Articles (English; incl. Chapters, Papers) by Geert Driessen
Encyclopedia, 2024
The primary goal of pre-and early-school programs is to prevent young children from socioeconomic... more The primary goal of pre-and early-school programs is to prevent young children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds to start school already with educational delays. The programs offer compensatory stimulation activities which are supposed to be not available in the home situation; the focus is on language development. Proponents claim that such programs can be effective, provided they are of high quality. The belief in their success is very much based on the outcomes of a few so-called model programs from the 1960s and 1970s. One of these programs is the Carolina Abecedarian Project, a small single-site project started in 1972. Four cohorts of in total 111 children and their poor, Black parents participated in this experiment with a random allocated treatment and control group. The children were followed from 6 weeks after birth to 6 years of age, that is, when they entered school. They were regularly tested and observed, and then after the program had ended again until they were 40 years of age.
Encyclopedia , 2023
Early Childhood Education programs aim at preventing educational delays associated with socio-eth... more Early Childhood Education programs aim at preventing educational delays associated with socio-ethnic disadvantage in the home environment of young children. Advocates claim that such programs can be effective, provided they are of high quality. Despite the investment of enormous budgets, the educational gap between socioeconomically deprived families and their wealthier counterparts is still widening. The question therefore is justified whether these claims are warranted. This article focuses on the internal and external validity of the most cited preschool program, the High/Scope Perry Preschool Project, which was carried out between 1962 and 1967 in one school in Ypsilant, MI. Are the program's effects as reported by, e.g. Lawrence Schweinhart and James Heckman, reliable and valid? And is it really possible to generalize the findings of this so-called model program to other programs, target groups, settings and conditions, as is being claimed?
Encyclopedia, 2022
In the early school years, the emphasis is more and more on cognitive output factors. Noncognitiv... more In the early school years, the emphasis is more and more on cognitive output factors. Noncognitive development is receiving less attention than before, though such factors are important determinants of academic success. This study focuses on socioemotional characteristics, more specifically, on attitudes, behavior, and relationships of 6500 grade 2 pupils who participated in the representative Dutch large-scale cohort study COOL5-18. The results showed that the teachers rated their pupil's work attitude as lower than their behavior and popularity. They were more positive regarding their relationship with the pupils. More important was that there were differences according to the pupils' social and ethnic/immigrant backgrounds: ethnic minority/immigrant pupils scored less positive on all non-cognitive characteristics than native Dutch pupils, and the higher the parental educational level, the more favorable their children performed on the non-cognitive characteristics. These findings are discussed and possible solutions are presented. socioemotional cognitive primary education attitudes behavior teacher-pupil relation quantitative analysis covid-19
Education Sciences, 2022
In the early school years, the emphasis is more and more on cognitive output factors. Non-cogniti... more In the early school years, the emphasis is more and more on cognitive output factors. Non-cognitive development is receiving less attention than before, though such factors are important determinants of academic success. This study aims at answering two questions: (1) How do young children perform on a number of non-cognitive characteristics, more specifically, attitudes, behavior, and relationships? (2) Are there any differences with regard to those characteristics according to the pupils’ social and ethnic/immigrant background? To answer the questions, data from the Dutch large-scale cohort study COOL5-18 were analyzed. The main sample included nearly 6500 grade 2 pupils (6-year-olds). Teachers answered questions about their pupils’ attitudes, behavior, and relationships. One- and two-way analyses of variance were employed, and effect sizes were computed. The results showed that the teachers rated their pupil’s work attitude as lower than their behavior and popularity. They were more positive regarding their relationship with the pupils. More important was that there were differences according to the pupils’ social and ethnic/immigrant backgrounds: ethnic minority/immigrant pupils scored less positive on all non-cognitive characteristics than native Dutch pupils, and the higher the parental educational level, the more favorable their children performed on the non-cognitive characteristics. These findings are discussed and possible solutions are presented.
