Merchavim

Goals and Objectives

1. To change the approach of the educational staff in high schools to be proactive, motivating, inclusive, and therapeutic towards girls at-risk.
2. To empower and give tools to the educational staff, helping them strengthen the abilities of girls at-risk.
3. To give guidance to parents in order to encourage their support and inclusion of the girls.

The Work Process

Identifying the Students
Identifying students at-risk is done towards the end of 9th grade, through a unique process of class mapping which was developed for the purpose of the program. The mapping tool, which examines various aspects of the student’s functioning as well as her family background, helps evaluate each student’s situation. The results of the mapping are translated into a weighted score that reflects the level of risk and indicates the extent to which the student is in need of the program.

Building a Personal Plan
A personal treatment plan is built for each student, recommending which of the available interventions is most relevant. The program’s basket of services includes: evaluation, emotional therapy, guidance for parents, social skills workshops, educational assistance, and enrichment classes.

Repeat Mapping
Mapping is done again at the end of each academic year by the homeroom teacher, and a new program is developed for each student based on the results.

Guidance of the Educational Staff
Staff receives ongoing professional support, which provides tools to help the students overcome the challenges they face.

Our Achievements

• To date, about 1000 students from 25 girls’ high schools have participated in the program
• The school dropout rate among participants in the program is less than 1%
• There has been a noticeable improvement in the students’ level of risk as well as in their educational, emotional, and social abilities
• The educational staff reports a positive change in the environment and the effective acquisition of tools to help them deal with risk and dropout prevention
• As a result of this success, the program operated jointly with the Haredi district of the Ministry of Education for three years

Would you like to be part of Merchavim? It is now available for purchase as part of the Ministry of Education’s GEFEN program under the heading: “Solutions for Targeted Populations” (program number 2839).

The program offered by GEFEN includes 2 main components:

• Mapping and identifying students at risk for dropping out
• Group intervention for the targeted students, including: emotional therapy, parental guidance, and enrichment classes