Dutch Primary Schools Research Articles

The Effects of Financial Education on Financial Literacy and Savings Behavior: Evidence from a Controlled Field Experiment in Dutch Primary Schools

This article reports the results of a controlled field experiment designed to estimate the short‐term effects of a 45‐minute financial education program on the financial literacy and savings behavior of children in Dutch primary schools. Among fifth and sixth graders, the program led to a pre‐ to posttest improvement in financial literacy on almost one of eight questions, with about one‐third of the increase in correctness attributable to the program. It also raised the probability of willingness to save by 4 percentage points. Nonetheless, whereas the program appears effective in respect to questions that explicitly address program content, its significant effects on financial literacy seem primarily driven by the results for girls, although we cannot reject homogeneous treatment effects with respect to gender.

Improving Cognitive Performance of 9-12 Years Old Children: Just Dance? A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Exercise is assumed to have positive effects on children’s cognitive performance. However, given the inconclusive evidence for the long-term effects of exercise, it is difficult to advice schools on what specific exercise programs can improve children’s cognitive performance. In particular, little is known about the effects of small exercise programs that may be feasible in daily school practice. Therefore, we assessed the effects of a 9-weeks program consisting of daily exercise breaks on children’s cognitive performance, aerobic fitness and physical activity levels. We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial in 21 classes of eight Dutch primary schools. A total of 512 children aged 9–12 years participated. The exercise intervention had a duration of 9 weeks and consisted of a daily 10-min classroom-based exercise break of moderate to vigorous intensity. Before and after the intervention, we used four cognitive tasks (i.e., the Attention Network Test, Stroop test, d2 test of attention and Fluency task) to measure children’s cognitive performance in domains of selective attention, inhibition and memory retrieval. In addition, we measured aerobic fitness with a Shuttle Run test and physical activity during school hours by accelerometers. We analyzed data using mixed models, adjusting for baseline scores, class and school. After 9 weeks, there were no intervention effects on children’s cognitive performance or aerobic fitness. Children in the intervention group spent 2.9 min more of their school hours in moderate to vigorous physical activity as compared to the children in the control group. In conclusion, daily 10-min exercise breaks in the classroom did not improve, nor deteriorate cognitive performance in children. The exercise breaks had no effect on children’s fitness, and resulted in 2.9 min more time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity during school hours. Daily exercise breaks can be implemented in the classroom to promote children’s physical activity during school time, without adverse effect on their cognitive performance.

Decision support tools for energy efficient and healthy school buildings

Property owners are being forced to increase the energy efficiency of their buildings. Besides energy efficiency the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of a larger part of Dutch primary school buildings is insufficient. This affects the performance, productivity and health of students and staff, and additionally has monetary consequences for school boards. The inability to achieve healthy, energy efficient buildings is largely explained by a lack of knowledge and experience in building renovation by school boards. The objective of the study is to provide school boards of primary schools with decision support tools to provide more insight in the technical, financial and organizational opportunities of renovation of school buildings. It is expected that this will lead to better balanced school buildings in terms of People (Indoor Environmental Quality), Planet (energy efficiency), and Profit (costs) and will contribute to a better work and learning environment for staff and students. Applied research methods are a literature review, semi-structured interviews, desk research, expert meetings, a focus group and design. Expert meetings were organized to get input for the design ofa decision flow chart. Both were tested by members of school boards. It was found that the tools provides more insight in the renovation decision-making process and opportunities to renovate the school buildings. By raising problem awareness about the indoor environment, the decision support tools are also expected to contribute to an improved IEQ in renovated school buildings. . The research was the basis for the development of a web tool for school boards: “Decision tree sustainable renovation primary and secondary school buildings”, published by Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), design and consultancy firm Arcadis and the ‘Green Deal Scholen’.

Classroom identification in ethnic minority and majority students: Effects of relationships and ethnic composition.

