This week, in the middle of spring, we lived through one of the longest and most surreal nights of our lives, as Iran attacked Israel directly for the first time. Thankfully there were few injuries and no deaths. On Sunday, we started our day on little sleep, tried to calm our nerves and look on the bright side. The threat having passed for the moment, we renewed ourselves by returning to our routines.
Spring is the time in the natural world for renewal. In both Jewish and Christian traditions, the spring holidays – Pesach and Easter – mark a period of renewal, rebirth, liberation, freedom. This year, Eid al Fitr, not always a spring holiday, happened during spring as well with its own profound meaning and introspection.
In a year like this, renewal means finding the strength to continue on day after day, to begin again, to conserve what is good, and renew and reinvent ourselves as needed to meet the ever-changing circumstances. As an organization, the inner strength to do this comes from our belief in our mission, knowing the importance of transforming the lives of children, and from helping teachers, principals and parents, who needed us to lend them our strength.
We hope for quieter days even as we continue to navigate unprecedented national challenges. We deeply appreciate the concern and support of all our supporters, partners, and friends who have reached out during this time. For those marking the Greek Orthodox Easter, we wish you a meaningful holiday, and for those who will be celebrating Passover, we wish you a Chag Sameach!
THE JERUSALEM POST
For Arab schools in Israel, students struggle to master fundamental skills
Education affairs: ICEI and the Education Ministry’s Tamkin program looks to create equal opportunities.
[Excerpted from the article that appeared March 22, 2024 in the Jerusalem Post]
By JUDITH SEGALOFF
Iraq al-Shabaab is [one of 15 schools] implementing the Tamkin Joint Venture, a promising new educational collaboration expected to mark a potential shift in elementary education.
Arab students are twice as likely as their Jewish peers to leave school prematurely and score notably lower on OECD international assessments. The Tamkin system hopes to boost reading confidence and […improve performance in] schools like Iraq al-Shabaab, marking a potential shift in Arab elementary education across Israel.
Arab elementary schools are disproportionately lacking resources. To address this, the Education Ministry is jointly investing NIS 33 million in the Tamkin Joint Venture with the Israel Center for Educational Innovation (ICEI) to increase Arab literacy in low-income district Arab-Israeli schools. The word “tamkin” means “foundation” or “empowerment” in Arabic.
Don Futterman, executive director and founder of the Israel Center for Educational Innovation (ICEI), pointed out that while Arab-Israeli children speak Arabic it is not unusual for those from lower economic sectors to have basic literacy challenges mastering Arabic, reflecting the complexities of the differences in spoken and written Arabic language. Additionally, many, even in mixed schools, never learn to communicate in Hebrew. This leaves them at a disadvantage when it comes to pursuing academic studies and white-collar employment later in life. The ICEI pilot program in Arab elementary schools began five years ago, administered by staff based in both Kfar Saba and Nazareth.
The Tamkin Joint Venture targets the needs of Arab elementary schools, where many children are underperforming. Since the beginning of this year, the Tamkin Joint Venture has been operational in 15 schools. They provide a literacy coach to each school and have former principals mentor the current principals. Additionally, each classroom is equipped with a robust library to encourage reading.
“If elementary and middle school students do not get the basics of reading, writing, and dialogic education, they can fall behind for the rest of their lives,” explains Futterman. The collaboration [is operating] in 15 elementary schools in communities including Umm el-Fahm, Jisr e-Zarka, and Kafr Kanna, uniting diverse regions with a common vision for educational excellence.
Abeer Awawdi, principal of Alrouad Elementary School in Kafr Kana, has been using the Tamkin program since the beginning of 2024. She says the Tamkin approach, because it is centered on targeted teaching and learning strategies, has empowered teachers to create a conducive learning environment where students are curious, engaged, and eager to learn.
“There has been a remarkable improvement in students’ academic achievements in Arabic language studies,” explains Awawdi, who says more students are reaching higher levels of proficiency. “Additionally, we’ve observed a narrowing of academic gaps among students, indicating a more equitable learning environment.”
She also noted, “Teacher collaboration has been enhanced, fostering a culture of teamwork, shared lesson planning, and knowledge exchange.”
With the matriculation rate in the Arab school system falling well below the equivalent rate in the Jewish education system, and Arab pupils scoring significantly lower in reading scores than Jewish pupils, improving Arab elementary schools has been one of the national priorities for the Education Ministry and the Social Equality Ministry.
Futterman, a social worker with degrees in community organization and literature, developed The Israel Center for Educational Innovation (ICEI) 15 years ago to address the struggles of the Ethiopian community.
