Henrietta Szold Institute
The National Institute for Research in the Behavioral Sciences
9 Columbia St. Jerusalem, 96583
Tel: 972-2-6494400 · Fax: 972-2-6437698
E-mail: szold@szold.org.il
The Henrietta Szold Institute, the National Institute for Research in the Behavioral Sciences, is a public institute. It focuses on research, intervention program planning, and training in the behavioral sciences, specializing in education. Since 1941, when it was founded by American Zionist activist, Henrietta Szold, the institute has left its mark on the Israeli education system through its research studies, training and intervention programs. The institute comprises the following activities:
Research and Evaluation
The Institute has produced hundreds of basic studies, evaluation studies, and educational and social surveys covering leading questions and issues for Israel’s education system. It employs experienced research teams, which can supply organizations with the information they require for their work. It also plans and implements follow-up and evaluation studies on different issues and projects. Studies by the institute include: curriculum research and teaching methods; students and youth; human resources and teaching; school management; education and the community; measurement and evaluation; special populations - integration of handicapped people in the community; excellence in education, and social and educational intervention programs.
Educational and Psychological Measurement
The Institute has an experienced team for compiling and evaluating achievement and intelligence tests. These include the national matriculation examinations (bagrut); giftedness screening; school entrance examinations, and so on. The team also constructs screening and placement tests and achievement tests for all ages providing comprehensive information on the student; class, grade cohort, and school’s achievements.
Information Center for the Social Sciences
The Information Center is responsible for assembling information and developing professional information services relating to education and the social sciences in Israel. Attached to the Center is a professional library for education and the social sciences in Israel. The Center develops databases (“Publications in Education and the Social Sciences”, “Research Tools” and “Rehabilitation Services in Israel”) and specialized publications, including literature reviews. The bibliographical database “Publications in Education and the Social Sciences” covers scholarly publications by Israeli researchers produced in Israel and overseas on the subjects of education, psychology, sociology, demography, social welfare, labor, communication, criminology, management and political science. The materials covered are in Hebrew & English and include books, articles, reports, theses and dissertations, from 1976 onwards. Each entry contains full bibliographic information, index terms and abstracts in Hebrew.
The Center also has a School for Information Skills, which teaches information skills to a diverse population and assists school and university students in writing social science papers.
A team of information scientists specializes in developing and compiling computerized databases in education and social sciences, and provides information services in these subjects to researchers, lecturers, university and college students, school pupils, education field staff, civil servants, welfare workers, information scientists, and librarians.
Intervention and Training Programs
A number of applied research studies have been developed as educational projects and are now available in scores of Israeli schools. Among these projects are the Program for Uncovering Hidden Talent in the Arts and Sciences; Evaluation Based Teaching and Students as Peacemakers.
Identifying Gifted and Talented Elementary School Students
The Institute conducts the annual national tests to identify gifted and talented elementary school children. The Ministry of Education commissions the tests. Children who pass the test successfully are referred to special programs for the advancement of gifted and talented children offered by the Ministry of Education and local authorities. This test is unique in that independently of parental initiative or the family’s socio-economic status, it offers all children an equal opportunity to be tested for suitability for enrichment programs.
Courses, Workshops, and In-service Training
The Institute offers in-service training and enrichment courses for public employees’ professional development. These cover a wide range of subjects including management, social sciences, economics, Hebrew language, computers, and law.
Megamot – Behavioral Science Journal
For the past 58 years the Institute published Israel’s premier academic journal in the social sciences - Megamot. The journal contains articles on education, sociology, anthropology, psychology, political science, social work, as well as inter-disciplinary subjects.
Publications
The Institute has a published a significant body of highly acclaimed research reports, bibliographies, monographs, reviews of professional publications, training manuals and reference publications. Together these have made an invaluable contribution to social science education in Israel.
Dr. Rachel Zorman, Executive Director
Mr. Rami Naor, Deputy Director for Finance