BackgroundMany studies have shown that school belonging is crucial for students’ school adjustment, but the construct has been operationalized in different ways. Moreover, most research has focused on adolescents and not compared its antecedents for ethnic minority versus majority students.AimsBased on Goodenow and Grady's (1993) seminal paper, we examined classroom identification as a central aspect of school belonging in minority and majority preadolescents, and predicted it from relationships with peers and teachers, taking into account classroom ethnic composition and perceived multicultural teaching.SampleParticipants were 485 grade 4–6 students from 39 classrooms in Dutch primary schools. Of these children, 68 had a Turkish background, 72 had a Moroccan background, and 345 had a native Dutch background.MethodsParticipants completed questionnaires at two waves (4.5 months apart). We used self‐reports to measure classroom identification at both waves, and student–teacher relationship closeness and conflict, multicultural teaching, and peer friendship and rejection at Wave 1. We conducted multilevel analyses to predict classroom identification at Wave 2, while controlling for classroom identification at Wave 1.ResultsChildren of all ethnicities reported more classroom identification over time if they were less rejected by their peers and had more co‐ethnic classmates. For minority children, both closeness and conflict with the teacher predicted less identification, but the effect of conflict appeared to result from their ethnic underrepresentation in the classroom.ConclusionsNegative peer relationships can undermine classroom identification, and the student–teacher relationship has special significance for ethnic minority students.

Opportunity to learn problem solving in Dutch primary school mathematics textbooks

In the Netherlands, mathematics textbooks are a decisive influence on the enacted curriculum. About a decade ago, Dutch primary school mathematics textbooks provided hardly any opportunities to learn problem solving. In this study we investigated whether this provision has changed. In order to do so, we carried out a textbook analysis in which we established to what degree current textbooks provide non-routine problem-solving tasks for which students do not immediately have a particular solution strategy at their disposal. We also analyzed to what degree textbooks provide ‘gray-area’ tasks, which are not really non-routine problems, but are also not straightforwardly solvable. In addition, we inventoried other ways in which present textbooks facilitate the opportunity to learn problem solving. Finally, we researched how inclusive these textbooks are with respect to offering opportunities to learn problem solving for students with varying mathematical abilities. The results of our study show that the opportunities that the currently most widely used Dutch textbooks offer to learn problem solving are very limited, and these opportunities are mainly offered in materials meant for more able students. In this regard, Dutch mainstream textbooks have not changed compared to the situation a decade ago. A textbook that is the Dutch edition of a Singapore mathematics textbook stands out in offering the highest number of problem-solving tasks, and in offering these in the materials meant for all students. However, in the ways this textbook facilitates the opportunity to learn problem solving, sometimes a tension occurs concerning the creative character of genuine problem solving.

Language balance and switching ability in children acquiring English as a second language

This study investigated whether relative lexical proficiency in Dutch and English in child second language (L2) learners is related to executive functioning. Participants were Dutch primary school pupils of three different age groups (4–5, 8–9, and 11–12 years) who either were enrolled in an early-English schooling program or were age-matched controls not on that early-English program. Participants performed tasks that measured switching, inhibition, and working memory. Early-English program pupils had greater knowledge of English vocabulary and more balanced Dutch–English lexicons. In both groups, lexical balance, a ratio measure obtained by dividing vocabulary scores in English by those in Dutch, was related to switching but not to inhibition or working memory performance. These results show that for children who are learning an L2 in an instructional setting, and for whom managing two languages is not yet an automatized process, language balance may be more important than L2 proficiency in influencing the relation between childhood bilingualism and switching abilities.

Socioeconomic multi-domain health inequalities in Dutch primary school children.

