FAMILY/SCHOOL
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School In The Fast Track
JOEL REBIBO
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1
sraeli schools are a lot
like Israeli society: loud,
informal and
no-nonsense.
"The schools are very noisy,
children are running all over
the place and when the dis-
missal bell rings it's like a
lunatic asylum," says Joe
Colodner, the education
ministry's chief psychologist.
"But that doesn't mean
schools here are bad, just less
controlled."
Teachers who immigrated
to Israel from the United
States say their relationships
with students are less formal
than what they were used to.
"The kids call us by our first
names, but that doesn't affect
their respect for us," says
Rivka Eldar, a Jerusalem
high school teacher. "I think
we have deeper, more satisfy-
ing relationships with stu-
dents here."
But what really distin-
guishes Israeli schools from
American schools is the sys-
tem of identifying the better
students at an early age. By
the end of the sixth grade,
classes are divided according
to ability into three or four
math and science groups.
After testing in the ninth
grade, students are sent to
either academic high schools,
where they have a year to
choose a major, or to voca-
tional high schools, where
they stand little chance of be-
ing admitted to a university.
The advantage of the sys-
tem is that better students
get more challenging
material and weaker students
are taught at their level.
"Israeli schools do very well
with the bright kid and with
the weak kid," says Colodner,
who trained at Columbia
University and immigrated
from Boston 18 years ago.
"But the averge kid gets a
bum rap."
Another problem is that
late bloomers may never get
a chance to realize their
potential.
"You are effectively sealing
the fate of a student in the
sixth grade, because if he's in
a lower math group he'll
never catch up," says David
Pur, head of the education
ministry's pedagogic council.
"We're very critical of this
system, but there is no choice.
If you have 38 to 40 kids in a
class that includes students of
all levels, you're not going to
get much accomplished."
Joel Rebibo is a writer who
lives in Israel.
The crowded classrooms,
and the short school week —
30 to 33 hours in elementary
school, 35 hours in high
school — force the students
and their parents to be re-
sponsible for learning. If a
student is having difficulty,
says Colodner, "The teacher
will say, 'You're not doing
well, get a private tutor.' "
The schools are generally
divided into elementary
(grades 1 to 6), junior high (7
to 9), and senior high (10 to <
12). Students generally re-
main in their neighborhood
The Israeli school
system uses
psychometric
tests, usually
taken at the end o
ninth grade, to
determine which
students may
attend academic
high schools and
which attend
vocational high
schools.
N
elementary schools, which
are under the direct control of
local municipalities.
Applying for admission to
high schools is like applying <
to college. Students must take
a psychometric test similar to
the Scholastic Aptitude Test
(SAT) which measures ap-
titude in science and
languages and is aimed at
predicting the student's
chances of succeeding in
these areas. Before taking the
test, which is administered by
an independent testing
organization, students fill out
a high school application
form listing the three schools
they would like to attend, and
the test results are forwarded
to the schools.
Besides the psychometric
test, there is a personal inter-
view. Ironically, grades play
only a small role in the ad-
mission process.
"The whole ninth grade is
a preparation for getting ac-
cepted into high school," says
a Jerusalem mother whose
daughter was admitted to an
academic high school last
year.
The family lives in Mevas-
seret Zion, a small town
about seven miles west of
Jerusalem. The daughter had
tried to transfer to the
Hebrew University Second-
ary School, a prestigious
school in Jerusalem, for
junior high school. She took
(