WEBINAR: Spoken Hebrew Proficiency in the Arab Public School...

Hebrew is taught as a required language in Arab public schools, but many young Arabs lack opportunities to become proficient speakers. Hebrew conversational skills are essential for meaningful participation in Israeli society.

On July 8th, Joel Rapp, Researcher and the Director of the Testing and Assessment Department at the National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation in Education (RAMA), in Israel, and Ms. Hazar Hussein, Director of Education at The Abraham Fund Initiatives, will discuss current levels of proficiency, how Hebrew is taught in Arab public schools, and what is being done to improve speaknig skills as a key component of a more shared society.

Join us for an insightful discussion.

Webinar details:
Wednesday, July 8th at 12 pm ET
Call in and online participation options available.

Instructions provided upon RSVP

This webinar is part of our series on Arab Citizens in the Public Sphere. Click to learn more.

About the speakers:

Joel Rapp
Joel Rapp (Yoel) is a researcher and the director of the testing and assessment department at the National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation in education (RAMA), in Israel – the institution responsible for the evaluation and periodical measurement of the education system in Israel. He is a psychometrician and holds a PhD. in cognitive and experimental Psychology from Tel Aviv University and he is the current chair of the Israeli Psychometric Association (ISPA). He led the development and was involved in the implementation of several large scale assessment educational programs such as GEMS (MEITZAV) – a national Israeli test battery implemented at two grade levels in 4 subjects used for the periodic evaluation of schools. He is also responsible for the participation of Israel in International studies such as PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS and TALIS. Last year he was awarded the Thomas Alexander fellowship by the OECD directorate of Education, and he stayed for three months at the OECD headquarters in Paris.  He has been working on various research projects such as the influence of student motivation in national and International tests and the gender gap in mathematics, science and languages.

Hazar Hussein
Hazar is Director of Education for a Shared Society, at The Abraham Fund Initiatives. She runs groundbreaking language and cultural programs across Israel's Jewish and Arab elementary school sector, aimed at building a more inclusive, equal society in Israel. Hazar has extensive experience working with civil society organizations that use educational frameworks, as the springboard to social change in Israel. She has developed and implemented numerous grassroots educational projects which foster dialogue, and improve relations between Jewish and Arab young people in Israel. Hazar holds a BA in Sociology and Human Resource Management from Bar Ilan University. She is the mother of two children, and lives in Jerusalem.