Around the World (EDUC 200)

Israel: PISA Information

Question 1: What country did you select and why?

The country that I choose was Israel. I choose Israel because this is one place that is on
my bucket list to travel too one day. The other reason would be for the fact that I do have some
prior knowledge on Israel as country and I thought that having better understanding for their
education system would be a good idea.

Israel PISA Average OECD Israel’s 2018 Israel’s 2015 Who did
Scores: Score Scores Scores better? Boys?
or Girls?
Reading 487 470 479 Girls- 48 points
Math 489 463 470 Girls- 9 points
Science 489 462 467 Girls- 19 points
Socio- 12% 14% X X
economics

Question 2: What are the PISA scores for your country? Is your country's PISA similar to
previous years?

From this chart that I made, you can see that all the scores—reading, math, and science—
are all below average by about 20 points according to the OECD standards. However, for each
topic, the girls scored higher than the boys by a good amount.

Also, you can see from the chart that the scores from 2015 were actually higher than
2018’s scores. I found this to interesting because most countries improved each time they tested,
but Israel did not. There are many different reasons as to why the scores dropped but the
websites did not specify why.

Question 3: What is your countries' culture like in terms of education? Do they value
education? Why or why not?
One website that I found on Israel’s educational system was that the school attendance is
mandatory and free from ages 6 to 18 years old. They system is the same as ours, meaning that
they have a primary (grades 1-6), intermediate (grades 7-9), and secondary (grades 10-12). They
do have a multi-cultural nature and it is accommodated with the framework of the education
system. The website mentions that “schools are divided into four groups: state schools, attended
by the majority of pupils; state religious schools, which emphasize Jewish studies, tradition, and
observance; Arab and Druze schools, with instruction in Arabic and special focus on Arab and
Druze history, religion, and culture; and private schools, which operate under various religious
and international auspices.” (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)(I highlighted the four different
schools for emphasis.) From the sounds of the article, it does seem like Israel does value
education. Later in the article, it mentions that if students don’t attend a school, which is subject
to the Apprenticeship Law, the student is required to study a trade at an approved trade school.
 Around the World (EDUC 200)

The trade school would last for three to four years and the student would attend that trade 3 days
out of the week and work that trade “in the field” the other days of the week. From this
information, I would say that education is important to Israel because they want their student to
be pursuing something higher, whether that be sitting in the classroom or working the trade.

Question 4: What is their economy like? Are they doing well? Are they poor? What is the
impact on the education system?
The economy of Israel is a developed free market economy. They have a population of
9.1 million people, and their economic freedom score is 73.8, which is the 26th freest country
according the 2021 Index. Israel is also ranked 2nd among 14 countries in the Middle East and
North Africa region, and its overall score is racked above the regional and world averages. Based
off that information, I would say that Israel is doing very well despite the wars, threats, and
terrorism they have faced. The schools have also had an increase of students due to the growth of
Israeli business sector’s total factor for productivity. However, the parents have had a more
difficult time bearing the direct costs of the education such as school fees, books, supplies,
uniforms and private tutoring costs.

Question 5:  Does the government control the education system or is the education system
under local control? What is the impact on the education system?
The education system of Israel is steered by the central government through the Ministry
of Education, Ministry of Finance and local governments. From the OECD website on Israel, it
states that Israel has large gaps in the educational performance among students population
subgroups, the heterogeneous system, the socio-economic, and cultural background of the
students from school to school. “Although they aim to promote cultural diversity and recognize
students’ needs, tracking, grouping and school choice practices may increase inequities and
contribute to social segregation of students if not well-managed.” (OECD: Israel)

Question 6:  How do they train teachers at the primary (K-12) level? Is there a high quality
of teacher training?
Israel has four different options a person can go through to become a teacher. However,
you can boil it all down to teachers preparation at a teacher training college then they would
attend one of the universities to finish the training where the teacher training colleges left off. It
typically is a four year program and they are required to have 110 to 115 hours a year including
one year of induction.

Question 7:  Do they treat their teachers well? Are they paid well and respected?
Israel pays their teachers about 4,000 to 6,000 shekels a month which is about $1,200 to
$1,800 in US dollars. The average salary of Israeli teachers is about $31,000 a year, where the
average of OECD is about $42,500. Israel also has the largest differential between male and
female teachers of any OECD country and the males tend to work more hours than the female
teachers. Teachers who are first starting out will only make $20,000 a year but they are able to
“work their way up” to make more money.

Question 8:  Is there anything else you can share so that we can better understand the
education system of your selected country?
Israel has about 1.5 million students in their education system, from kindergarten to grade
 Around the World (EDUC 200)

12. The two most spoken and taught languages are Hebrew and English, then Arabic is offered as
a third language, which is an elective major is high schools.

Sources:

2021 Index of Economic Freedom- https://www.heritage.org/index/country/israel

Facts Maps- https://factsmaps.com/pisa-worldwide-ranking-average-score-of-math-science-

reading/

Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs-

https://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/aboutisrael/education/pages/education-%20primary%20and
%20secondary.aspx

OECD 2018 Israel Results https://gpseducation.oecd.org/CountryProfile?

primaryCountry=ISR&treshold=10&topic=PI

OECD: Israel- https://www.oecd.org/israel/Education-Policy-Outlook-Country-Profile-Israel.pdf

OECD: Teacher Salary- https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-israeli-teachers-way-behind-oecd-

colleagues-in-salary-1.5369051