Israeli Education System Lacks Effective Student Performance Measurement and Transparency

Dr. Naama Avidan, an education policy researcher at the Kohelet Forum, highlights a critical issue in Israel's education system: while every student receives a report card at the end of the school year, the system itself operates without effective measurement, transparency, or up-to-date data to improve student achievements. As the 2022-2023 school year concludes, students receive grades reflecting their strengths and weaknesses, which motivate effort and guide future learning paths. However, the education system lacks comprehensive performance monitoring and feedback mechanisms for schools and teachers.

Recently, the National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation (RAMA) conducted a national exam for ninth graders, the first in eight years, revealing that only 22% of students met the Ministry of Education's English standards and 38% met the standards in their mother tongue. Despite public attention on science scores, these results pertain to the previous school year (2021-2022) and data from other exams, including those for fifth graders and Arabic-speaking students, remain unpublished.

Unlike many advanced countries that administer digital standardized tests with rapid feedback, Israel still uses paper-based national exams (Mitzav or "Status Picture") with results delayed by up to a year and a half. Moreover, RAMA's recent reform replaced numerical scores with vague verbal evaluations comparing schools to "similar" institutions without a national reference scale. This lack of clear, actionable data leaves parents and schools unable to accurately assess teaching quality or student progress.

Dr. Avidan stresses that without consistent, reliable assessment tools, Israeli schools receive no meaningful "report card" on their performance. There is no system-wide understanding of which teachers succeed in imparting core skills or which areas require improvement. While other countries conduct routine national exams across subjects to guide educational strategies, Israel navigates its education system without a clear map or compass.

She calls on Education Minister Yoav Kisch to implement an efficient, consistent, and functional measurement system to provide timely, transparent data that can drive pedagogical improvements and better student outcomes.