school students will be about two and a half hours.
Teachers and students: the findings reflect the weakness of the educational establishment
By Zahar Rotem, reporter for "Haaretz" in the south
The youth who spent yesterday at the country club in Be'er Sheva were more bothered by the temperature of the water in the pool than the findings of the international study "PISA-2002" by the Organization of Industrialized Countries (OECD), from which it emerged that Israeli students are among the worst in the world in reading comprehension.
Dodo Levi, who is entering the 15th grade at Reger High School in the city, says that the statistic according to which a third of XNUMX-year-olds in Israel do not understand what is being read is just another symptom of the real disease - the socio-economic-security situation in Israel. "Who can even study and bother to understand what is called in such a country? Who has time for that?" he asks.
Another student adds that one of the problems is that parents don't have money for private tutors. "Some of us have to work," he says. "In some cases, our parents are also the ones who degrade us." Nathaniel Shuka, also 15 years old from Reger High School, adds that even those who seek to use the school's framework to study may be disappointed. "When you remove the holidays, strikes and vacations - out of a year we actually study for half a year. That's why we don't learn enough, nor understand," he explains.
The picture of the situation in some educational institutions, as painted by teenagers in Be'er Sheva, is particularly gloomy. According to them, the lack of understanding is the result of a lack of learning - and both are a direct result of the weakness of the educational establishment. For example, in many cases according to them, the schools prefer to hide the huge scope of drug use among their students. At the beginning of June, following a comprehensive investigation conducted by the central unit in the southern district of the police, difficult findings were made: about 270 suspects, adults and minors, were questioned on suspicion of drug involvement in the Negev and Kish region. The investigation encompassed several schools in the south, in some of which the students were growing marijuana. "If they are already trying to do something against drugs, then they bring us a drug addict who talks for long minutes about how nice it is to use the first few times. Many of us were convinced and tried," says David Ohana, 15 years old
In recent years, Be'er Sheva has seen an upward trend in the field of education, and the percentage of those entitled to a matriculation certificate in the city has risen over the past five years from 39% to 64% in the XNUMX academic year. Some of the youth were surprised yesterday by the data of the new study, and claimed that the findings in it are unfamiliar them in the framework in which they study.
Merav Ayalon, spokeswoman for Kibbutz Ein Gedi until about a year ago, a civics teacher in the Negev, was not surprised at all. "We actually forgot to explain to the children that words are a whole world," she explains. "With the massive entry of computers into our lives, their world was divided into 'Enter' and 'Escape'. You don't need to think anymore." Ayalon believes that the education system and parents have a big part in the failure. "It's actually the adults' fault," she says. "The system has also become just a tool for getting grades; it helps children get grades. Every second child gets a certificate for dyslexia, the main thing is that he completes the task. One of the reasons why I decided to leave teaching was my demand that the children not only write answers, but also justify them. They were I have difficult arguments about this with some of their parents," she says.
Y., a teacher from the south, also points to the failure of the system. "Basically, everything is a consequence of the new stupid approach of the schools, which states that the children and parents are the customers," she says. "And the customer, as we know, is always right. That's why you can't argue with him - neither with the child nor with the parent. That's why you don't deal with tardiness or the taps. The teacher has no authority, and actually neither do the parents." Y. admits that sometimes it is also better for a teacher not to confront a student, since "anyway, as soon as he cries, his parents come, and then the story is over."
Y. recalls how in her childhood, a phone call from the teacher to the parents was a harsh step against the student. "We also used to come to school to meet the guys, but we also had the motivation to study. Many of today's students do not have that kind of motivation," she points out and adds: "It's quite problematic, because these young people are supposed to be much more Smarter than us."
A committee of experts will examine the low achievements of middle school students
1/7/2003
The Ministry of Education announced on June 30, 2003 the establishment of an expert committee that will examine the reasons for the low level of knowledge and poor achievements of middle school students, in mathematics, reading comprehension, and science. These poor achievements have been shown in the last five years in international tests and in national tests held by the Ministry of Education. This morning the results of another international test, the PISA test, will be published on the achievements of students at the end of middle school, which reveals a serious picture of the level of knowledge of Israeli students. The results of this international test apparently led to the establishment of the expert committee.
The Chairman of the Pedagogical Secretariat at the Ministry of Education, Prof. Yaakov Katz, said yesterday: "The moment of truth has arrived, the Ministry of Education must deal with the failure of students in a thorough manner. It is no longer possible to justify the level of knowledge of Israeli students in the 21st century in terms of 'it was a momentary stumble.'" Prof. Katz noted that "the committee will include academics who are not related to and do not depend on their work in the Ministry of Education so that its conclusions will be objective." "The head of the Ministry of Education, Ronit Tirosh, said yesterday that the composition of the committee will be determined by and by the Minister of Education. According to Tirosh: "The education system is in a constant decline of educational achievements in reading, mathematics and science. We are working to correct the deficiencies, and are determined to act with transparency and the cooperation of the professional bodies and the public."
The poor achievements of eighth grade students in mathematics were revealed in the international test (TIMSS) published 3 years ago, in which the Israeli students achieved a score of 466 points, placing them in the bottom third of the international achievement table, next to the non-developed countries. These low achievements were also achieved in the international science test.
In a recently published national test by the Ministry of Education, half of the 30th grade students in Hebrew education failed in mathematics, and about XNUMX% of them failed in reading comprehension.
The failure rate for the Arab students was much higher. The average score in reading comprehension obtained by the 64th grade students who passed the reading comprehension test was 48, while the average score in reading comprehension for the Arab students was 50. The average score of the middle school students in Hebrew education in mathematics was 39, and that of the Arabs - XNUMX. The national tests of the Ministry of Education The ultra-Orthodox students were not included, since they were not yet required to attend general studies.
However, the failure of students in Israel to understand their mother tongue is not only characteristic of middle school age. In an international reading comprehension test for 509th graders (PIRLS), the Israeli students achieved an average score of XNUMX, which places them in the bottom third of the international achievement table.
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~576005049~~~226&SiteName=hayadan