Israel's Education Minister Orders Overhaul of National Testing System
Translated & summarized from Now 14 by baba
Israel's Minister of Education, Yoav Kisch, has decided to fully adopt recommendations from a review by Professor Ami Moyal, halting the National Institute for Testing and Evaluation (NITE) until reforms are made. The overhaul includes changes to English testing, performance level models, and faster result publication. The ministry will also explore digital exams and individual student result identification.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Education Minister Yoav Kisch ordered a halt to NITE's work pending a comprehensive overhaul of national testing.
- The decision fully adopts recommendations from a review by Professor Ami Moyal on the "Tnupha Le'mahar" testing system.
- Changes include revising English assessments to cover speaking, listening, and writing skills.
- The ministry will re-evaluate performance level models and aim to shorten the time to publish test results.
- Plans are underway to transition to digital exams and potentially identify individual student achievements.
- Legislation will be advanced to define NITE's status, independence, and relationship with the Ministry.
Israel's Minister of Education, Yoav Kisch, announced on Tuesday a complete adoption of the recommendations from a professional review conducted by Professor Ami Moyal concerning the "Tnupha Le'mahar" (Momentum for Tomorrow) testing system. Following this decision, Kisch has ordered a comprehensive restructuring of the measurement and evaluation system within the education sector and has halted the work of the National Institute for Testing and Evaluation (NITE) until the directives are implemented.
"We cannot continue to operate in a broken manner," Kisch stated, emphasizing that NITE will not be able to function as it has until the recommendations are put into practice. The review, led by Professor Moyal, found that the method of presenting achievement results could be misleading. The minister stressed the need for a systemic and administrative overhaul to ensure the evaluation system's outputs lead to genuine pedagogical and managerial improvement.
Among the planned changes, the Ministry of Education will rebuild the English assessment system to include writing, listening comprehension, and speaking skills. The model for performance levels in tests will be re-examined, establishing a basic educational benchmark instead of solely presenting the highest level as meeting curriculum requirements. Additionally, the timeframe between conducting exams and publishing results will be shortened to a few months, and a multi-year plan for transitioning to digital exams will be developed. The possibility of abandoning test anonymity and moving to a model that identifies individual student achievements will also be explored.
The ministry will also establish a joint steering committee to oversee work processes and resolve managerial and professional issues. A mechanism for the full transfer of data, reports, and professional analyses from NITE to the Ministry of Education will be formalized, along with access to raw data for independent research. Furthermore, legislation will be advanced to regulate NITE's status, professional independence, and its relationship with the Ministry's management. The Ministry's director-general will lead the implementation of these recommendations, reporting progress to the minister.
Mentioned
The same event, reported separately by each outlet. Open a few to compare what different newsrooms emphasize — and what they leave out.
Centre 1Right 1
Not the same event — other stories that share this one’s people, places, or theme: background, reactions, and follow-ups.
