Knowledge and Training of Secondary School Mathematics Teachers
Gutfreund, H. and Rosenberg, Y. (Editors). (2012) Knowledge and Training of Secondary School Mathematics Teachers. Jerusalem: “The Knowledge Base for Teaching Secondary School Mathematics” Committee, The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
Introduction du rapport
The Initiative for Applied Education Research provides Israeli decision-makers in the field of education with the most up-todate, scientific, critically-appraised knowledge, so they can better formulate policy and design interventions that improve achievements
in Israeli education. The Initiative’s vision: Research knowledge is an essential component in the planning of public policy or large-scale interventions. Critically-appraised research knowledge supports the formulation of policy that has a greater chance of success and is more apt to promote rational public discourse. The Initiative implements this vision in the field of education.
The Initiative’s modus operandi
Generally speaking, the issues the Initiative addresses are first raised by decision-makers. Following consultations with senior Ministry of Education officials and other stakeholders, the Initiative’s steering committee, appointed by the president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, oversees both the creation of a work plan and the peer-review process that precedes publication of produced reports. The Initiative sets up expert committees and convenes symposia for researchers, education professionals and decision-makers. It publishes reports of its work and makes them readily available to the public. Those serving on its expert committees do so without remuneration.
History of the Initiative
The Initiative was established in 2003 as a joint venture between the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Israel Ministry of Education, and the Rothschild Foundation (Yad Hanadiv), which initiated the project. Yad Hanadiv generously provided all the necessary funding in the early days until 2010, when the Initiative began operating as a unit of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. In the summer of 2010, the Israeli Knesset amended the Israel Academy of
Sciences and Humanities Law, regulating the Israel Academy’s advisory role vis-à-vis government ministries seeking its services. The Initiative for Applied Education Research is now responsible for all the consulting services on education-related issues provided by the Israel Academy to the Israeli government and various authorities.
The “Knowledge Base for Teaching Secondary School Mathematics” Committee
At the Ministry of Education’s behest, the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities established an expert committee to address the issue of the “Knowledge-Base for Teaching Secondary School Mathematics.” The committee operated under the auspices of the Initiative for Applied Education Research, a unit of the Israel Academy.1 The committee’s aim was to recommend policy, on the basis of analysis of research conducted in Israel and abroad and based on the experience of professionals in Israel and other countries, which would advance mathematics education in Israel and improve student achievement.
The committee, chaired by Professor (Emeritus) Hanokh Gutfreund of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, began its work in the spring of 2010. The committee held deliberations, heard information and opinions from a variety of experts, commissioned status reviews and scientific reviews and held symposia open to the public. When its deliberations came to a close, the committee drafted a summarizing document, approved by all its members, that includes, among other things, policy recommendations geared to improving student achievement. Following peer review, the document was submitted to Ministry of Education officials and in the spring of 2012, was made available to the public on the Initiative’s website.
Committee members
Prof. Hanokh Gutfreund, Chair (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Prof. Abraham Arcavi (Weizmann Institute of Science)
Dr. Meir Buzaglo (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Prof. Ruhama Even (Weizmann Institute of Science)
Dr. Hagar Gal (David Yellin College of Education)
Dr. Bella Kessler (Hebrew University of Jerusalem High School)
1 Yad Hanadiv also supported the arrangement between the Ministry of Education and the Israel Academy.
Prof. Raz Kupferman (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Prof. Roza Leikin (University of Haifa)
Prof. Varda Liberman (Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya)
Ms. Ifat Nachshon (Nehalim Torah Technology High School and Davidson
Institute for Science Education)
Prof. Fadia Nasser-Abu Alhija (Tel Aviv University)
Prof. Anna Sfard (University of Haifa)
Study director: Yehoshua Rosenberg
