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Israeli students ranked in the bottom third of the countries surveyed by PISA 2012 in mathematical literacy, while the gap between the highest and lowest scores was the second largest in the OECD. This paper explores which variables led to disparities in mathematical literacy between different socioeconomic levels and between Israeli Arabs and Jews as well as in comparison with Australian students. Different instructional approaches that are known in the literature to have a positive impact on students' achievement are not observed in the relationship between teachers and students in Israel. In Israel, schools contribute to the perpetuation of socioeconomically driven educational inequality by using tracks that are characterised by different teaching pedagogies and different "content," with little or no upward mobility between tracks, leading to structural exclusion. By comparison, in Australia, ability tracking is less rigid and mathematical literacy far higher than in Israel. The policy implication is that either teachers must work differently in a track-based system to overcome the process of exclusion dictated by the structure itself or the system must reduce the use of tracking.

Toddlerhood is a period where issues of autonomy and control in parent–child relationships become particularly intense. In response to these challenges, some parents adopt controlling practices, whereas others are more autonomy supportive. However, research has yet to examine prenatal orientations that foreshadow specific controlling or autonomy-supportive parental practices in toddlerhood and children's socioemotional functioning. In particular, literature on early childhood socialization lacks sufficient evidence on the effects of the controversial controlling practice of parental conditional positive regard. To increase our knowledge on these issues, we examined reports provided by Israeli Jewish mothers during their first pregnancy (N = 294), at 18-month postpartum (N = 226), and when the child was 42 months old (N = 134). To control for child temperament, both parents reported 8-month postpartum (N = 235) on infant temperament dispositions, which may act as precursors of later socioemotional functioning. Structural equations modeling revealed that a general prenatal maternal orientation to use conditional regard as a socialization practice predicted mothers' use of the specific practices of conditional positive and negative regard with toddlers, which then predicted internalizing problems when children reached the age of 42 months. Additionally, a general prenatal orientation toward autonomy-supportive parenting predicted mothers' perspective taking with toddlers, which then predicted children's prosocial behavior at 42 months. The effects emerged also after controlling for infants' temperamental dispositions toward negative emotionality and positive affect. Findings underlie the potential role of prenatal orientations toward conditional regard and autonomy support that, when later transform into specific early parenting practices, may serve as early markers of child socioemotional adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate attitudes of teachers towards a pedagogy of inclusion in their classroom, focusing on differences between teachers in schools with lower socioeconomic status (SES) populations and those in schools with more affluent students, and between homeroom as opposed to subject teachers. Our study population consisted of 214 teachers from Jewish secondary schools (7th through 12th grade) in Israel's state school system. The schools surveyed were classified by socioeconomic level (high, intermediate, or low). The study demonstrates that teachers in low-SES schools report more inclusive attitudes and behaviour than do teachers in high-SES schools. Another key finding was that homeroom teachers self-report greater inclusiveness than do subject teachers. This finding is very important for the Israeli high school system, since subject teachers constitute roughly 70% of its teaching personnel, whereas students engage with homeroom teachers, on average, no more than 10% of their time in school. In the context of exclusive practices, we found a lack of differentiation between various types of behavioural problems: teachers responded to aggressive or disruptive behaviour in the same manner as they would handle disengagement, truancy, or learning avoidance. Finally, with regard to the form of punishment imposed by schools, a common response encountered in this study was the withholding of remedial instruction in response to problematic behaviour.

Abstract Taper functions and volume equations are essential for estimation of the individual volume, which have consolidated theory. On the other hand, mathematical innovation is dynamic, and may improve the forestry modeling. The objective was analyzing the accuracy of machine learning (ML) techniques in relation to a volumetric model and a taper function for acácia negra. We used cubing data, and fit equations with Schumacher and Hall volumetric model and with Hradetzky taper function, compared to the algorithms: k nearest neighbor (k-NN), Random Forest (RF) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for estimation of total volume and diameter to the relative height. Models were ranked according to error statistics, as well as their dispersion was verified. Schumacher and Hall model and ANN showed the best results for volume estimation as function of dap and height. Machine learning methods were more accurate than the Hradetzky polynomial for tree form estimations. ML models have proven to be appropriate as an alternative to traditional modeling applications in forestry measurement, however, its application must be careful because fit-based overtraining is likely.

The authors of this article describe an essential feature of inclusive educational practice: "non-abandonment". When students' needs and difficult behavior are overwhelming, teachers may abandon them emotionally as a defensive reaction to their own experience of emotional distress and helplessness. Non-abandonment represents a constructive strategy for dealing with these students based on the psychodynamic concepts of containing and holding. The authors provide a theoretical grounding for the processes of abandonment and non-abandonment, and then illustrate how these two processes play themselves out in school practice, drawing on action research conducted with educators in Israeli schools. They then describe eight elements in an active strategy of non-abandonment. These are: (1) make a conscious choice to assume professional responsibility for these students; (2) "stand by" students whose behaviour leads others to abandon them; (3) reframe self-defeating ways of thinking to open new avenues for action; (4) attempt to understand students' real needs, including emotional ones; (5) adapt teaching practice to meet these needs, even going beyond traditional pedagogy; (6) create school frameworks in which teachers can systematically reflect on and improve practice; (7) address teachers' emotional needs by making their own negative feelings openly discussable; and (8) promote teamwork and supportive relations among school faculty based on honest feedback and mutual non-abandonment.