New Perspectives in Science Education

Middle school is the optimal time to ignite students' passion for science, trigger their curiosity, and raise their motivation to pursue science studies in high school. The best agents for this important mission are well trained, inspiring, science teachers. However, science in the middle school is one of the most challenging subjects to teach, since, no matter whether the teacher is a biologist, a chemist or a physicist, he will have to teach at least two additional profound and evolving subjects, in which he did not major.  The Shavit program (Hebrew for “comet”) aims at bridging that gap.  The program is designed for teachers of excellent middle school students, and includes unique curriculum-enriching, hands-on – mind-on activities. Teachers, from schools which join in the program, participate in dedicated training programs that include new knowledge and methodologies as well as mentorship throughout the whole school year. They receive relevant workbooks for the students, lab equipment and materials, as well as assessment tools, all meticulously prepared by the program’s staff. This "all - in" package helps teachers to lead scientific-excellence groups, and strengthen their professional status. This, in turn, leads to an increased interest on the part of the students, who become more enthusiastic, curious and engaged in science lessons, and indeed, we have found that the program increases the number of students who choose advanced science studies in high school. Moreover, some of the program's methods and tools “diffuse” into regular classes, allowing many more students to enjoy the benefits of the program. To assess the program’s value for the students, we checked whether Shavit graduates gain better scientific skills, in comparison to other students. In order to check that, we distributed a scientific assignment at the beginning of the school year that tests a range of scientific skills in 10th grade students, from classes majoring in sciences. Overall the average score of the students who graduated the Shavit program was significantly higher than that of their peers who studied in other classes in middle school.
We would like to share the benefits and challenges of such a unique program.

Keywords: Middle school, science, excellence, teachers, training, hands-on;

References