“People were giving up on these children,” he recalls. “We built a program to help the schools raise achievement levels while being cognizant of the need not to separate these children out. Pulling them out of the classroom stigmatizes the children. The model served [dozens of] schools of Ethiopian concentration in the South and Center of the country.” He said the model not only helped children but also reinforced teachers’ sense of competence.
The ICEI program has also taught Hebrew [to Arab students] in [Jewish] schools in Ramle after Arab schools were shut down and non-[Hebrew-] speaking Arab students were suddenly integrated into regular state schools.
“Sometimes more than half the first-graders didn’t speak Hebrew,” Futterman said. “We had to get them up to speed fast. We are more agile than a larger bureaucratic system and within a few weeks, we put together a program that was focused on reading. It was not an ulpan and the kids were able to acquire basic Hebrew skills very quickly.”
Hana Laloush, director of the Department of Elementary Education at the Education Ministry, shared her vision for Tamkin.
“The goal is to tailor a program to precisely meet the needs of every school, encouraging social mobility, and breaking the correlation between socioeconomic status and achievement levels. The decision to embark on this joint venture expresses the Education Ministry’s belief that it is possible to break through the glass ceiling in participating schools. The Department of Elementary Education sees Tamkin as an opportunity to create fairness and equal opportunities for students, particularly for disadvantaged populations.”
The ICEI Young Writers Competition
Teaching the Tools for Self-Expression
Each year, the ICEI Young Writers Competition serves as a shining example of the transformative impact of our literacy programs. This network-wide contest, open to third through sixth-grade students across our partner schools, is more than just a writing exercise – it is a celebration of creativity, self-expression, and the power of the written word.
“Writing is a major part of the curriculum, and we do a full unit at the same time in all the schools,” explains Orly Dohan, one of ICEI’s pedagogical supervisors who oversees the competition. “Learning to read and learning to write go hand in hand. So it strengthens their literacy skills, but free writing is also about expressing themselves, their feelings, and their experiences.”
Nurturing the Art of Storytelling
The Young Writers Competition is the culmination of a meticulously crafted process that guides students through the complexities of crafting a compelling narrative. “It’s a 3-4 week unit on writing a story,” says Dohan. “It involves reflection – what the student likes to write, what works for them, what they’re trying to express. Then we read them the stories that past kids have written and ask them to analyze them. Then we take them through getting ideas and figuring out what makes a story, as opposed to a report on an event.”
The students are then encouraged to start writing their own stories. “They work closely with a partner. Through the questions their listeners ask, they learn what needs improvement, learning about narrative flow, consistency in grammar, and more.”
A Celebration of Creativity and Resilience
The grand finale of the Young Writers Competition is the annual awards ceremony, a professionally produced event that brings together representatives from each participating school. “The big day at the end is a huge motivator,” Dohan shares. “They get to leave school and we make a big deal of it. The hope of winning a chance to attend is a big incentive.”
Within each school, the process is equally engaging. “Some invite parents to the in-school awards. Some have all the kids read their stories out loud to everyone. Some put together books. And all the winners at every school get a prize from ICEI.”
This year’s ceremony will hold special significance, as the young authors have already begun to submit stories that reflect the challenges and experiences of the war and the past year. “We already know we’re getting one by a student who moved from Ukraine thinking it was safer here and then wakes up to a siren,” Dohan notes. “We’re also having a separate category for evacuees, since they may not even be part of the class by the time the competition ends. So they’re having their own separate category and they’ll come to the awards ceremony.”
The diversity of stories submitted always impresses the judges, who carefully analyze and select the winners. “No matter what grade the student is in, what makes a story great is the personal voice,” Dohan observes. “Some of the best are the shortest – one of the winning stories was half a page about a wild boar that goes on a tour around town. One story we had was about wanting a horse of her own, written by a girl who really does ride – you can see how when they’re writing about something they love and live, it comes out in the writing, in the descriptions, and the emotions.”
Amplifying the Quietest Voices
The Young Writers Competition serves as a platform for students who may otherwise go unnoticed in the classroom. “Often the winners are students who tend to fly under the radar in class more,” Dohan says.
The stories, imbued with raw emotion and unique perspectives, are a testament to the transformative power of ICEI’s literacy programs. They showcase the resilience, creativity, and inherent talents of students who may have faced significant challenges, both academic and personal.
As the ICEI community eagerly awaits this year’s competition, the Young Writers Ceremony reflects our commitment to teaching the communication skills that serve as a foundation for life-long learning.
