The great success of the 5 units (highest matriculation\nlevel) mathematics reform turned Mohana Farres, Director of the National\nPrograms Division of the Ministry of Education, into a sought-after speaker\ntraversing the country to share how to change a “fated” outcome in a\nshort time. When Mohana was asked to speak on a recent panel, he wanted to\nbring a success story \u2013 a young woman from an Ethiopian background from Netanya\nwho scored a full mark of 100 in 5 units of mathematics, a feat few\nachieve…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat do you want me to talk about?\u201d she asked. \u201cTalk about\nyour dreams. What do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d he answered. \u201cI don\u2019t\nknow. I don\u2019t have a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mohana realized that the successful revolution in 5\nunits of mathematics, which had already met its national objectives, was just\nbeginning. The reform, called \u201c5 x 2,\u201d began with a define objective: double\nthe number of students nationally in subjects. Led by a unique tri-sector\ncoalition STEM including the Ministry of Education, Sheatufim, the Trump\nFoundation, the Rashi Foundation, Intel and 60 high tech companies,\nSan Francisco Jewish Federation and Cleveland Jewish Federation, it succeeded\nwithin four years: the number of students matriculating in 5 units of\nmathematics doubled. An increase was recorded in the center and the periphery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though peripheral towns received significant resource allocation,\ntheir gains were more modest. Mohana came to MAOZ’s -Day Accelerator to 100 understand why. Mohana was convinced that the cause was\na mental gap among students and local authorities: students need to feel they\nare capable, and local authorities need to believe in achieving excellence. \u201cOur\nexperience with girls led me to understand this,\u201d said Mohana. \u201cMany students\ndrop down from 5 to 4 units (a less rigorous course). 4 units is 60% girls, and\nall of whom excel in their studies. Our focus was on perseverance. We convinced\nteachers to keep girls in 5 units. The number of girls completing 5 units\nincreased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The girls didn\u2019t change, the way they were treated changed.\u201dUp\nuntil now, we didn\u2019t think we needed to do anything other than teach,\u201d explains\nMohana, \u201cThere\u2019s a mental axis that we weren\u2019t seeing which impacted the\nyouth’s achievements in the periphery. 5 units of mathematics is a key for\nlife. It means opening doors to dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mohana sat down with the partners to develop the correct\nwork model. They chose a local government model \u2013 each local authority appoints\nleaders for reform: at the city level and at the middle and high school levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The model is based on three anchors: Growth Mindset, Motivation Calibration (motivation to reach a goal and dividing it into intermediate steps), and Role Models from similar backgrounds. A pilot is beginning in 14 towns in the north and south, including Kiryat Malachi, Hura and Beit Shean. \u201cWe\u2019ll take students to the science museum and a laboratory at Tel Aviv University to meet researchers,\u201d Mohana explains. \u201cWe\u2019ll speak with parents. We\u2019ve set ourselves an objective \u2013 in three years, 14% will complete mathematic units. We won\u2019t give up until we reach the national average of 15.6%.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The reform to increase top-level math matriculation, spearheaded by the Ministry of Education and a trisector coalition, was a huge success. Despite the nationwide success, achievements were lower in the periphery than in the center. Mohana Farres, Ministry of Education’s National Programs Director, sought to understand why and close the gap. The answer was unexpected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n