Promotion of Underachieving Students

ORT's Miteranni High School in Holon, Israel is a multidisciplinary, special needs school that strives to improve the academic achievement of its students, all of whom have educational deficiencies and come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Most of Miteranni's 500 students arrive here with undiagnosed and untreated learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral problems, as well as negative attitudes toward an educational system that has not met their needs. However, the majority of these students do possess normal learning abilities, and with the appropriate support and guidance from Miteranni's teachers and staff, their performance in both the academic and social realms radically improves.

Miteranni High School represents and offers a last opportunity for help that these children so desperately need and deserve, and unlocks the personal and academic potential that will lead them toward a brighter, productive, and fulfilling future.

Contributions to this project will enable ORT to:

• Provide small study groups in reading comprehension, English and mathematics to help students with educational deficiencies function at their appropriate class level;

• Establish remedial courses for students with learning disabilities;

• Furnish individual counseling and behavioral skills building curricula aimed at reducing the truancy and dropout rates among at-risk youth;

• Promote mediation techniques for the entire student body to reduce conflict and incidents of violence among students;

• Create a structured afternoon study program that will enable teachers to provide individual help to students; and

• Host a series of parent group forums to increase cooperation between the school and parents, and to encourage parents to become more involved in their child's school life.