Jewish High School Research Articles

Tay-Sachs disease preconception screening in Australia: self-knowledge of being an Ashkenazi Jew predicts carrier state better than does ancestral origin, although there is an increased risk for c.1421 + 1G > C mutation in individuals with South African heritage

The Australasian Community Genetics Program provided a preconception screening for Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) to 4,105 Jewish high school students in Sydney and Melbourne over the 12-year period 1995-2007. By correlating the frequencies of mutant HEXA, MIM *606869 (gene map locus 15q23-q24) alleles with subjects' nominated ethnicity (Ashkenazi/Sephardi/Mixed) and grandparental birthplaces, we established that Ashkenazi ethnicity is a better predictor of TSD carrier status than grandparental ancestral origins. Screening self-identified Ashkenazi subjects detected 95% of TSD carriers (carrier frequency 1:25). Having mixed Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi heritage reduced the carrier frequency (1:97). South African heritage conveyed a fourfold risk of c.1421 + 1G > C mutation compared with other AJ subjects (odds ratio (OR), 4.19; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.83-9.62, p = 0.001), but this was the only specific case of ancestral origin improving diagnostic sensitivity over that based on determining Ashkenazi ethnicity. Carriers of c.1278insTATC mutations were more likely to have heritage from Western Europe (OR, 1.65 (95% CI, 1.04-2.60), p = 0.032) and South Eastern Europe (OR, 1.77 (95% CI, 1.14-2.73), p = 0.010). However, heritage from specific European countries investigated did not significantly alter the overall odds of TSD carrier status.

Effects of Intergroup Conflict and Social Contact on Prejudice: The Mediating Role of Stereotypes and Evaluations

This study explored the mediating role of stereotypes and evaluations in the relationships between intergroup conflict, social contact, and behavioral intentions to engage in intergroup contact. The hypotheses, derived from realistic group conflict theory and intergroup contact theory, were tested on samples of Arab and Jewish high school students in the context of an ethno-racial intergroup conflict. As hypothesized, the less participants perceived a conflict between the groups, and the greater their past contact with out-group members, the more they were willing to engage in intergroup contact. Moreover, stereotypes and evaluations mediated these effects in the Jewish sample. The implications of these findings for the study of the mechanisms underlying prejudice are discussed.

Orthodox Ashkenazi Young Adults’ Knowledge, Experiences, Attitudes, and Beliefs About Genetic Carrier Testing

Background: The Orthodox Ashkenazi Jewish community promotes carrier testing of young adults prior to dating in order to prevent the birth of children affected with genetic diseases. It is unclear how much this young consumer group understands about carrier testing and the testing options available to them, particularly around the inclusion or exclusion of Gaucher disease carrier screening on testing panels. Additionally, little is known about their attitudes toward the use of reproductive technologies to avoid having affected children. Methods: We conducted eight focus groups with 49 Orthodox Ashkenazi young adults. Participants were assigned to groups based on gender and whether or not they had received carrier testing. Audiotapes were transcribed and transcripts analyzed for themes.Results: Most participants expressed trust in Dor Yeshorim's anonymous testing process, but many were unaware of other testing options. Most women were tested through Dor Yeshorim at their Jewish high schools between the ages of 17 and 18 years. Men were tested either through Dor Yeshorim or a university-based laboratory after high school, usually while they attended yeshiva. Those who had not yet been tested either had not been presented with the opportunity or planned to wait until they were in a serious relationship. The untested were less likely to participate in arranged marriages, more likely to want to know their test results, and more open to using reproductive technology. Participants had mixed attitudes about whether Gaucher disease ought to be on the Dor Yeshorim Jewish panel. In vitro fertilization (IVF) with preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) was the only assisted reproductive technology acceptable to most participants.Conclusions: There is an opportunity to educate Orthodox Ashkenazi young adults about their testing options, about the pros and cons of testing for Gaucher disease, and about the reproductive options for couples who are both carriers of the same genetic disease. Rabbis may be uniquely situated to provide referrals to culturally sensitive genetic counselors and web-based educational materials.

