K-12 Mathematics Education in Israel: Issues and Innovations

K–12 Mathematics Education in Israel provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of maintaining motivation of students, teacher evaluation, language issues, and curriculum changes over the first 70 years of the State of Israel. As pointed out in the editor’s preface, the Free Compulsory Education Law of 1949 was one of the earliest laws accepted in Israel: the existing Jewish educational trends in addition to the Arab educational system would be recognized and funded by the State. In 1953, a wider law was passed called the State Education Law with the goal to warrant education in the principles of democracy for all students. This law governs the guiding principles regarding content and curriculum and provided for a six-day school week.

In Israel, mathematics education is taught as a core discipline and according to the Ministry of Education, the curriculum is mandatory and centrally governed. Mathematics teacher preparation for K–10 is offered at 24 colleges and preparation for 7–12 teaching takes place at six research universities.

The State of Israel has taken part of several international evaluations of their curriculum and the results have been positive improvements of education. With the timeline presented in this book, the reader is presented with a history of mathematics education that leads to the Israel of today.

The book contains contributions by 86 authors, ranging from mathematics professors to secondary teachers and doctoral candidates and post-docs. The book is divided into three parts:

1. Issues and Innovations Related to the Structure of Mathematics Education in Israel
2. Issues and Innovations Related to Mathematic Educations at Preschool and Primary School (Grades K–6) in Israel
3. Issues and Innovations Related to Mathematics Education at Middle and High School (grades 7–12) in Israel
4. Issues and Innovations Related to Teacher Education — Training and Professional Development in Israel
5. Issues and Innovations of General Interest Related to Mathematics Education in Israel

There are 44 articles in the book. Many of the issues presented in the papers are of importance and significance to the international community of mathematics educators, especially the role of technology in the classroom.

In the first paper, Highlights in the Development of Education and Mathematics Education in the State of Israel: A Timeline, by Fried, Perl and Arcavi, provides the reader with the most significant and influential events in mathematics educations from 1900–2016. Located on pages 5–18, the timeline starts with 1903, the establishment of the Hebrew Teachers’ Association to 2016, when the Hebrew University closed the Science Teaching Center and the Department of Science Education. The next paper, entitled How Did a Crisis in Mathematics Education Lead to a Positive Reform?, by Muhana Fares, notes that between 2006 and 2013, there has been a 30% decline of students studying advanced mathematics. Page 23 presents the reader with a graph on the overall number of students studying advanced-level mathematics by grade and year (11th and 12th grades). While one of the reasons is a global issue, lack of motivation leading to less work, the additional issue has to deal with upcoming military service: students’ mindset is not to invest time in higher-level learning. In addition, there is a lack of teachers who can properly teach courses at a higher level.

At the end of the book, there is a glossary of terms to help the reader understand the various terms in the 44 papers. For those mathematics educators who are interested in international perspectives on teaching, this book is an excellent and eye-opening read. Having these perspectives can not only help use gain a border idea of what is going on in different parts of the globe with mathematics education, but can also help with teaching Israeli students in our classrooms. By understanding the current economic, administrative, and social issues, we can only help the students be successful, especially at the higher-levels. Above all else, if one has a chance to visit Israel, visit one or more of the schools and sit in on classes. Having first-hand observations and being immersed in the education system will only enhance your experience. Also, reach out to the people who wrote these papers. These are heroes who are helping Israeli students be successful.

Peter Olszewski is a Mathematics Lecturer at The Pennsylvania State University, The Behrend College, an editor for Larson Texts, Inc. in Erie, PA, and is the 362nd Chapter Advisor of the Pennsylvania Alpha Beta Chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon. His research fields are in mathematics education, Cayley Color Graphs, Markov Chains, and mathematical textbooks. He can be reached at pto2@psu.edu. Outside of teaching and textbook editing, he enjoys playing golf, playing guitar and bass, reading, gardening, traveling, and painting landscapes.