Annual of Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’. Faculty of Educational Studies and the Arts. Book of Educational Studies, Volume 114 (pp. 7-30). Sofia, BG: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press., 2021
The achievement gap of disadvantaged students has always been large, and is still widening. Even ... more The achievement gap of disadvantaged students has always been large, and is still widening. Even more now, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Parental involvement is seen as an important strategy for closing this gap. The ultimate objective is to expand the academic and social capacities of students, especially those of disadvantaged backgrounds determined by ethnic minority/immigrant origin and low socioeconomic status. This article focuses on possible roles of parents in education and aims at answering two questions: (1) What types of parental involvement can be discerned? and (2) What are the effects of parental activities on their children's attainment? To answer both questions, a review of the literature was conducted, and a synthesis of the results from twelve meta-analyses was performed. The review pointed to a considerable diversity in parental involvement typologies, classifi cations, roles, forms, and activities. Nevertheless, they can be ordered along the lines of just a few perspectives, namely locus (at home/at school), style (formal/ informal), action (active/passive), and actor (parent/student/school). From the synthesis of the meta-analyses it can be concluded that the average effect of involvement on attainment is small. In addition to many positive effects there are also substantial numbers of null and even negative effects. The type of involvement with the strongest effect appeared to be parents having high aspirations and expectations for their child. No differences in effects of involvement on attainment according to ethnic/immigrant and social background could be established. Prudence is called for, however, as there are many limitations to studying parental involvement in a reliable and valid way.
Nazhruna: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam , 2021
At present around 865.000 Muslims live in the Netherlands. In 1988 the first Islamic primary scho... more At present around 865.000 Muslims live in the Netherlands. In 1988 the first Islamic primary school was founded; now there are 61 with 15,000 students. Islamic education always has been a highly controversial topic in the Netherlands. The debate centers around the question whether the schools contribute to the integration of Muslim youth into Dutch society, or lead to isolation and segregation. This article"s goal is to entangle why and how the schools were established, the obstacles met in this process and the resulting heated societal debate, and the schools" attainments in terms of cognitive and noncognitive student achievement. To arrive at these insights a review and analysis of the literature was conducted. The results show that Islamic schools academically achieve relatively well, that is, taking into account their largely socioeconomically disadvantaged student population. Also, they perform best on a pen-and-paper integration test. This does not mean, however, that especially populist and right-wing politicians are convinced now that all Muslim youngsters will accept the Dutch norms and values and will integrate into Dutch society.
International Journal of Pedagogy, Innovation and New Technologies, 7(1), 106-115., 2020
Early Childhood Education (ECE) provides compensatory educational programs both in preschools and... more Early Childhood Education (ECE) provides compensatory educational programs both in preschools and the early grades of primary school, and for parents at home. The aim of this policy is to prevent young children from disadvantaged backgrounds starting formal schooling with significant educational delays. In many countries ECE programs are in existence for several decades now. The search in this article is for the scientific evidence-base of this policy. While the focus is on the Netherlands, the findings probably also are valid for many other countries.
Encyclopedia, 2019
Grade retention is a strategy for the remediation of learning or developmental delays. Students w... more Grade retention is a strategy for the remediation of learning or developmental delays. Students who cannot keep up with their peers or do not meet a predefined level repeat the same grade once again and by doing so have an extra year to get at the level that is needed to successfully manage the next grade. There are considerable doubts as regards the usefulness and effectiveness of retaining grades. Studies conclude that in the short term retaining grades may have a positive effect on academic achievement, but that this gain disappears in the longer term.
Encyclopedia, 2019
Because of the constitutional Freedom of education in the Netherlands, everyone can establish a ... more Because of the constitutional Freedom of education in the Netherlands, everyone can establish a school and is entitled to full state funding. There now are 52 primary Islamic schools, with around 12,500 pupils mostly of Turkish and Moroccan descent. They focus on developing an Islamic religious identity, and high educational quality and pupil achievement. Because most pupils come from socioeconomic disadvantaged backgrounds, the schools receive nearly twice as much budget than schools with a predominantly non-disadvantaged population. The existence of Islamic schools has always been controversial. Their output in terms of academic achievement is relatively high, however. In an absolute sense they achieve below the “average” Dutch school, but when compared with schools with the same disadvantaged pupil population, they achieve better. Lately, there have been problems with secondary Islamic schools in the Netherlands. As a result, several politicians propose to abolish the Freedom of education act.
Encyclopedia, 2019
The pupil weighting system is the core financial element of the Dutch Educational
Disadvantage Po... more The pupil weighting system is the core financial element of the Dutch Educational
Disadvantage Policy. This policy departs from the idea that children who grow up in an
environment where specific “cultural capital” is lacking, face a grave risk of developing severe
educational arrears right from their start in school. To compensate for this “deficit”, primary
schools and other educational and welfare institutions receive additional budgets from the
Ministry of Education they can use for providing extra help to the policy’s target groups. The
amount of extra budget is based on socio-economic and ethnic factors in the children’s home
situation. Since its implementation in 1974 the system has been changed several times. These
changes are described here. For the 2019/20 school year a new system has been developed.
