Status of Science and Technology Education at Arab High Schools in Israel

In this study, we provide a review of the status of science and technology education. It addresses the achievements of students in Israel who attend high schools with student bodies that are primarily Arabic speaking. It is generally recognized that the achievements of the Israeli students in international examinations are relatively low. When comparing the achievements of Israeli Arabic speaking students to the achievements of Israeli Hebrew speaking students, there is a low correlation. Some of the questions we try to answer are the following: What are the reasons behind the low scores of Arabic speaking students? Do these low achievement levels affect the future choices of science and technology for those students? Is there a relationship between the science laboratory activities and the bagrut results? (The bagrut-represented by subject-specific certificates is the official Israeli matriculation process that attests to graduation from high school. Receipt by a student of specific bagrut certificates is a prerequisite for higher education in Israel.) Finally, ideas are suggested for improvements (starting at the kindergarten level). 1