Sjoerd Karsten

Choosing Segregation or Integration? The Extent and Effects of Ethnic Segregation in Dutch Cities

Across Europe, urban education systems are struggling with the process of integration of immigrants in schools. The process of inclusion and exclusion in European cities shows many similarities with earlier experiences in U.S. cities. This article explores the most important aspects of this new urban phenomenon and its impact on urban school systems. It clearly shows that ethnic segregation in elementary and secondary schools is widespread in Dutch cities. This ethnic segregation is caused by a combination of residential segregation and parental choice. The article also deals with recent Dutch studies on the effects of segregation. Finally, it treats the question of how schools and authorities, in a long-standing tradition of parental choice, are dealing with this segregation. Given the debate of choice in the United States, the Dutch case offers an ideal opportunity for empirically testing some assumptions in the discussion concerning the relationship between choice and segregation.

Policy on ethnic segregation in a system of choice: the case of The Netherlands

This paper examines the implications of the uneven distribution of minority pupils and the Dutch system of choice for policies on ethnic segregation at both the local and school level. The analysis is based on a sample of 27 municipalities serving 23% of all Dutch primary school pupils. Segregation to a large extent can be found in The Netherlands as elsewhere, and the constitutional freedom of education is precisely the factor that places important restrictions on solving this problem adequately. At the local level more than one‐third of all municipalities, for various reasons, do not take any action. Of the others that do take action the majority saddles the schools with the responsibility since the problems are mainly seen as of an educational nature. According to the school principals a percentage of minority pupils exceeding 50‐60% causes ‘white’ parents to leave and they are given every opportunity to do so by the Dutch system of free parental choice. Therefore a radical reorientation is required in...

Looking for a balance between internal and external evaluation of school quality: evaluation of the SVI model.

This article describes the results of a study into the utility of the SVI model, a model in which internal and external evaluation are balanced. The model consists of three phases: school self‐evaluation, visitation and inspection. Under the guidance of school consultants, 27 Dutch primary schools have built up two years of experience with the SVI model. The results show that the school leaders developed a positive attitude towards school self‐evaluation and visitation. They found that both self‐evaluation and visitation have improved their insight into the quality of the school. However, a content analysis of the school self‐evaluation reports shows that the school self‐evaluations are often of low quality. For example, it appeared that most of the self‐evaluation reports do not provide answers to questions the schools have formulated at the beginning of the self‐evaluation. Moreover, the teams of critical friends and the inspectors concluded that the school self‐evaluations do have many shortcomings. Based on these results, we conclude that school self‐evaluation is a very difficult task for most schools. It is therefore crucial that schools receive external support and that they build up experience with school self‐evaluations over a period of years.

Another side to the coin: the unintended effects of the publication of school performance data in England and France

Educational performance tables have become a feature of the educational landscape in a number of countries in the 1990s. These tables have been published on the assumption that they will help to inform parental and pupil choice, school improvement and will make schools more accountable. This article explores the uses and (negative) side-effects of the publication of performance tables in two European countries. It shows the strengths and weaknesses of the current practices in England and France, reviews the current practices critically and gives some recommendations for improvement.

The Dutch policy of integration put to the test: differences in academic and psychosocial development of pupils in special and mainstream education

After several failed attempts to rein in the growth of special education, the Dutch government made a start in 1991 with a policy to accommodate pupils with problems in regular education and to put a stop to the growth of special education. This paper examines a large-scale study conducted by our research group at the University of Amsterdam which attempted to answer the question whether pupils with problems are better off in special education where there are more resources and they can get more attention than in mainstream schools. It was expected that the pupils in special education would do better due to the specialist care and individual attention. However, with a few exceptions, few differences were found when comparable at-risk pupils in regular schools were compared with their counterparts in both types of special schools. There was a conspicuously large measure of variability in both regular and special education. All school types had both at-risk pupils who were doing well from an academic and/or psychosocial perspective and pupils whose progress left much to be desired. There is little evidence to support the idea that at-risk pupils make less progress, in either their academic or psychosocial development, in regular schools compared with pupils in special schools. The general assumption that at-risk pupils will do better in special education does not seem to account for its attractiveness. Contrary to the policy theory, the dual system, as it exists in The Netherlands, does not appear to be an obstacle to the provision of adequate care for pupils with special educational needs. However, the policy to equip regular schools to accommodate this category of pupils appears not to be realized as simply as that. It has not proved possible to demonstrate the effects of the varying levels of specialist help provided by regular schools on the development of at-risk pupils.

The social fabric of elementary schools: a network typology of social interaction among teachers

While researchers are currently studying various forms of social network interaction among teachers for their impact on educational policy implementation and practice, knowledge on how various types of networks are interrelated is limited. The goal of this study is to understand the dimensionality that may underlie various types of social networks in schools. We assessed seven types of social interaction using social network data of 775 educators from 53 Dutch elementary schools. The quadratic assignment procedure, multidimensional scaling and network visualisations were used to discern underlying dimensions that may explain the interrelatedness of these seven types of social networks. Findings suggest small to moderate similarity between the seven forms of social interaction. Results support a distinction between instrumental and expressive networks and suggest a second dimension of mutual in(ter)dependence to explain differences in social interaction among teachers. Implications for practice and research on teacher collaboration are discussed.

Policies for Disadvantaged Children under Scrutiny: The Dutch Policy Compared with Policies in France, England, Flanders and the USA.

This article reviews the policies for disadvantaged children in western countries since the mid‐sixties. First, it analyses the design and results of the ‘classic programmes’ of positive discrimination such as the American Title I programme, and the English, Dutch, Flemish and French priority areas policies. It discusses the differences and similarities in approach and the disappointing results. Second, the article explores some of the ‘alternatives’ such as pre‐schooling, reducing class size, restructuring the school year, and teacher incentives.

Dutch primary schools and the concept of the learning organization

Since the 1990s the concept of the learning organization has been promoted as a way to restructure educational organizations to meet new challenges such as more autonomy, school improvement and better performances. Gradually, schools have started to use the concept and are developing tools and processes for testing the ideas in practice. This article pursues two goals. First, it explores how the more visionary and theoretical framework of the learning organization can be translated into the daily practice of primary schools. For that purpose ten experts were extensively interviewed in the field of educational innovation and asked questions about the conditions, stimuli and obstacles for organizational learning. Second, the authors give examples of how some Dutch primary schools act as learning organizations. Using these examples, the article explores how the idea of the learning organization is put into practice in the field of education and how we can learn from these examples.

Evidence on the intended and unintended effects of publishing school performance indicators

This paper reports on a study (literature review, interviews, expert discussion) on the experiences in England and France of publishing school performance indicators (SPIs) as far as the nature of the published information, the form of publication, and the effects of these publications on schools and parents are concerned. After presenting what is being published, how and with what impact, the authors formulate 15 recommendations for improving the publication of SPIs.

Citizenship Education and the Preparation of Future Teachers: A Study.

This study examines the views of future teachers of social studies regarding significant global trends, required citizen characteristics, and necessary educational strategies to develop the said characteristics. The study builds upon the landmark work of the nine-nation Citizenship Education Policy Study (CEPS I) carried out in the late 1990s that resulted in the model calledmultidimensional citizenship. The original work focused on the views of policy makers and scholars. The present research, CEPS II, is a follow-up study that seeks to determine the views of the next generation of those who will teach citizenship and civic education through social studies programs in seven participant societies: China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, The Netherlands, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States of America. The results suggest that the future teachers, when compared with the policy experts and scholars in the original CEPS I study, are more optimistic about the future and are more oriented towards personal development and participatory behaviors that will positively impact the common good.