Some points of criticism are presented; the most important is that there is no evidence that the
system which has cost some 20 billion euros has been effective.
Encyclopedia, 2019
Early Childhood Education (ECE) often is part of a broader educational disadvantage policy and of... more Early Childhood Education (ECE) often is part of a broader educational disadvantage policy and offers institutional compensatory programs to young children who lack specific educational stimulation in the home environment. ECE typically aims on children from deprived socioeconomic backgrounds and those of immigrant origin. Although ECE nowadays is widespread and accepted as perhaps the most important means of preventing and combatting educational disadvantage, the controversy surrounding the evidence of effects and thus the justification and foundation of ECE provisions still is not solved. This article focuses on the basis (or lack of it) of ECE in the Netherlands.
Encyclopedia, 2019
Parental involvement is seen as an important strategy for the advancement of the quality of educa... more Parental involvement is seen as an important strategy for the advancement of the quality of education. The ultimate objective of this is to expand the academic and social capacities of students, especially those of disadvantaged backgrounds determined by ethnic minority origin and low socio-economic status. In this contribution, various forms of both parental and school-initiated involvement will be described. In addition, results of studies into the effectiveness of parental involvement will be presented.
Early childhood education (ECE) intervention programs nowadays are the core of the educational di... more Early childhood education (ECE) intervention programs nowadays are the core of the educational disadvantage policy in the Netherlands. They offer institutional compensatory activities to young children who lack educational stimulation in the home environment. Target groups mainly comprise children from deprived socioeconomic backgrounds and of immigrant origin. ECE is confronted with several bottlenecks, including the definition of the target groups, the quality of ECE staff, and the ECE programs. Most important is the controversy surrounding the empirical evidence of effects of ECE provisions. This article presents a description of state-of-the-art Dutch ECE, with special attention to recent Dutch studies on the effectiveness of ECE programs.
Driessen, G. (2018). Early childhood education intervention programs in the Netherlands. Still searching for empirical evidence. Educational Sciences, 8(1), 3 [1-8].
<ISSN 2227-7102>
Many countries have implemented policies to prevent or combat educational disadvantage associated... more Many countries have implemented policies to prevent or combat educational disadvantage associated with socioeconomic factors in the students' home environment. Under such policies, educational institutions generally receive extra support from the central or local government. The support is normally based on indicators available in the home environment of the children, mostly family-structural characteristics. In the Netherlands, the core of educational disadvantage policy is the so-called weighted student funding scheme, which awards schools with disadvantaged students additional financial resources. When this scheme was developed in 1984, three indicators of disadvantage were selected, namely: parental education, occupation, and ethnicity. Analyses conducted at the time established a predictive validity estimate of 0.50, amounting to 25 percent of explained variance. Nowadays, some thirty years later, the funding scheme is based on only one indicator, namely parental education. Analyses performed on data collected in 2014 show a validity estimate of 0.20, thus accounting for no more than four percent of variance. This dramatic decrease of the indicator's predictive validity shows that the empirical basis of the Dutch weighted student funding scheme has become highly problematic. It is suggested that instead of employing family characteristics as educational disadvantage indicators, the actual performance of students based on test achievement and teacher observations may offer a more valid alternative.
This study investigates the impact of Catholic schooling on academic achievement of native Belgia... more This study investigates the impact of Catholic schooling on academic achievement of native Belgian and Muslim immigrant pupils. The distinctive characteristics of Catholic schools in Belgium (Flanders) form an
exceptionally suitable context to study this. Multilevel latent growth curve analyses are conducted with data from approximately 5,000 pupils across 200 primary schools. No support was found for the Catholic school advantage hypothesis as the overall achievement growth for math and reading was not significantly better in Catholic schools than in public schools. Likewise, no evidence was found for the so-called “common school effect” hypothesis: The learning growth of Muslim pupils was not significantly better in Catholic schools. In fact, the initial achievement gap was found to be higher in Catholic schools than in public schools. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Agirdag, O., Merry, M., & Driessen, G. (2017, in press). The Catholic school advantage and common school effect examined: A comparison between Muslim immigrant and native pupils in Flanders. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. DOI 10.1080/09243453.2016.1251469.
