Full story
OECD skills results
An OECD analysis cited by The Economist places Israel last in mathematics and second-to-last in reading among OECD member countries, based on the OECD's Survey of Adult Skills conducted once per decade.
“Israel last in mathematics and second-to-last in reading”
The i24NEWS report says the study examined results from about 160,000 participants, focusing on students under 35 years old enrolled in higher education, and it notes that one in five Israeli students (20%) attain the lowest level in mathematics versus 8% on average in OECD countries.
In reading comprehension, i24NEWS says 14% of Israeli students are at the lowest level, nearly twice the organization’s average, and it adds that this level corresponds to skills expected of a child of about ten years old in a developed country.
The Times of Israël frames a different slice of the same broader OECD context, saying a study released earlier this month finds Israeli high school students manage to hold their own in mathematics, reading, and science even though their results remain below the international average.
It says the OECD PISA study covering 2018-2022 and published on December 5 reports an 'unprecedented' decline in performance globally, with an average mathematics score in OECD countries down by 15 points—a record, and a reading drop of 10 points.
Competing interpretations
While i24NEWS says the OECD analysis is based on the Survey of Adult Skills and that the decline is not solely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it also points to factors including waning reading habits, changes in school curricula, demographic shifts, and the rise of artificial intelligence altering learning methods.
The Times of Israël quotes Gal Alon, chief executive of the National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation of Education at the Ministry of Education known by its Hebrew acronym RAMA, saying, "Globally, there has been a dramatic decline, the largest since the start of PISA."
Alon also argues that Israel’s relative position reflects stability rather than improvement, telling The Times of Israël, "We have moved up in the rankings because we stayed stable and the rest of the world collapsed."
Haaretz, meanwhile, centers the debate on The Economist’s “ignorance index,” saying the British weekly ranked students in Israel first for mathematics and second for reading comprehension in their native language.
Haaretz adds that The Economist’s framing included the headline and subheading "Students are doing worse than you think" and "Some at college or university are testing no better than ten-year-olds."
School disruption and stakes
IsraJ reports that between COVID-19 and successive wars, students finishing elementary school today experienced confinement in kindergarten, followed by distance learning, small-group classes, and then three years of war.
“a calculation by Hemdat Academic College”
It says a calculation by Hemdat Academic College estimates a high school senior in northern Israel has lost about 200 days of classes, the equivalent of a full school year, in areas near Gaza, rising to 318 days, nearly a year and a half, and it estimates between 150 and 170 days in the center of the country.
For sixth graders, IsraJ says the gaps remain significant, with about 138 days lost in the north, 236 days in the Gaza envelope, and nearly 100 days in the center, and it adds that these repeated interruptions have weakened learning in reading, mathematics, and English.
The same report says international assessments confirm the trend, stating that in TIMSS tests Israel falls significantly behind in mathematics as well as in science, and that the latest national assessments show a sizable share of middle-school students has a low level in English.
It also ties the disruption to the OECD data by saying an analysis of OECD data finds 22% of Israeli students have a level of mathematical ability comparable to that of a student at the end of primary school, compared with 8% on average in OECD countries, while in reading comprehension the proportion reaches 20%.
