Be’er-Sheva aims to increase both the number of 5-Unit mathematics graduates and 5-unit teachers in the city by creating professional communities and working with principals across the city.
The project seeks to cultivate effective teaching that caters to the needs, abilities and individual learning progress of students. It is driven by the desire to ensure that every child in every classroom benefits from excellent teaching. The work is grounded in the premise that Beer-Sheva has some outstanding teachers on which to rely. These teachers work relentlessly, believe in their students’ abilities and encourage them to fulfill their potential.
The main goal of the project is to increase the percentage of 5-Unit mathematics students to 20% – 450 students – by 2019, and to increase during these years the number of 5-unit teachers by ten every year. With this goal in mind, in addition to adding teaching hours, the municipality is planning to carry out the following actions with teachers:
- Establish a citywide community of five-unit teachers to support their professional development and train them to serve as instructional coaches who will mentor new teachers. The community will meet weekly for 3 hours, and will be mentored by an academic institution.
- Mentoring of the new 5-unit teachers by experienced teachers for two hours per week. They will also study together in a professional network for 10 sessions per year.
- Form school-based communities in 7 junior high schools to receive guidance and mentoring by a professional education organization.
In addition, 8-10 school principals will receive individual mentoring from an experienced principal over 5 annual sessions, in which the principals will construct the school work plan to increase the number of 5-unit graduates.
Generously donated by “The Trump Foundation”.
