Israeli High School Research Articles

An Empirical Classification Model for Errors in High School Mathematics

A content-oriented analysis of written solutions to test items in Israeli high school graduation examinations in mathematics yielded a system of six error categories: misused data, misinterpreted language, logically invalid inference, distorted theorem or definition, unverifed solution, and technical error. This system enabled most of the documented errors to be classified. A reliability test showed that the categories are inclusive and mutually exclusive.

The Effects of Environment on High School Success

Classroom environments of 40 Israeli high schools were studied. Analysis of the school environments yielded two distinct types-challenging and supportive. The school with a challenging environment emphasized task orientation and system maintenance dimensions but neglected the relationship domain. The school with a supportive environment emphasized teacher support and innovation, but neglected task orientation and system maintenance dimensions.

Adolescents' reactions to the evacuation of the Sinai settlements: a longitudinal study.

This study investigated psychological reactions of adolescents to a severe stress situation--the evacuation of the Sinai settlements. The research focused on emotional reactions of anxiety and anger to this stress situation. Two central problems were investigated: The intensity of the emotional responses of anxiety and anger of the adolescents to the stress situation, before and after the evacuation, and the impact of three intervening variables on these emotional reactions--cognitive perception of the political situation, family functioning, and personality characteristics. Data for this study were collected in a regional high school in Israel from 418 pupils in 9th through 12th grades. Seventy-eight of the pupils lived in the Yamit area. Measurements were obtained at three points in time: 6 weeks and 1 week before the evacuation and 2 months after it. The results supported the predicted trend that adolescents in the Yamit group before the evacuation would score higher on state anxiety and state anger than would those in the comparison group. Two months after the evacuation there was a significant drop in those scores. The trait measures remained stable in both groups and no significant differences were found between the two groups on these scores. Concerning the impact of the three intervening variables on the intensity of the state emotional responses, the results did not support any of the hypotheses.

Effectiveness Evaluation of Smoking, Drug, and Alcohol Education Courses via Actual Relevant Behavior (The Smoking Education Curriculum MSACS as an Illustrative Case Study)

The difference between the pre- and post-actual SDA (smoking, drug, alcohol) behavior of experimental and control groups is suggested as a major criterion for short-term effectiveness evaluation of SDA preventive education programs aimed at high school adolescents. This methodological approach has been successfully applied in the effectiveness evaluation of the newly-developed, knowledge-attitude, value-decision-making, and social competency-based anti-smoking MSACS program. The latter was shown to be effective in reducing the onset of smoking with fifteen to sixteen-year-old Israeli high school students. Based on the results and data analysis of the presented case study, both the program model and the methodology of its effectiveness evaluation appear to be generalizable to SDA education programs, and are proposed as appropriate “first approximations” to be used elsewhere for the same purposes.

Universities in Israel: Dilemmas, of growth, diversification and administration

ABSTRACT Roots and background of the Israeli university: the Hebrew University (1925) and the Haifa Technion (1924) reflect the twin roots of Israeli HE, the revitalisation of Jewish culture and the Zionist programme of building up the country physically. Germany provided the academic models for both institutions. The emphasis was on research; there was little need for professional training since many immigrants were already well qualified professionally. The American private university provided the organisational model. The emergence of a university system in the fifties and sixties: five more institutions were founded between 1949 and 1972; they tended to imitate each other, and the two older institutions, in style. The universities had to adapt to the educational needs of a steadily increasing number of students. The research tradition, however, remained strong. Students emerging from the selective Israeli high school system also appreciated the value of research. The country, however, was too small to...

Situational influences on the desirability of different objects of affiliation

The desire to affilitate was examined as a function of two variables: situational context and the type of potential companion. Data were collected via four questionnaires composed of 48 identical items. Each item described a specific situation related to one of four situational clusters previously extracted by factor analytic method (Fox, 1980) and reconfirmed in this study. Each questionnaire examined the desirability of a particular type of companion in various situations (being alone, or with intimates, acquaintances, or strangers). The subjects consisted of 900 male Israeli high school students, 17-19 years of age, each of whom responded to two out of the four questionnaires. The situational factor had the decisive effect on the affiliative preferences. There was a general desire for companionship in pleasant as well as threatening situations, whereas solitude was preferred when concentration was necessary or in periods of unpleasant moods. Across situational categories, there was a relatively less marked preference for the company of intimates over that of acquaintances and strangers, who appear to be equally desirable objects of affiliation. The interaction between situational and companion factors was minimal, in contrast to hypothesis. The results are illuminated in the context of utility affiliation theory.

