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Last update - 00:00 31/12/2007
Arab pupils lag behind Jewish peers in reading comprehension
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Reading, School, Yuli Tamir 

Israeli Arab pupils seriously lag behind their Jewish peers in reading competency, according to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS).

The survey, which tested 4th graders from around the world, ranked Israeli pupils who speak Arabic at home 40th on its list. In comparison, pupils with Hebrew as their mother tongue were ranked 8th or 11th, depending on the method of data analysis.

The study also showed serious gaps in results between children from different socioeconomic groups within Arab society.
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Israeli Arab pupils did, however, receive higher scores than their peers in Qatar, Kuwait and Morocco, the only Arabic-speaking countries that participated in the test.

Last week, Education Minister Yuli Tamir (Labor) responded to the test results by saying gaps between the Jewish and Arab sectors had been reduced after her ministry changed the curriculum for schools in the Arab sector.



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      1.   How come Arab pupils lag behind? 03:01  |  Cristo 31/12/07
      2.   Israeli Arab Children treated as second class 03:31  |  Labhras 31/12/07
      3.   Maybe Jews have higher IQ 03:51  |  Judith 31/12/07
      4.   1. arab schools and neighborhoods purposely underfunded 04:00  |  i ain`t lying 31/12/07
      5.   #2,#4 - Old facts and non-facts 06:51  |  William 31/12/07
      6.   Lahbras 06:55  |  Judith 31/12/07
      7.   In the West 07:19  |  A 31/12/07
      8.   Reading is simply not part of the culture of most Arabs, Muslims 08:54  |  Roni 31/12/07
      9.   Arabs students surpass Jews in Arabic language 09:32  |  Natallie Durson 31/12/07
      10.   Arab pupils 10:28  |  Maerton 31/12/07
      11.   The Facts 10:35  |  Efox 31/12/07
      12.   Schools and education 10:37  |  Maerton 31/12/07
      13.   how to eliminate the unjust diference 10:42  |  Leon Rosgarten 31/12/07
      14.   iq is a fact of life 10:48  |  papal bull 31/12/07
      15.   cognitive ability is recognised in all universities 10:55  |  lord byron 31/12/07
      16.   there are no bookshops in the arab world 10:56  |  sultan yaqoob 31/12/07
      17.   why are we surprised at differences in intelligence 10:58  |  bmw 31/12/07
      18.   the entire arab world has produced no scientific 11:00  |  ibn sina 31/12/07
      19.   Durson unveiled a truth 11:08  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 31/12/07
      20.   what prevents iran from excelling in science? 11:20  |  meshadi 31/12/07
      21.   When Has Reading Comprehension Been On Par? 11:21  |  Mark Hamil 31/12/07
      22.   the inability of the arab sector in israel to compete 11:24  |  lord byron 31/12/07
      23.   we recognise athletic ability in west africans 11:29  |  tennyson 31/12/07
      24.   the arab world has to play to its strength 11:32  |  keats 31/12/07
      25.   drug companies know from research that 11:39  |  wife of bath 31/12/07
      26.   Durson, be careful bec the IRS may get on your back as a paid 11:39  |  avigdor 31/12/07
      27.   arab ability was shown in the civilisation in 11:41  |  alexander pope 31/12/07
      28.   mark hamil you ignore inate ability 11:52  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      29.   Clearly there is a huge cultural gap between 12:08  |  Roger 31/12/07
      30.   Nazillie Durson the fool 12:51  |  Nik "Banned" Miller 31/12/07
      31.   You`re a product of your environment! 13:00  |  Anthropolgist 31/12/07
      32.   # 11 Efox, Excellent review and description!! 13:07  |  Petra 31/12/07
      33.   To A (of Montreal) 13:09  |  Muslim 31/12/07
      34.   # 16 There are no book stores But so many weapons 13:17  |  Petra 31/12/07
      35.   #31 - to Anthropologist 13:23  |  JES 31/12/07
      36.   anthropologist 13:38  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      37.   Margie in Tel Aviv #19: Correction 13:42  |  CHGODMK 31/12/07
      38.   What language were they tested in? 13:43  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 31/12/07