Educational Review, Apr 1, 2016
Notwithstanding dramatically low levels of professed religiosity in Western Europe, the religious... more Notwithstanding dramatically low levels of professed religiosity in Western Europe, the religious school sector continues to thrive. One explanation for this paradox is that nowadays parents choose religious schools primarily for their higher academic reputation. Empirical evidence for this presumed denominational advantage is mixed. We examine and compare several studies purporting to show a denominational school effect, and then turn our attention to the Dutch case. Owing to its longstanding and highly varied denominational school sector, the Netherlands arguably provides a unique context in which to examine whether there are school sector effects. In this study multilevel analyses were performed. Data include 19 cognitive and non-cognitive outcome measures in 2011 administered to 27,457 pupils in grades 2, 5 and 8 of 386 primary schools. Results show that after controlling for input differences at pupil and school level no substantial output differences between religious schools and public schools remain. However , Islamic schools appear to be one important exception which turn out to have a great value-added potential. Implications of these findings are discussed.
A review of the empirical literature was conducted to establish the relation between teacher and ... more A review of the empirical literature was conducted to establish the relation between teacher and student ethnicity, and cognitive and noncognitive student outcomes. It was hypothesized that ethnic teacher–student congruence results in more favorable outcomes for especially minority students. A total of 24 quantitative studies focusing on primary and secondary education in the United States were reviewed. The results show that there is as yet little unambiguous empirical evidence that a stronger degree of ethnic match be it in the form of a one-to-one coupling of a teacher to students with the same ethnic background, or a larger share of ethnic minority teachers at an ethnically mixed school, leads to predominantly positive results. Insofar positive effects were found, they apply to a greater extent to subjective teacher evaluations than to objective achievement outcome measures.
Driessen, G., Merry, M., & Agirdag, O. (2015). Performance differences between religious and nonr... more Driessen, G., Merry, M., & Agirdag, O. (2015). Performance differences between religious and nonreligious schools. Paper ECER 2015, Budapest, Hungary, September 7-11, 2015.
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Articles (English; incl. Chapters, Papers) by Geert Driessen
Disadvantage Policy. This policy departs from the idea that children who grow up in an
environment where specific “cultural capital” is lacking, face a grave risk of developing severe
educational arrears right from their start in school. To compensate for this “deficit”, primary
schools and other educational and welfare institutions receive additional budgets from the
Ministry of Education they can use for providing extra help to the policy’s target groups. The
amount of extra budget is based on socio-economic and ethnic factors in the children’s home
situation. Since its implementation in 1974 the system has been changed several times. These
changes are described here. For the 2019/20 school year a new system has been developed.
Some points of criticism are presented; the most important is that there is no evidence that the
system which has cost some 20 billion euros has been effective.
Driessen, G. (2018). Early childhood education intervention programs in the Netherlands. Still searching for empirical evidence. Educational Sciences, 8(1), 3 [1-8].
<ISSN 2227-7102>
exceptionally suitable context to study this. Multilevel latent growth curve analyses are conducted with data from approximately 5,000 pupils across 200 primary schools. No support was found for the Catholic school advantage hypothesis as the overall achievement growth for math and reading was not significantly better in Catholic schools than in public schools. Likewise, no evidence was found for the so-called “common school effect” hypothesis: The learning growth of Muslim pupils was not significantly better in Catholic schools. In fact, the initial achievement gap was found to be higher in Catholic schools than in public schools. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Agirdag, O., Merry, M., & Driessen, G. (2017, in press). The Catholic school advantage and common school effect examined: A comparison between Muslim immigrant and native pupils in Flanders. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. DOI 10.1080/09243453.2016.1251469.
Disadvantage Policy. This policy departs from the idea that children who grow up in an
environment where specific “cultural capital” is lacking, face a grave risk of developing severe
educational arrears right from their start in school. To compensate for this “deficit”, primary
schools and other educational and welfare institutions receive additional budgets from the
Ministry of Education they can use for providing extra help to the policy’s target groups. The
amount of extra budget is based on socio-economic and ethnic factors in the children’s home
situation. Since its implementation in 1974 the system has been changed several times. These
changes are described here. For the 2019/20 school year a new system has been developed.
Some points of criticism are presented; the most important is that there is no evidence that the
system which has cost some 20 billion euros has been effective.
Driessen, G. (2018). Early childhood education intervention programs in the Netherlands. Still searching for empirical evidence. Educational Sciences, 8(1), 3 [1-8].