Perceptions of the narrative of the ‘other’ among Arab and Jewish adolescents in Israel: between peace talks and violent events

One of the major challenges for the process of peace building is to overcome the rigid structure of the socio‐psychological repertoire that accompanies it. Our longitudinal study examined one element of this repertoire among Jewish and Arab adolescents in Israel: the cognitive legitimacy and the emotional reactions toward the historical narrative of the opponent. We focused our question on the impact of the socio‐political context and the role of the violent reality in the development of these perceptions among youth. Data were collected in four stages (1999–2000, 2002, 2004, and 2007) among various samples of Arab and Jewish high school students (10th and 12th graders). The results showed that among the Jewish adolescents, the readiness to legitimate Palestinian narratives significantly decreased during violent periods. Among the Arab students, the impact of their difficult status as a Palestinian minority in the State of Israel is reflected in their relatively high level of readiness to accept both narratives. The results are discussed from social, cultural, and developmental perspectives with a focus on the role of the conflictual reality itself in the development of the socio‐psychological repertoire among youth.

Pluralistic Approaches to Israel Education

Teaching Israel is a complex endeavor in today's world where the founding myths of Israel no longer appear to capture the hearts and minds of American Jews as they did a generation ago. As a result, a new way of speaking about and conceptualizing Israel education is evolving among researchers, program providers, policy makers, and many teachers. Through an in-depth case study, this paper explores whether and how this new way of thinking and speaking about Israel actually plays out in a community Jewish day high school that espouses a commitment to critical thinking and pluralistic education. The analysis is informed by a conceptual framework that argues that a meaningful and holistic approach to Israel education demands critical engagement with both the sacred vision and complex realities of Israel, past, present, and future as well as the literature on pluralism in Jewish educational settings. The key question threaded throughout the article is: How does a pluralistic Jewish curriculum navigate between fostering open inquiry and supporting a commitment to Israel and the Jewish people?

Religion as a basis for dialogue in peace education programs

Religion could play a positive role in intergroup relations. However, this potential is usually overlooked and religion is often perceived as divisive and polarizing, perhaps even a source of intergroup conflict. This study examined religion as a possible tool for achieving positive intergroup encounters. A randomized control trial research design was used to study the contribution of religion to the enhancement of positive relations between Jewish and Arab high school students in Israel. The 255 eleventh‐grade students were randomly assigned into three groups: encounters based on religious content, encounters based on social content, and a control group. Findings revealed that the religion‐based intervention was more effective than the social‐based one, which merely slowed down the deteriorating relationships between the groups. The results suggest that religion can serve as a common denominator for different national and social groups and be used for enhancing tolerance and understanding between conflict groups.

The Gender Gap in Advanced Math and Science Course Taking: Does Same-Sex Education Make A Difference?

A large representative sample (N = 20,816) of Israeli Jewish high school students served to explore differences between coeducational and same-sex schools in advanced math and science courses. Data were obtained from the Israeli population census of 1995 and from the Israeli Ministry of Education. Results from logistic regressions suggest that girls at all-female state religious schools did not differ from girls at coeducational state schools in placement in advanced math, physics and biology courses. But girls at all-female religious schools took advanced computer science courses at a much higher rate than girls at coeducational schools. This finding is attributed to a different curricular policy and not directly to the all-female environment.

Israeli students’ perceptions of geography instruction goals

This research compares the official Israeli Ministry of Education's curriculum goals of studying geography with the perceptions of Israeli Jewish and Arab junior high school students who study the subject. In addition, the perceptions of Jewish and Arab students about the importance of studying geography are compared. In the first stage of research, 500 students from northern Israel were asked open questions about how they perceived the goals of geography education. In the second stage of research, 280 middle grade students (ages 14–16 years) in northern Israel participated. Of these, 129 students were Jewish and 151 students were Arab. These students were given a questionnaire to fill out which included 17 statements about geography that were formulated from stage one of the research. These statements related to the importance of studying geography as a curriculum topic and as a subject that is interrelated to wider economic and political processes. The results of the research indicate that there is a significant difference between the students’ perceptions of the importance of studying geography and the official curriculum goals for studying geography, which view its importance for the transmission of important societal values. Moreover, the research has also found that there is a significant difference between Jewish and Arab students in their perceptions of the importance of studying geography. While the Arab students perceive environmental values as being very important, the Jewish students perceive political and security issues as most important.

