MONOPOLIZING KNOWLEDGE - THE ETHNIC-COMPOSITION AND CURRICULUM OF ISRAELI HIGH-SCHOOLS

Using multinomial and simple logistic regressions, the study presented here examined the availability of 12 school subjects in Israeli acade mic high schools that are differentiated by their ethnic composition. It found that academic subjects that are classified as more prestigiou s are offered less often at the highest curricular level in schools th at are dominated by students of the underprivileged Jewish ethnic grou p. Thus, curricular decisions that are based on the matching of subjec ts with the assumed capacities and interests of the students seem to e nd in the monopolization of highly valued knowledge by privileged soci al groups.