Articles (English; incl. Chapters, Papers) by Geert Driessen
Forum for Education Studies, 2025
While evidence-based policy and practice have been on the rise for some time now, this does not a... more While evidence-based policy and practice have been on the rise for some time now, this does not apply to education. Evidence-based education (EBE) can be defined as the principle that education practices should be based on rigorously established objective evidence, preferably on randomized controlled trials. In this country-specific case study, the focus is on the Netherlands and, more specifically, developments regarding the educational disadvantage policy. Whereas the Ministry of Education propagates the use of EBE, researchers seem to be rather reluctant. The main research question is how many of the ministry's policy measures have actually been grounded in the principles of evidence-based education? To answer this question, three review studies covering the period 1985-2023 were critically examined. The results can be called shocking: hardly any of the ministry's policy measures have been based upon hard scientific evidence-neither in the past nor in recent years. Explanations for this finding are given, and recommendations are presented.
Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) interventions are often the core of policies to tackle ... more Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) interventions are often the core of policies to tackle educational disadvantage. They target socio-economically disadvantaged children and aim to improve their educational and life chances by providing compensatory stimulation activities in education institutions and at home. Many intervention programs have been developed and implemented since the 1960s. Three renowned so-called model programs are Perry Preschool, Abecedarian, and the Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC). Though they date from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, respectively, they are still often cited today as evidence that such programs are highly effective and that their effects can be generalized to later ECEC programs. This article focuses on the CPC and -if possible -makes comparisons with Perry and Abecedarian. The main question is whether this program really leads to positive effects, and if it does, whether these effects can be generalized to other, similar programs today. To find an answer to this question, a critical literature study was conducted, using the snowball method. On the basis of the hundreds of studies examined, it was concluded that, indeed, CPC yielded many positive effects in the domains of education, work, well-being, health, and crime. At the same time, several limitations were found, which seriously restricts its generalization.
Forum for Education Studies, 2025
In many countries, pre- and early-school programs are the core of educational disadvantage policy... more In many countries, pre- and early-school programs are the core of educational disadvantage policy. Such programs aim at preventing educational delays of children growing up under unfavorable socioeconomic circumstances. The programs provide a range of compensational stimulation activities in child care centers and kindergartens, sometimes combined with activities for parents at home. Despite the investment of billions of dollars each year, the educational gap between the rich and poor is widening. The question, then, is relevant whether such programs are really effective. Therefore, studies into the effectiveness of such programs are significant. In this sense, this article reviews two so-called model programs, the Perry Preschool and the Abecedarian programs, which were small-scale experimental programs conducted in the 1960s and 1970s. This review critically analyzes a series of publications written by the projects’ staff and reanalyses done by Nobel laureate James Heckman and colleagues. They claim that both programs are highly effective and that their findings can be generalized to other reasonably similar programs. This review shows, however, that both experiments were hampered by several methodological shortcomings, which seriously threaten the reliability and validity of their outcomes. Furthermore, the projects were so exceptional, in terms of circumstances, target groups, budgets, and teacher qualifications, that it is not possible to generalize their results. It is concluded that not just quality research, but especially critical quality research is imperative. That is, researchers should be more critical with regard to their own work and that of their colleagues, and they should not accept research findings at face value.
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.
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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.