16th place out of 19: Teachers in Israel at the bottom of the skills ranking - in all age groups

A study claims: Teachers in Israel are in 16th place in skills out of 19 developed countries. Teachers in Israel were ranked low compared to their counterparts in developed countries, and their scores are lower than those of other workers in the economy with similar education working in other professions.

The study's authors claim that the knowledge level of Israeli teachers in core subjects is among the lowest in the developed world. When weighting the three skill areas, Israel is ranked 16th out of the 19 countries tested, with only Italy, Latvia, and Poland ranked below it.

This is a new study by the Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic Research, which points to a wide gap in the skills of teachers in Israel compared to their counterparts in OECD countries. The study, conducted by Dr. Yael Meltzer, is based on the international PIAAC skills survey conducted in 2022-2023, and shows that teachers in Israel achieve lower scores in all three skill areas: reading literacy, mathematical literacy, and problem-solving, across all age groups.

The international PIAAC skills survey tests the skill level of adults (aged 16 to 65) in three basic skills: reading literacy, mathematical literacy, and adaptive problem-solving in technology-rich environments. The Israeli study used the raw data of the survey, referring to everyone engaged in teaching.

A significant gap: Male teachers in Israel compared to other academics

The study shows that among male academics in Israel, teachers' scores are 7.3% lower than those of academics in other professions.

In contrast, in the OECD, the picture is the opposite: teachers' scores are 0.9% higher than those of other academics in those countries. The gap is particularly acute among those with education in science and technology: teachers' scores in Israel are 14.4% lower in reading, 10.3% in mathematics, and 15.9% in problem-solving compared to those with similar education working in other professions.

It also emerges that early childhood teachers are at the bottom of the skills ranking: their scores are lower than those of high school teachers by about 10% in reading, 9% in mathematics, and 7% in problem-solving. Teachers in the Arab education system are at the bottom of the skills ranking, followed by the Haredi sector. Teachers in the state and state-religious education systems are at the top of the ranking.

In addition, the rate of teachers with academic degrees in Israel is relatively low: 78% of teachers in Israel have an academic degree compared to 84% in the OECD. Among this group, 37% of teachers in Israel have a master's degree, compared to 49% of teachers in OECD countries.

According to Prof. Dan Ben-David, president of the Shoresh Institution: "The findings show that the education system in Israel struggles to attract and retain highly skilled academics, and the gaps compared to OECD countries require a change in the way Israel recruits, trains, and rewards teachers. It is necessary to re-examine the admission conditions for teacher training and give more weight to actual skills; to consider a path where teachers first acquire a university degree in the field they will teach and only then undergo teacher training. At the same time, targeted investment is required in Arab education and early childhood, where particularly low skill levels were found. Without these steps, it will be difficult to close the gap compared to leading countries and improve the quality of teaching in Israel."