This study assesses socio-economic health inequalities (SEHI) over primary school-age (4- to 12-years old) across 13 outcomes (i.e. body-mass index [BMI], handgrip strength, cardiovascular fitness, current physical conditions, moderate to vigorous physical activity, sleep duration, daily fruit and vegetable consumption, daily breakfast, exposure to smoking, mental strengths and difficulties, self-efficacy, school absenteeism and learning disabilities), covering four health domains (i.e. physical health, health behaviour, mental health and academic health). Multilevel mixed effect (linear and logistic) regression analyses were applied to cross-sectional data of a Dutch quasi-experimental study that included 1403 pupils from nine primary schools. Socioeconomic background (high-middle-low) was indicated by maternal education (n = 976) and parental material deprivation (n = 784). Pupils with higher educated mothers had lower BMIs, higher handgrip strength and higher cardiovascular fitness; their parents reported more daily fruit and vegetable consumption, daily breakfast and less exposure to smoking. Furthermore these pupils showed less mental difficulties and less school absenteeism compared with pupils whose mothers had a lower education level. When using parental material deprivation as socio-economic indicator, similar results were found for BMI, cardiovascular fitness, sleep duration, exposure to smoking and mental strengths and difficulties. Socio-economic differences in handgrip strength, cardiovascular fitness and sleep duration were larger in older than in younger pupils. Childhood SEHI are clearly found across multiple domains, and some are larger in older than in younger pupils. Interventions aiming to tackle SEHI may therefore need a comprehensive and perhaps more fundamental approach.

Parents’ perceptions of parent–teacher relationship practices in Dutch primary schools – an exploratory pilot study

ABSTRACTThis paper shows how parents’ perceptions of parent–teacher relationship practices differ between different types of schools with respect to children’s special needs and the socio-economic status of these children. Using a questionnaire, we compare parents’ views from two special education schools, two at-risk schools serving low SES-children, and two mainstream primary education schools in the southern part of the Netherlands. The theoretical framework is based on Epstein’s Model of Parental Involvement. The results illustrate that parents and teachers in special education and at-risk schools are very much accustomed to ‘two-way communication’, in contrast to mainstream schools, and that this is valued highly by these parents. Furthermore, teachers in special and at-risk schools are more familiar with interacting with parents, involve them more in decision-making and more often co-ordinate homework practice with parents.

A Solution to the Measurement Problem in the Idiographic Approach Using Computer Adaptive Practicing.

Molenaar’s manifesto on psychology as idiographic science (Molenaar, 2004) brought the times series perspective firmly to the attention of developmental scientists. The rich intraindividual variation in complex developmental processes requires the study of these processes at the level of the individual. Yet, the idiographic approach is all but easy in practical research. One major limitation is the collection of short interval times series of high quality data on developmental processes. In this paper, we present a novel measurement approach to this problem. We developed an online practice and monitoring system which is now used by thousands of Dutch primary school children on a daily or weekly basis, providing a new window on cognitive development. We will introduce the origin of this new instrument, called Math Garden, explain its setup, and present and discuss ways to analyze children’s individual developmental pathways.

Ouders van basisschoolleerlingen in Zuid-Limburg over ouderbetrokkenheid

Abstract Parents’ Perceptions of Parent Teacher Relationship Practices in Dutch Primary Schools – an exploratory pilot study This exploratory study focuses on parents’ perceptions of parental involvement and parent-teacher relationship practices between different types of schools. Using a questionnaire, we compare parents’ perceptions of two special education schools, two schools serving low SES-children, and two mainstream primary education schools in the southern part of the Netherlands. The theoretical framework is based on Epstein’s and Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s models of parental involvement. The results illustrate that parents and teachers of students in special education and low SES schools are more accustomed to align mutual tasks and expectations, in contrast to parents of children in mainstream schools, and that this is valued highly by these parents. Furthermore, in low SES schools parents and teachers are more used to interact with eachother, and parents feel strongly supported in their home-based learning. Regarding inclusive education, mainstream schools may learn from low SES schools and schools for special education.

Data-based decision making for teacher and student learning: a psychological perspective on the role of the teacher

Data-based decision-making has the potential to increase student achievement results. Data-based decision-making can be defined as teachers’ systematic analysis of data sources in order to study and adapt their educational practices for the purpose of maximizing learning results. Teachers must apply the findings from their data use to their personal teaching activities. Therefore, data-based decision-making may be influenced by individual teachers' psychological characteristics. The present study aimed to explore which psychological factors contribute to teachers’ data use in a Dutch primary school context. A questionnaire-based quantitative methodology was employed. We included the following psychological constructs: affective and instrumental attitudes, perceived control, social norms, self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and intentions regarding data use. Results of the path analysis showed that perceived control, instrumental attitude, and intention regarding data use all significantly influenced data use. Additionally, intention was found to be a mediator of the relation between affective attitude and data use. Interventions aimed at data-based decision-making should take these psychological factors into account to increase teachers’ implementation of data-based decision-making for instruction and, consequently, educational quality.