Evaluation of a multi‐disease carrier screening programme in Ashkenazi Jewish high schools

A screening programme for Tay Sachs disease (TSD) carrier status was introduced in high schools in Victoria, Australia in 1997, and was expanded to screen for six other genetic conditions common in the Ashkenazi Jewish population in 2008. The aim of this study was to evaluate the current programme and compare it with an evaluation of the programme when screening was offered for TSD alone. All students from Jewish high schools in Melbourne who offered the programme in 2009 were invited to participate in the study. A purpose-designed questionnaire explored the following domains: knowledge (disease and genetics), reasons for screening, anxiety, and predicted negative feelings if found to be a carrier. Two hundred and seventy-three students were offered screening, and 272 (99.6%) completed the questionnaire. Only two students chose not to have screening. Two hundred and seventy-one students were in the penultimate year of high school (99.6%) and 222 were of Ashkenazi Jewish descent (82.5%). The main reasons for choosing screening were the desire to know carrier status and convenience. Knowledge level decreased and negative feelings increased in the current cohort compared to that when screening was offered for TSD alone. We conclude that the current programme is efficient, although increasing the number of conditions resulted in a decrease in knowledge and increase in predicted negative feelings if found to be a carrier of one of the conditions. This has implications for multi-disease screening programmes that will increase in frequency as more conditions can be screened for and costs diminish.

Reflection and Connections: The Other Side of Integration

Jewish day schools offer many experiences meant to foster the Jewish development of students. However, these experiences are at risk of being disconnected from one another, complicating a comprehensive approach to addressing issues of identity. This article uses a constructivist approach to identity development to frame the challenges posed by such a fragmentation. Observations of pluralistic Jewish day high schools are brought as illustrations. The author discusses an approach of scaffolded reflection as a way to integrate the identity—enhancing experiences in which a student participates.

Applying the Menu of Orientations to the Jewish High School Setting

Applying the Menu of Orientations to the Jewish High School Setting

Student and Teacher Responses to Prayer at a Modern Orthodox Jewish High School

This article presents the attitudes of students and teachers to prayer at an American Modern Orthodox Jewish high school. Relevant data, based on observation and interviews, emerged from a larger study of the school's Jewish and secular worlds. A significant gap in responses became apparent. Students viewed prayer as a challenge to their autonomy, while teachers viewed prayer as an indisputable religious obligation. Developmental and demographic explanations for this gap are considered, but particular emphasis is placed on a generational shift in attitude toward religious authority and self-determination and on the ramifications of this shift for religious educators.

Effects of Sociocultural Background and Disability on Occupational Competence of Adolescent Girls

The effect of sociocultural environment on self-evaluated occupational competence was examined among 81 Jewish high school girls with hearing loss (HL) or normal hearing in four groups: ultra-orthodox (UO) with HL, secular with HL, and two matched hearing groups. Participants completed questionnaires on occupational competence. Findings showed that participants with HL rated highly prestigious occupations that require communication as less suitable for them than did hearing participants. UO participants rated less prestigious occupations as more suitable for them than did secular participants. A significant interaction emerged for highly prestigious – low communicative occupations. UO participants with HL rated them as more suitable than did their hearing peers, whereas secular participants with HL rated them as less suitable than did their hearing peers. The results emphasize the need for occupational counseling to account for a disability as well as for social context.

How do teachers think about pluralism in a Jewish Community School?

