AMIT leaders from New York and New Jersey along with nine outstanding principals from AMIT schools in Israel were invited to the White House on April 8th to explore innovative educational models implemented in the United States. These meetings were part of a weeklong tour of exemplary U.S. schools by the visiting principals. They met with high-level educational policy makers including Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President for Education on the White House Domestic Policy Council and Danielle Carnival, Senior Policy Advisor for STEM (Office of Science and Technology). Matt Nosenchuk, Director for Outreach on the National Security Council, welcomed the delegation and mediated the discussions.
Debbie Isaac, National President of AMIT said that introducing AMIT leadership and the principals to innovative educational methods in the U.S. is essential to advancing education in Israel.
“You cannot teach a child who has a smartphone in his pocket in the same manner as you taught children 30, 20, or even 10 years ago. The educational system must reinvent itself in order to reach students and connect them to the future,” she said. “Both the U.S. Department of Education and AMIT shared many common goals in working to advance and rejuvenate education for the future in the U.S. and in Israel,” remarked Isaac.
U.S. education policy includes raising the levels of reading and math throughout the country, narrowing the gap between high-performing and low-performing schools, identifying, training, and retaining outstanding teachers, and developing a better protocol for gathering and assessing data. The group learned about the administration’s “Race to the Top” initiative, as well as how the administration is developing the STEM initiative – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Program.
Dr. Amnon Eldar, Director General of AMIT in Israel, said, “We believe the most substantial challenge today is leading the innovation field in education. This tour is one step in a long path that our outstanding educators have taken in order to make Israeli education more relevant and meaningful,” he said.
Dr. Francine Stein, immediate past AMIT National President said, “In the 90 years since AMIT was founded as an educational network in Israel, AMIT has been successful in adapting curricula and educational focus to the needs of the day. What began as vocational training institutes has grown into one of the most successful and technologically advanced school systems in the country, educating tomorrow’s scientists, doctors, lawyers, political leaders, and Nobel Prize winners. A true indicator of AMIT’s overwhelming success is that 70% of the students live in development towns or other peripheral areas and yet 80% of graduates achieve full Bagrut matriculation as compared with the national average of only 62%.
AMIT Executive Vice President Andrew Goldsmith said, “Building relationships with White House policymakers for education is not just important for AMIT, but crucial to Israel’s future as a leader in innovative technologies.” Debbie Moed, AMIT Vice President of Financial Resource Development, said, “Advancing AMIT’s relationship with the administration in Washington will enhance our access to effective programming and tools.” Visit AMIT on the web at https://amitchildren.org
