The education field favors innovations, but innovative schools tend to fade after an initial 'golden age.' According to the new institutional theory, this happens due to the innovative school's need to achieve institutional legitimacy, which encounters several difficulties. This study aims to explore the journey to attaining legitimacy in one…

A Jewish high school adopted different models of online Zoom learning for the 2020-2021 schoolyear; research was conducted in two Israel studies classes that taught the same content, but one class was fully online and the other was a blended learning environment. The purpose of the study was to understand whether meaningful learning can be…

Aim/Purpose: The increasingly growing number of virtual high schools around the world has engendered new modes for teaching and learning and a promising area of re-search. While research in this emerging field has mostly taken a comparative lens that highlights differences between traditional modes of teaching and online teaching, research on high…

Laboratory activities have long had a distinctive and central role in the science curriculum, and science educators have suggested that many benefits accrue from engaging students in science laboratory activities. Many research studies have been conducted to investigate the educational effectiveness of laboratory work in science education in…

One of the most serious problems facing our planet is the biodiversity crisis. As a solution to this problem, both scientists and educators have emphasised the need for educating people about how to conserve the Earth's biodiversity. As a small contribution to this effort, we have designed a learning unit about biodiversity, "Nature in a…

Using multilevel models, the authors tested the hypothesis that high schools, through their curricular policies, operate as mechanisms that help members of privileged groups to take better advantage of postsecondary opportunities. The analysis was based on a 7-year follow-up study of 44,666 Israeli students who graduated from 385 high schools in…

This paper examines the a-priori ideological orientation of pupils in two different types of schools in the kibbutzim in Israel, the movement schools (Hatakam or Hashomer Hatzair) and the mixed schools. The paper attempts to show how different educational circumstances and environments develop a distinct a-priori ideological orientation in…

The intended, implemented, and actually achieved chemistry curricula were studied in 26 Israeli high schools (514 students) through review of the planned curriculum, questionnaires, and test results. In spite of the intended and implemented curricula's goals, actual achievement is low, particularly in the area of application of principles. (SLD)

The purpose of this study was to examine the home and school effects on science achievement of 12th-grade students (N=2,277) in Israel. Significant correlates of achievement included home environment, quantity of instruction, interest, and motivation. (IAH)

Results from Biology Cognitive Preference Inventory taken by grade 12 Jewish (N=406) and Arab (N=297) biology majors revealed similarities between cognitive preferences, achievement, and background variables. Reports that, in spite of substantial cultural and home differences, both groups became oriented toward principles/questioning rather than…

This study examines the effect of one social milieu factor (Israeli kibbutz versus urban lifestyle) on Israeli adolescents' future orientation. Responses of 114 kibbutz and 112 urban adolescents to an open-ended Future Orientation Questionnaire are grouped into nine life domains: school and matriculation, military service, higher education, work…

Israeli 12th graders studying English as a Second Language benefit from writers' workshops where they compose written portfolios and learn to express themselves fluently in writing. Students write with paper and pen or work via the Internet. They write on selected issues and send letters and articles to various online and print journals and…

The performance of 254 Israeli twelfth graders on multiple-choice tests with positive or negative item stems was studied. For items requiring low cognitive reasoning, performance does not differ, but, for items requiring high cognitive reasoning, the negative mode is more difficult. Implications for test construction are discussed. (SLD)

Project-based learning (PBL) that has authenticity in the pupils' world enables the teaching of science and technology to pupils from a variety of backgrounds. PBL has the potential to enable pupils to research, plan, design, and reflect on the creation of technological projects (Doppelt, 2000). Engineering education, which is common in Israel,…

An investigation of biology matriculation tests in Israel was undertaken to assess the use of justifications with multiple-choice items and to compare the effect of three item formats on students' performance. More specifically, the study was designed to determine the: (1) extent to which justifications will differ if the correct answer is made…