      39.   iranian students ranked much higher than israelis in math 13:50  |  kia 31/12/07
      40.   Wonder why?Maybe David Duke of the white supremacists can provide 13:50  |  lakshmi 31/12/07
      41.   iq is just another standard... 13:55  |  Edith 31/12/07
      42.   Myabe there is something wrong with... 13:58  |  Edith 31/12/07
      43.   # 4 Judith in New York 14:03  |  Petra 31/12/07
      44.   # 31 And then, there`s Romus and Remus 14:05  |  Petra 31/12/07
      45.   We also forget that... 14:06  |  Edith 31/12/07
      46.   Bellcurve... 14:06  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 31/12/07
      47.   Lakshmi re: David Duke 14:07  |  CHGODMK 31/12/07
      48.   The cleverest thing said by L A B R A S 14:24  |  Labhras`s admirer 31/12/07
      49.   Reading sets us free! 14:38  |  AliciaYasmeen 31/12/07
      50.   Probably due to the Spoken vs, Written Arabic difference 15:00  |  Tosefta 31/12/07
      51.   CENSOR, please allow access to the article 15:09  |  Yoav Stern 31/12/07
      52.   Tosefta 15:28  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 31/12/07
      53.   the measurement of intelligence is a real concept 16:02  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      54.   Clarification 16:05  |  IsraeliArab 31/12/07
      55.   lakshmi and the problem with the net 16:05  |  lord byron 31/12/07
      56.   kia and iran 16:08  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      57.   edith iq measurements are a valid predictor 16:12  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      58.   edith on men and women 16:15  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      59.   edith we are indeed al equal but some peoples do some things 16:19  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      60.   petra "inferior" is quite wrong 16:22  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      61.   petra bedouin desert trackers are the best in the world 16:23  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      62.   israeli arab excellent and informative post 16:25  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      63.   bellcurve 16:36  |  Iz Ray Leigh 31/12/07
      64.   Israeli Arab... 16:40  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 31/12/07
      65.   izrayleigh 16:49  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      66.   reading skills 17:01  |  amature anthropology 31/12/07
      67.   bellcurve 17:03  |  Iz Ray Leigh 31/12/07
      68.   second languages 17:07  |  amature anthropology 31/12/07
      69.   The Bell Curve 17:10  |  amature anthropology 31/12/07
      70.   izrayleigh nothing to do with the poet 17:12  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      71.   amateur i agree there is nothing more important 17:19  |  aliceinwonderland 31/12/07
      72.   amateur you are not quite right about the bell curve 17:28  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      73.   amateur the question to ask is how israel can do so poorly 17:32  |  aliceinwonderland 31/12/07
      74.   amateur you`re right. I apologise 17:39  |  Iz Ray Leigh 31/12/07
      75.   perfect example,just look at "muslim`s" post and compare it to 17:40  |  terrornator 31/12/07
      76.   the answer is that there is more then one israel 17:43  |  aliceinwonderland 31/12/07
      77.   izrayleigh 17:54  |  aliceinwonderland 31/12/07
      78.   It is so obvious that we deal here with two different cultures, 18:02  |  Na`amah 31/12/07
      79.   #35 JES re heart transplants 18:02  |  Ben Alofs 31/12/07
      80.   to #76 aliceinwonderland ... palestinian israelis 18:21  |  NB 31/12/07
      81.   Ball & Chain 18:27  |  Ron 31/12/07
      82.   reading comprehension 18:30  |  Ralph 31/12/07
      83.   Arab pupils 18:32  |  Ralph 31/12/07
      84.   So Egyptian surgeons are competant Alofs so the Gazans should go 18:35  |  Iz Ray Leigh 31/12/07
      85.   Palestinian rate of education; show us statistics #31 18:37  |  Iz Ray Leigh 31/12/07
      86.   nb i did not really think much about it 18:43  |  alice in wonderland 31/12/07
      87.   Kia in Tehran#39 - When was this competition? 18:49  |  William 31/12/07
      88.   Israeli Arab#54 - good clarification 18:59  |  William 31/12/07