<ISSN 2227-7102>
exceptionally suitable context to study this. Multilevel latent growth curve analyses are conducted with data from approximately 5,000 pupils across 200 primary schools. No support was found for the Catholic school advantage hypothesis as the overall achievement growth for math and reading was not significantly better in Catholic schools than in public schools. Likewise, no evidence was found for the so-called “common school effect” hypothesis: The learning growth of Muslim pupils was not significantly better in Catholic schools. In fact, the initial achievement gap was found to be higher in Catholic schools than in public schools. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Agirdag, O., Merry, M., & Driessen, G. (2017, in press). The Catholic school advantage and common school effect examined: A comparison between Muslim immigrant and native pupils in Flanders. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. DOI 10.1080/09243453.2016.1251469.
The core of the Dutch educational disadvantage policy is the so-called weighted student funding system. Schools with students from disadvantaged home backgrounds receive extra financial resources to combat educational delays. This system was developed in the 1980s and then discerned three indicators of disadvantage, parental educational level, occupational level, and country of birth. Analyses suggested a predictive validity estimate of 0.50, or 25 percent of explained variance in the students’ educational attainment. Nowadays there only is one indicator of disadvantage left, parental educational level, with a validity estimate of 0.20, or no more than 4 percent of explained variance. At the request of the Ministry of Education a new study was performed to arrive at a model with better predictive validity. This article critically appraises the results of this study focusing on two themes: what is its value-added quality, and does it solve the practicalities?
This article explores the relations between language and mathematics test performance and a range of language related family characteristics. The sample consists of 3,639 grade 2 pupils from 437 Dutch primary schools. Data were collected in 2014. The main question is whether pupils who speak standard Dutch at home perform better than pupils who speak a Dutch regional language or dialect. Results of the present analyses were compared with those from analyses performed on comparable data collected in 1994. Between 1994 and 2014 the share of children who speak standard Dutch with their mother and father has increased with 8 percent points to 95 percent. The share of mothers and fathers who speak standard Dutch to each other has increased with 17 percent points to 91 percent. No correlation was found between language choice, i.e. speaking standard Dutch versus a regional language or dialect, and language and mathematics test performance. One remarkable finding was that children from the province of Limburg perform well while they speak standard Dutch least.
Early Childhood Education (ECE) concerns educational stimulation programs aiming at young children who are at risk of educational disadvantage. ECE in the Netherlands has a long history and each year the Dutch government invests some 250 million euros. Therefore it is remarkable that its empirical foundation is unclear, especially in light of a trend towards more evidence-based policy. This paper investigates the origin of ECE and critically examines the quality of the evidence supplied. In addition, three recent Dutch publications on ECE are summarized and reviewed. For the time being, the evidence for positive effects proves to be lacking.
This book brings together a collection of articles and chapters around the theme of educational disadvantage, which have been published in scientific journals and books, some fairly recently, others less recently. All of these studies are based on a thorough and critical review of the literature and (advanced) quantitative analyses of large-scale data-sets. The focus is on the Netherlands, a country were the first national educational disadvantage policy was launched in 1972, now half a century ago. For many scientific disciplines, knowledge development and accumulation through empirical research is self-evident. However, in the case of educational disadvantage, progress is not so obvious. That is the reason why articles which have been published a while ago may still be (highly) relevant now.
The long and winding road to recognition and success
The Netherlands presently has 43 Islamic primary schools. Compared to other non-Muslim countries this is quite remarkable. Especially as one considers that The Netherlands only is a small country. Even more remarkable is the fact that all of these schools are fully state-funded. Islamic schools in the Netherlands are in existence for 25 years now. The establishment of the schools was no easy endeavor. And since then numerous obstacles had to be overcome, and still have to be overcome. This paper presents a concise history of the coming about of Islamic schools in the Netherlands. It sketches the context, the opportunities, the problems and the successes.
achievement of native Belgian and Muslim immigrant pupils. The distinctive
characteristics of Catholic schools in Belgium (Flanders) form an
exceptionally suitable context to study this. Multilevel latent growth
curve analyses are conducted with data from approximately 5,000 pupils
across 200 primary schools. We find no support for the Catholic school
advantage hypothesis as the overall achievement growth for math and
reading was not significantly better in Catholic schools than in public
schools. Likewise, we find no evidence for the so-called “common
school effect” hypothesis: to wit, the learning growth of Muslim pupils was not
significantly better in Catholic schools. In fact, the initial achievement
gap was found to be higher in Catholic schools than in public schools.
Implications of these findings are discussed.
taal zelfs 20 procent. Met name hoogbegaafden presteren onder hun kunnen, maar ook onder Turkse basisschoolleerlingen bevindt zich nog een reservoir aan verborgen talent.