Summary of Gender separation amongst National Religious Education(NRE) Elementary Schools

December 8th, 2015

Chapter: Gender separation and academic achievements in NRE elementary schools. The chapter addresses the connection between gender separation in NRE elementary schools and the academic achievements of the students, based on the standardized tests in the core subjects(Math, Hebrew, English and Science) taken by 5th Graders in the Educational system in the years 2012-2013.

The study’s results show a few interesting trends:

• Amongst the majority of subjects, the grades of the students in the coed schools were higher than those in the separate schools. In Math and science the grades in coed schools were slightly higher (556-548 and 532-527 respectively). In Hebrew, however, the grades of students in the separate schools were slightly higher than those in coed schools (531-525).

• In English studies, significant differences between the coed school and separate school students’ grades were found: The average grade of mixed school students was 14 points higher than the average grade amongst separate school students (524-510). This figure may point out that the problem regarding English studies in the NRE that was found in previous studies done by “Ne’emanei Torah Va’avoda”, is even worse amongst separate school students.

• Examination of the achievements of the students in both types of schools based on their social-economic level did not significantly change the trends. It was found that amongst students from high social- economic levels, the achievements of students from the coed schools were consistently higher in all subjects than those of the separate schools (In Hebrew by 4 points, in Math by 5 points, in Science by 10 points and in English by 42 points). Similarly, amongst students from Medium social- economic levels, the achievements of students from the mixed schools were higher in Math (+9), Science (+10) and English (+16), but lower in Hebrew (-6). Regarding the students from low social –economic backgrounds, the available figures do not allow us to draw reliable conclusions about the differences of achievements between students in coed or separate schools.

• Examination of the academic achievements of the coed schools (on the institutional level) in comparison to the academic achievements of the separate schools (on the institutional level) by gender, showed that in most cases the differences in achievements in favor of the coed schools are more significant amongst boys than amongst girls.

The standardized tests do not only include academic achievements tests, rather they also include a large set of questions in other domains, for instance the importance of learning the subjects that they are getting tested on the eyes of the students. This question essentially provides indication of the subjective importance the students give the different secular subjects and shows the motivation of the students to study and put effort into these secular subjects.

The figures show that among both types of schools the order of importance (in declining order) in the eyes of the students is the same: English, Math, Hebrew and Science. A comparison between the coed schools and the separate schools on this point shows that students in coed schools attribute more importance to studying each subject that they are tested in the standardized test. The largest difference between the types of schools comes in regards to Science: 83% of the coed school students noted that science is important to them, as opposed to 69% of the students in the separate schools.

תנועת נאמני תורה ועבודה ביצעה מחקר מקיף הבוחן לראשונה את ההישגים הלימודיים של תלמידים בבתי ספר מעורבים ונפרדים בחינוך הממלכתי-דתי היסודי, כאשר הוא מתבסס על הישגי תלמידי כיתות ה’ בחינוך הממלכתי-דתי במבחני המיצ”ב במתמטיקה, אנגלית, מדעים ועברית.

המחקר, מצא כי בניגוד למחשבה השכיחה, הרי שבמרבית המקצועות הישגי התלמידים בבתי הספר המעורבים היו גבוהים יותר מהישגי התלמידים בבתי הספר הנפרדים. 

ניתן לטעון לכאורה שהציונים הגבוהים יותר בחינוך המעורב נובעים מלימוד מספר גבוה יותר של שעות בחינוך המעורב. ואולם נתונים נוספים שנאספו מדו”חות המיצ”ב, מראים כי תלמידי החינוך המעורב גם מייחסים חשיבות רבה יותר ללימוד כל אחד מארבעת מקצועות המיצ”ב – מתמטיקה, מדעים, עברית ואנגלית. מדד זה אינו תלוי במספר שעות הלימוד.

-כל זאת, כאשר הממ”דים המעורבים הם הרבה יותר אינטגרטיביים וקולטים שיעורים הרבה יותר גבוהים של תלמידים מרקע סוציו-אקונומי נמוך, ביחס לבתי הספר הנפרדים.

הנתונים מפריכים חלק גדול מהחששות של ההורים אשר בוחרים פעמים רבות בחינוך נפרד רק בגלל היותו הומוגני יותר. תוצאות המיצב מחזקות את האמונה בכוחו של הממ”ד האינטגרטיבי והמעורב, זה שגידל מאות אלפי ילדים לחיים של תורה ומצוות.