Department of Aliyah and Absorption

YESODOT: Preparing Ethiopian Pre-Schoolers for the First Grade

The effectiveness of this program was evaluated by the Szold Institute in 2007.

The evaluation included 249 children in 16 absorption centers and revealed that on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the highest) on average:

• The children’s knowledge and command of Hebrew increased from 2.81 (weak to average) to 3.55 (average to high)
  
  
• The children’s reading and writing skills increased from 2.84 (weak to average) to 3.49 (average to high)
  
  
• The children’s numerical skills increased from 3.35 (average) to 4.05 (high)

The survey revealed that the younger the children are at the time of this program intervention, the stronger its impact.

Life Opportunity Programs in Israel

Three programs that seek to encourage young Jews to spend extended time in Israel and expose them to life opportunities in the country, were evaluated in 2007 by the Mishtanim Institute for Social Research to measure participant satisfaction and program effectiveness. The three programs included in the evaluation were Professional Internship, Marva, a two-month outdoor and hiking program, and Magen David Adom Medical Emergency Response Volunteer Program. The measurement scale was 1-5 (5 being the highest) and the evaluation revealed that:

• The satisfaction level during the program ranged from 2.6 for Professional Internship to 4.4 for MDA
  
  
• The satisfaction level from the program six months after its completion ranged from 4.1 for Professional Internship to 4.4 for Marva
  
  
• Between 34- 39% of those interviewed also participated in one or more other Jewish Agency program; 33-54% of those interviewed returned to Israel within six months of their program participation
  
  
• Six months after the completion of the programs, the degree to which the participants felt close to Israel and familiar with the country and its society, ranged from 3.9 – 4.3