Dutch sixth graders\u2019 use of shortcut strategies in solving multidigit arithmetic problems

Strategy flexibility, adaptivity, and the use of clever shortcut strategies are of major importance in current primary school mathematics education worldwide. However, empirical results show that primary school students use such shortcut strategies rather infrequently. The aims of the present study were to analyze the extent to which Dutch sixth graders (12-year-olds) use shortcut strategies in solving multidigit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems, to what extent student factors and task instructions affected this frequency of shortcut strategy use, and to what extent the strategies differed in performance. A sample of 648 sixth graders from 23 Dutch primary schools completed a paper-and-pencil task of 12 multidigit arithmetic problems, designed to elicit specific shortcut strategies such as compensation. Based on the students’ written work, strategies were classified into whether a shortcut strategy was used or not. Results showed that the frequency of shortcut strategies ranged between 6 and 21% across problem types, and that boys and high mathematics achievers were more inclined to use shortcut strategies. An explicit instruction to look for a shortcut strategy increased the frequency of these strategies in the addition and multiplication problems, but not in the subtraction and division problems. Finally, the use of shortcut strategies did not yield higher performance than using standard strategies. All in all, spontaneous as well as stimulated use of shortcut strategies by Dutch sixth graders was not very common.

Social skills scores

PurposeThe paper aims to examine to what extent and why parental involvement as well as characteristics of ethnic school population influence social skills scores (social position, behavioural skills) of students.Design/methodology/approachThe study used the COOL5-18 database (2010) that included 553 Dutch primary schools and nearly 38,000 students in Grades two, five and eight (aged approximately 5, 8, 11, respectively). Multilevel regression analyses were used for analysis.FindingsThe findings indicate that parental involvement has a positive impact on the social skills scores of the students; behavioural skill scores are higher in ethnically homogeneous schools and lower in schools with a high share of non-Western ethnic minority students. There is no impact of characteristics of school population composition on social position scores.Research limitations/implicationsA possible disadvantage is the way in which social skills and parental involvement were measured. These measurements are possibly negatively influenced by the teacher’s judgement of the language skills of the parents.Originality/valueExisting research focuses on the impact of parental involvement and the composition of ethnic school population on cognitive skills. This study shows that parental involvement has a positive impact on social skills. This study also shows that in schools with a homogeneous ethnic composition or a high share of native Dutch children, behavioural skills scores are higher, but social position scores are not impacted.

Transforming Input Into Output: How Downward Networking Mediates the Effect of External Networking on Organizational Performance

ABSTRACTOne of the core assumptions of the open systems perspective is that management facilitates the technical flows that transform resources and demands into output, which ultimately affects the organization’s performance. This article sheds light on the managerial throughput hypothesis by testing the mediating role of downward networking on the relationship between externally oriented managerial networking and organizational performance. The testing of the conceptual framework uses data on 547 Dutch primary schools. When put to this empirical test, the managerial throughput hypothesis is corroborated for most of the identified constructs of externally oriented networking.

Studying citizenship education in the Netherlands. A qualitative approach to researching the teaching, shaping, and enacting of citizenship in three Dutch primary schools

Studying citizenship education in the Netherlands. A qualitative approach to researching the teaching, shaping, and enacting of citizenship in three Dutch primary schools

Early reading intervention by means of a multicomponent reading game

AbstractThis study examined the effects of an intervention with a multicomponent reading game on the development of reading skills in 60 Dutch primary school children with special educational needs. The game contains evidence‐based reading exercises and is based on principles of applied gaming. Using a multiple baseline approach, we tested children's word, pseudoword and text reading fluency, as well as their reading motivation, at three test occasions. The results indicated that the short intervention (9 × 15 min) enhanced children's pseudoword reading fluency as well as their text reading fluency. Interestingly, the early intervention group showed a sustained intervention effect (i.e., also during retention), which shows that using this reading game has a long‐term effect on early text reading development. Intervention did not affect reading motivation, which suggests that the multicomponent reading game can be used to facilitate early reading development without compromising reading motivation.

