It has been widely documented that accountability systems, including school inspections, bring with them unintended side effects. These unintended effects are often negative and have the potential to undo the intended positive effects. However the empirical evidence is limited. Through a European comparative study we have had the rare opportunity…

This study examined whether Dutch children reared in families headed by female same-sex parents differ in civic competence from Dutch children reared by opposite-sex parents. The participants, drawn from a national sample, included 32 children (11-13 years old) parented by female same-sex couples who were matched on demographic characteristics…

The self-reported grades Dutch, English and Math of 13,970 students in the third grade of Dutch secondary education (US grade 9) were investigated with regard to educational track-level and dominant achievement goal (DAG). The performance approach goal group scored significantly higher on all three subjects than the performance avoidance group,…

In this article, we address three broad conjectures about what really matters with respect to school effectiveness. Our review of previous evidence prompted us to look at three sets of factors connected with classroom teachers, school policies and processes, and matters of governance. All three have featured prominently in the public arena. In…

This study examines the effects of general educational quality of schools, school citizenship policy, and ethnic homogeneity of the student body on the acquisition of citizenship competences in the final year of primary education. The theoretical framework is based on developmental, psychological, and sociological studies into effects of social…

Understanding the role of social policies in intergenerational transfers from old to young people is especially important in times of population aging. This paper focuses on the influences of social expenditures and social services on financial support and on practical help from older parents to their adult children based on the first two waves…

This report on the second year of the annual Association for Authentic, Experiential, & Evidenced-Based Learning (AAEEBL) survey provides insights into the landscape of ePortfolio adoption and use within academic settings in the United States and abroad from the perspective of a self-selected sample of the organization's members. This report…

In this exploratory study the relationships between teachers' general educational beliefs about teaching and learning and their domain specific beliefs about a particular curriculum, that is, the chemistry curriculum for upper secondary education in The Netherlands were investigated. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey was conducted among the…

Randomized response (RR) is a well-known method for measuring sensitive behavior. Yet this method is not often applied because: (i) of its lower efficiency and the resulting need for larger sample sizes which make applications of RR costly; (ii) despite its privacy-protection mechanism the RR design may not be followed by every respondent; and…