      89.   It should be noted that Arab pupils read better than 19:06  |  Yael 31/12/07
      90.   # 89 Yael 19:15  |  tbora 31/12/07
      91.   Arab science students in Nazareth do better than Jewish ditto 19:20  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 31/12/07
      92.   you ain`t thinking 19:20  |  Iz Ray Leigh 31/12/07
      93.   because arabs are treated as second class citizens 20:18  |  donnie 31/12/07
      94.   Let Us Educate the Entire World! 20:27  |  Mark Hamil 31/12/07
      95.   Education and the students` environment 20:34  |  David 31/12/07
      96.   #28 Bellcurve and innate not "inate" ability 20:35  |  Mark Hamil 31/12/07
      97.   great news Tess 20:52  |  Goldenberg 31/12/07
      98.   yeah donnieshmok you`re right! 21:06  |  Goldenberg 31/12/07
      99.   weve had the same problem in america with blacks and whites, 21:14  |  terrornator 31/12/07
      100.   kia # 39 i`d like to see some proof of that,if it`s not too much 21:18  |  terrornator 31/12/07
      101.   mark hamel when i see someone pointing out 21:29  |  bell curve 31/12/07
      102.   Everyone now teaching strategies to enhance 21:31  |  Smadar 31/12/07
      103.   mark hamil 21:36  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      104.   mark hamil "seeing what the averages are" 21:38  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      105.   mark hamil 21:40  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      106.   mark hamil as to your final question 21:44  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      107.   Margie 21:48  |  Danite 31/12/07
      108.   donnie # 93 arabs are treated as second class citizens by their 21:49  |  terrornator 31/12/07
      109.   mark hamil sorry but your post is total schlock 21:51  |  bellcurve 31/12/07
      110.   #14 pappabull did you have this in mind 22:05  |  Labhras 31/12/07
      111.   #87 william.iranian students did better than israelis 22:07  |  kia 31/12/07
      112.   One of the goals of Apartheid South Africa 22:11  |  Paul Wood 31/12/07
      113.   Tbora#90 - have you been to a Madressah?? 22:17  |  William 31/12/07
      114.   #9 Durson 22:23  |  leo 31/12/07
      115.   labrahs 2 22:54  |  alfredo 31/12/07
      116.   How should Haaretz deal with Slowman? 23:21  |  Yoav Stern 31/12/07
      117.   what the report did not tell you 23:26  |  Labhras 31/12/07
      118.   33 muslim well said,&zionists,all this talk based on stats. is 23:27  |  lakshmi 31/12/07
      119.   Slowman, please allow access to this article. 23:47  |  Yoav Stern 31/12/07
      120.   Teresa-Maria (Tess) 00:22  |  Gina 01/01/08
      121.   103Lakshmi, Yes, and 1 out of 2 was a Jew. 00:24  |  I 01/01/08
      122.   They aren`t lagging behind Jewish peers at all 00:27  |  sh 01/01/08
      123.   Labrhas -#102 - that includes all students 02:10  |  William 01/01/08
      124.   Think about this one 03:08  |  Psychologist 01/01/08
      125.   #104 William 03:46  |  Labhras 01/01/08
      126.   #9 NATALLIE DURSON 04:28  |  Judith 01/01/08
      127.   HOW ARE READING COMPREHENSIONS IN JORDAN, EGYPT, SYRIA, ETC. 05:19  |  Steve Randolph 01/01/08
      128.   May be Arab pupils` inherited it from Mohamed, 05:46  |  Cristo 01/01/08
      129.   Psychologist #105, think about this one too.... 06:32  |  Smadar 01/01/08
      130.   #93 - Well Donnie 06:39  |  JES 01/01/08
      131.   #102 - And that proves, Labhras... 06:42  |  JES 01/01/08
      132.   #39 06:46  |  Moshe 01/01/08
      133.   Isn`t the koran the only book needed to be read for Muslims? 06:54  |  Chick 01/01/08
      134.   Labhrat: Irish Education FAILURE 08:51  |  Ruth 01/01/08
      135.   Labhrat: Ireland Island of Racists 08:58  |  Ruth 01/01/08
      136.   Labhras you say `our` you mean American 09:46  |  Me 01/01/08
      137.   Smadar 09:50  |  Iz Ray Leigh 01/01/08
      138.   Moshe 09:53  |  Iz Ray Leigh 01/01/08
      139.   Natalie Durson #9 Ban All Languages Spoken By .. 10:02  |  Tim R 01/01/08
      140.   Anthropologist #31 14:48  |  MR 01/01/08
      141.   JES #35 14:57  |  MR 01/01/08
      142.   #138 17:53  |  Moshe 01/01/08
      143.   Arab and Jew students 01:33  |  Mo 29/06/09
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