Learning difficulties in high school physics: Development of a remedial teaching method and assessment of its impact on achievement

AbstractMany high school students experience serious learning difficulties in physics. This issue was examined and dealt with, within the context of an introductory physics course in Israeli high schools. Following a detailed task analysis, the cognitive entry requirements for this course were identified, and students tested for them. Secondly, specific difficulties students encountered during the study of the course, and prevailing misconceptions held by many of them, were identified. Based on all the above information, a remedial teaching method was developed. It consisted of supplying students with immediate and frequent feedback, to reinforce their understanding, correct misunderstandings, and fill in gaps in necessary background skills, while teachers could continuously monitor the progress of each individual student. The whole process took place within the natural classroom setting, without additional staff or time requirements. The method was implemented in a large number of schools, and its impact was assessed using an experimental versus control analysis of covariance design. Achievements in the experimental group were significantly higher. The statistical analysis used students' background as the covariate. Of the 47% of the variance, which the model accounted for, 24% were explained by the covariate (background), 16% were the effect of the treatment, and both were highly significant. An additional 7% were the teachers' effect (nested within treatments), but this effect did not reach statistical significance.

Structure and Dynamics of Proscriptive Values of Israeli High School Youth

Structure and Dynamics of Proscriptive Values of Israeli High School Youth

A Dissemination Process in an Educational Innovation: In‐Service Education of Science Teachers

A modular course in microbiology was developed for kibbutzim high schools in Israel. The case study identifies the means by which this curriculum development was diffused at grass roots level and disseminated through official channels. The dual approach using hierarchies and personal contacts is formalized as a simple model.

Effects of the Power to Retaliate on Physical Aggression Directed Toward Middle-Eastern Jews,Western Jews, and Israeli-Arabs

Aggression displayed by Middle-Eastern (M-E) and Western (W) Israeli high school students was tested by a factorial design comprising the following four variables: subject's ethnic origin (W/ M-E); victim's origin (W/ M-E/ Israeli-Arab); power to retaliate (exists/lacking); and experimental period (5 periods, each consisting of 10 trials). In a competitive situation 127 eleventh-grade male subjects were given the opportunity to administer electric shocks to opponents who were either W, M-E, or Israeli-Arab. Half of the subjects expected their opponents to reciprocate shocks, the others did not. It was found that during the experimental periods aggression toward the M-E victims increased when they were not expected to retaliate; it decreased gradually when these same victims were expected to retaliate. This pattern was displayed by both M-E and W subjects. Only M-E subjects displayed less aggression toward an Israeli-Arab victim who was expected to retaliate. The findings were interpreted in light of both M-Es' ethnic image and their fear of Arabs.

The Attitudes of Israeli Adolescents Toward Handicapped People

Abstract The attitudes of adolescents toward handicapped people were investigated with the long‐term goal of maximizing the effective mainstreaming of handicapped teeangers. Analysis of the attitudes of 262 Israeli high school students showed a generalized accepting tendency. Significant differences emerged, not with regard to the type of handicap as had been expected, but for three content areas defined as limitations of the handicapped, feelings of reservation and shame, and the rights of the handicapped. There were significant differences between the sexes in general acceptance and in two of these content areas. Implications of the results in terms of intervention programming are discussed.

A Measure for Pupils’ Inconsistency of Response to a Self-Report Instrument of Attitudes toward School

A scale was developed to measure pupils’ inconsistency in replying to a self-report questionnaire regarding attitudes toward school (Israeli Quality of School Life Scale–IQSL). The effect of inconsistency on the scale’s validity was examined empirically at both class and individual levels. A student was scored for an inconsistent answer whenever a response to a pair of items was contradictory. Eight such pairs were identified on the IQSL by independent judges. Subjects were over 6,000 pupils from 245 classes in approximately 70 randomly selected elementary, junior, and senior high schools in Israel. Results indicated that inconsistency could lower the internal consistency of the IQSL subscales. Direction of inconsistency differences between pupils in advantaged and disadvantaged schools and at various grade levels led to the conclusion that inconsistent behavior in answering the self-report measure is more a result of unwillingness to cooperate than an inability to cooperate.

A comparison of biology teaching in junior and senior high schools in Israel

The study described was designed to compare classroom transactions in junior and senior high school biology classes in Israel and to identify relationships between classroom conditions, lesson format (recitation, laboratory, integrated), and instructional activities. In addition, the validity and reliability of a new instrument, the Structured Lesson Report Form (SLRF) was examined. In spite of certain differences the general picture of teaching biology in junior and senior high classes is that of inquiry oriented laboratory based learning led and guided by the teacher with only medium dependence on the textbook. SLRF was found to be a reliable, valid and useful research and feedback device.

