The Impact of Stakeholders on Schools for Improving Students’ Performance: The Case of Israeli Students Performance in the PISA Test

Abstract

This study examines the pressure employed by stakeholders on the management of schools and the insertion of reforms in the education system. The article analyzes the case-study of Israeli stakeholders’ reaction to the Israeli students’ performance in the PISA test. The argument of the article is that the media in Israel deals extensively with the performance of Israeli students in these tests, and the media turns into the main source that feeds Israeli parents knowledge of the test results. Consequently, pressure is employed by parents in particular on the government and schools to do all in their capacity to improve the results and to raise Israel’s ranking on these international tests. As a result, the government has created a commission to reform the education system. Following the implementation of the commission’s recommendations, Israel managed during the last two decades to improve the performance of Israeli students in the PISA test.