Student Achievement in Israel of Immigrants From Developed and Developing Countries

Abstract

In the last three decades entire Jewish populations of several developing countries immigrated to Israel. Within the framework of a large-scale international survey, the achievement level of children whose parents immigrated to Israel from developing countries and of those whose parents came from developed countries was examined. The results indicated that the average reading comprehension score of children whose parents immigrated from developing countries is above the range of the national averages of the developing countries, and approaches the average achievement level of some developed countries. Although a noticeable achievement gap exists between the two Israeli immigrant groups, the level achieved by both groups is within the range of achievement attained in developed countries internationally.