Cognitive Preferences of Jewish and Arab High School Students who Studied an Inquiry Oriented Biology Curriculum for Several Years

Abstract Jewish and Arab biology majors in their last year of high school in Israel responded to a Biology Cognitive Preference Inventory. Comparison of mean scores and intercorrelations revealed high similarity between the Jewish and the Arab samples either when the unit of analysis was the individual student or the school. Similar patterns of relations between cognitive preferences and achievement as well as several background variables were also revealed. It was. concluded that in spile of substantial cultural and home differences the study of inquiry oriented biology curriculum for four years in high school apears to have significant effects on the cognitive style relating to the information processing orientation of students. They become oriented towards fundamental principles and critical questioning rather than towards memorisation of facts.

Value Education as Perceived by Parents, Teachers and Pupils in Israel

Abstract The perplexity that characterizes moral education was the motive for undertaking this study. A field selection of terminal and instrumental values served as its frame of reference. Two questions were posed by the investigators: Is there any difference in the degree of importance which parents, teachers and pupils attach to these values? Do different schools rate these values differently? A sample consisting of 531 pupils, 251 parents and 38 teachers, randomly selected from five Israeli high schools, were asked to rate the degree of importance they attach to each value and the degree to which they think each value is cultivated in school. All subjects rated instrumental values higher than terminal values. A striking consensus between parents, teachers and pupils was disclosed. Between school variance was significant for both terminal and instrumental values. The study of approaches to values found in schools may contribute to curriculum development and planning of teacher education programmes.

Effects of subliminal oneness stimuli in Hebrew on academic performance of Israeli high school students: Further evidence on the adaptation-enhancing effects of symbiotic fantasies in another culture using another language.

Effects of subliminal oneness stimuli in Hebrew on academic performance of Israeli high school students: Further evidence on the adaptation-enhancing effects of symbiotic fantasies in another culture using another language.

Effects of subliminal oneness stimuli in Hebrew on academic performance of Israeli high school students: Further evidence on the adaptation-enhancing effects of symbiotic fantasies in another culture using another language.

Effects of subliminal oneness stimuli in Hebrew on academic performance of Israeli high school students: Further evidence on the adaptation-enhancing effects of symbiotic fantasies in another culture using another language.

Determinants of Early Educational Career in Israel: Further Evidence for the Sponsorship Thesis

This paper examines the argument that school sponsorship mechanisms are, relative to significant others' influence (SOI), a more effective determinant of educational plans and attainment in societies geared toward sponsored mobility. This argument has been previously validated with respect to aspirations for higher education in Israel. The present paper analyzes the determinants of curriculum placement in Israeli high schools. In particular, it examines the relative impact of SOI versus ability grouping at the junior high level. A path analysis of longitudinal data for a representative sample of junior high students shows that their aspirations for specific high school training are determined mainly by SOI. Yet, their curriculum placement in the tenith grade is affected by ability grouping much more than by SOI or aspirations. These findings are supported by additional discriminant analyses of high school aspiration tracks and track placement. It is also found that the high school tracking of students of Oriental origin is more heavily influenced by institutional mechanisms than the tracking of their Ashkenazi counterparts. The above processes are interpreted as indicative of a transitional period in the formation of educational careers in sponsorship-oriented systems. In such systems, sponsorship mechanisms may determine educational attainment at all school levels, but their cumulative effect on aspirations is apparent only at an advanced stage of schooling. Comparative studies which may further validate this thesis are proposed.

Extra-Curricular Activities in the Israeli High School

Introduction Historically, two periods are discernible in the development of the system of extra-curricular activities in the Israeli schools — the first period, from the founding of the first Israeli high school around the beginning of the twentieth century to the establishment of the State of Israel (1948), and the second period, from 1948 to the present. The main difference between the two stages lies in the degree of local autonomy in the administration of the activity program.

Social and emotional problems associated with integration in the Israeli junior high school

Teachers and pupils in 28 integrated junior high schools in Israel were interviewed and observed to determine the kinds of social and emotional problems encountered in integrated schools. Though these schools are mandated to achieve both academic and social goals, academic aspects of schooling are inordinately stressed while the social goal is neglected. This strategy has major implications for teaching methods, curriculum, tracking, extra-curricular activities and staff morale. Furthermore, while bright, achieving disadvantaged pupils tend to gain socially and emotionally from this strategy, most disadvantaged children sustain significant losses in the social and emotional spheres and meaningful ethnic integration in the school is not achieved. It is recommended that the school invest greater resources in enhancing pupils' social and emotional development and that there be a dual emphasis in integrated schools on academic and personal development. Implementation of this recommendation requires retraining teachers to provide them with concrete skills in both areas that can be applied in the heterogeneous class.