An analytical approach towards sustainability-centered guidelines for Dutch primary school building design

An analytical approach towards sustainability-centered guidelines for Dutch primary school building design

Immigrant Concentration at School and Natives' Achievement: Does the Type of Migrants and Natives Matter?

Using a rich dataset of primary school students in the Netherlands, this paper investigates the heterogeneous effects of immigrant concentration in the classroom on the academic achievement of natives. To identify the treatment effect, it takes advantage of some features of the Dutch primary school system and uses cohort-by-cohort deviations in immigrant concentration within schools. While we report an insignificant impact of the share of immigrant classmates overall, we show that effects are heterogeneous, both in the type of immigrant classmates, and in the type of native students that are affected. Only immigrants that have been living in the country for a short period of time are found to negatively impact natives’ performance. This negative impact is stronger among natives with low parental education. We also report a negative effect of the concentration of migrants with low parental education, while migrants with high parental education are found to have no impact. The importance of taking into account heterogeneity could explain the mixed findings reported by previous literature on the topic.

Zoals de ouden zongen, piepen de jongen?

From birth on, children are confronted with an ever-growing variation of languages. In Dutch primary schools the main language model nowadays is a submersion model centring round Standard-Dutch. The disappointing results of several small-scale bilingual experiments and the large-scale implementation of a bilingual model for immigrant children in the past had led the Ministry of Education to abandon bilingual education, that is, with the exception of models with English, German or French as a second language. The focus of the present article is on language variety at home and school. The main question is how the mother tongue, viz. the language the parents speak, influences their child’s proficiency in Dutch. Analysing data of 14,000 grade 2 pupils that were collected in the 2007, 2010 and 2013 measurement waves of the national COOL5–18 study, this paper first of all describes how often children speak their mother tongue. A distinction is made between Dutch; Frisian and Dutch regional languages and dialects; and foreign languages. The latter mostly refers to Turkish and Berber language varieties. Next, the correlation between speaking the mother tongue and the children’s proficiency in Dutch is analysed. The results show that for children of Dutch, Frisian and Dutch regional languages and dialect speaking parents there are no differences in level of Dutch relative to the number of times they speak their mother tongue. For children of a foreign language speaking parents, however, there is a tendency that the more often they speak their mother tongue the lower their proficiency in Dutch is. This negative relationship is not reduced by accounting for the mother’s educational level and proficiency of Dutch. Most of the children who speak a foreign language are of Turkish or Moroccan descent who in terms of school achievement lag considerably behind their native-Dutch peers. It is suggested that implementing so-called transition classes with targeted language courses during one school year and a follow-up in later years may help diminish this gap.

Effectiveness of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Based Indicated Prevention Program for Children with Elevated Anxiety Levels: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Childhood anxiety is a problem not only because of its negative consequences on the well-being of children but also because of its adverse effects on society and its role in mental disorders later in life. Adequate prevention might be the key in tackling this problem. The effectiveness of Coping Cat, as an indicated CBT-based prevention program in Dutch primary school children, was assessed by means of a randomized controlled trial. In total, 141 children aged 7–13 with elevated levels of anxiety and their mothers were included and randomly assigned to an intervention group and a waiting list control group. After screening, all participants completed baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up assessments. The results showed that Coping Cat, as an indicated prevention program, reduces children’s self-reported anxiety symptoms, with Cohen’s effect size d of 0.66 at the 3-month follow-up. A moderating effect was found for baseline anxiety level; specifically, children with high levels of baseline anxiety who received the Coping Cat program had lower anxiety levels at follow-up compared to children with high levels of anxiety in the control condition. No moderating effects of gender or age were found. An unexpected decline in anxiety levels from screening to pre-assessment was found in both groups, and this decline was stronger in the experimental group. These promising results warrant the implementation of Coping Cat as an indicated prevention program.