Well, that is the result of a recent study of education around the world.

Israeli teachers are less demanding of their students than teachers in countries of the developed world, according to a study conducted recently by Prof. Zemira Mevarech and Dr. Bracha Kramarski of Bar-Ilan University.

The study, which was based on an analysis of data appearing in the Program for International Student Assessment from 2003, reveals that Israel languishes at the bottom of the world table when it comes to demand for achievement from students, with most developed European and American countries ranking above it.
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The study also shows that the level of support an Israeli student receives from a teacher is relatively high.

"The study paints the picture that teachers in Israel spoon-feed the material to the students and don't challenge them," Mevarech says.

The 2003 PISA tests were written by a representative sample of 4,500 Israeli 10th graders and hundreds of thousands of their peers around the world. As part of the assessment, students were asked to complete a questionnaire that reviewed their teachers' demand for achievement.

Mevarech and Kramarski's study shows that on a scale of 1-10, the demand for achievement in Israel earned a score of 3.3. Demand for achievement in the United States scored 6.4; in Britain, 7.3; in Russia, 6.5; in Italy, 6.3 and in Finland, 5.7.

The study also reveals that while the demand for achievement in Israel is low, the level of support a student receives from a teacher is high.

"The teacher in Israel spoon-feeds the students, processes the material for them and poses a low demand threshold," Mevarech says. "The figures show that teachers in Israel are prepared to receive sloppy work from their students."

So it would appear that the US doe do better than one might have imagined, though not nearly as well as we might hope.

And the results for Israel shatter certain ethnic stereotypes, don't they?

Posted by: Greg at 02:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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