Pluralism is a notion that regularly appears in education literature regarding social injustice or teaching for democracy. Over the last decade, a new type of Jewish Day School has emerged, the Jewish Community School. These Jewish Community Schools distinguish themselves by adopting pluralism as one of their core values. What is unclear is how teachers within such a school think about the notion of pluralism. This case study describes and analyses the way that members of a Jewish Studies faculty in one Jewish Community High School thinks about pluralism and the pedagogical implications of this thinking.

‘I don't want to see it’: decoupling ethnicity and class from social structure in Jewish Israeli high schools

Social inequality in Israel's education system has often been analysed with top-down structural models. This study inquires, instead, how students understand their position in the stratified structure of opportunities at school. Our quantitative and qualitative data, gathered in Jewish high schools in Israel, indicate that, despite clear ethno-class distribution in academic tracking, students reject the logic of identity politics and consider ‘free will’ to be the main factor determining tracking. In light of the Jewish-Israeli national identity, which rejects class and ethnic divides, the reference point for the system of classification at school shifts to the autonomous individual. Our findings show that students use consumerist and psychological discourses to dismantle ethno-class identities and depoliticize the classification system at school.

Gender differences in peace education programmes

Peace education programmes have become part of the school curriculum all over the world, as a way to enhance positive relationships between conflict groups. However, although gender differences are being taken into account when planning various educational programmes, this is usually not the case with peace education. The present study aimed to reveal gender differences regarding peace and peace pedagogy. One hundred and eighty Israeli Jewish and Arab high school students participated in a peace contact education programme. Gender and group differences were examined both before and after participation in the programme. The findings revealed that the Jewish and Arab female youths were more dovish than the males both before and after participating in the programme, and gained more from the encounters. Implications for conflict resolution and peace pedagogy are discussed.

Delinquent Activity Among Jewish and Arab Junior and Senior High School Students in Israel

This study compares the criminal activities of male and female Jewish and Arab junior and senior high school students in Israel based on self-reported criminal activities. The sample consisted of 906 randomly selected junior and senior high school students. The findings indicate that Jewish students committed more types of delinquent acts when compared with their Arab counterparts; males committed more delinquent acts than females; and Arab females had very low rates of delinquency. The findings are discussed in light of possible influences of cultural and ethnic origin and knowledge about possible discrimination against Arab juveniles by the Israeli criminal justice system. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are suggested.

Is it just talk? Understanding and evaluating intergroup dialogue

AbstractIntergroup dialogues are lauded as a way to increase understanding and reduce prejudice, but a limited amount of published research explores the effectiveness of these processes. This article examines the evaluation of a yearlong dialogue program for African American and Jewish high school students, considering both consistently found attitudinal changes and others that appear dependent on the nature and extent of relationships formed among dialogue participants.

“A Judaism That Does Not Hide”: Teaching the Documentary Hypothesis in a Pluralistic Jewish High School

This article analyzes the experiences of students at a pluralistic Jewish high school learning the documentary hypothesis in biblical scholarship as an approach to reading the biblical text. The author examines selected student writings, locating her analysis of student experience in the context of her particular institution. She classifies student experience by type, and argues that for all students, learning the documentary hypothesis is ultimately not only defensible but beneficial to their theological and intellectual growth. The author responds to a number of possible concerns about the risks of this curricular choice.

Deconstructing National Myths, Reconstituting Morality: Modernity, Hegemony and the Israeli National Past1

Abstract Since the late 1980s there has been a growing scholarly concern with speaking silences of the past and recognizing the voices and perspectives of those “others” who have been written out of hegemonic historical narratives, especially in areas of intense conflict like Israel/Palestine. This study is concerned with the ways in which hegemonic national history can be re‐inscribed even as attempts are made to tell an alternative narrative. This article is based on three years of ethnographic research in an Israeli Jewish high school at the height of debates among historians about the Israeli national past. It examines the motivation to teach an alternative narrative that would recognize Palestinian perspectives and reveals the micro‐processes involved that ultimately undermine such recognition.