Ton Mooij

Multi‐level aspects of social cohesion of secondary schools and pupils' feelings of safety

BACKGROUND. School safety and corresponding feelings of both pupils and school staff are beginning to receive more and more attention. The social cohesion characteristics of a school may be useful in promoting feelings of safety, particularly in pupils. AIMS. To conceptualize theoretically, and check empirically a two-level model of social cohesion between and within schools, in order to explain a pupils feelings of safety at school. SAMPLES. Data were collected aided by a national Dutch survey in secondary education carried out via the Internet. In 2008, digital questionnaires were completed by about 78,800 pupils, 6,200 teachers and educational support staff, and 600 school managers. METHODS. Data were checked for reliability and representativity. Social cohesion was indicated by self-reported measures of individual pupils and by aggregating scale and item scores of school managers, teachers, and other support staff within schools. Multi-level analysis using individual pupil data and school-level data was performed using MLwiN. RESULTS. A pupils age, educational attainment level, experience of mild physical violence, prosocial rules of conduct and joint control of these rules, and school measures against playing truant, show positive influences on a pupils feelings of safety at school. Negative influences are exerted by not feeling most at home in The Netherlands, peers taking drugs and weapons into school, and by experiencing social violence, severe physical violence, and sexual violence. Negative school effects exist simultaneously in severe physical violence experienced by teachers and other staff, and in curriculum differentiation applied by teachers and other staff; a positive school effect is school size. Some interaction effects between pupil and school-level variables were explored. CONCLUSIONS. The variance at school level is relatively low compared with the variance at pupil level. However, a much higher percentage of variance at school level than at pupil level is explained with respect to the pupils feelings of safety at school. The resulting two-level model also reflects the streaming of pupils in Dutch secondary schools. To improve school safety, the national results emphasize the need to enhance prosocial behaviour rules and to enhance the shared control of these rules between teachers and pupils. They also emphasize the need for the school to take measures that prevent truancy and redefine curriculum differentiation procedures. National educational policy and research can combine efforts to assist schools in developing reliable and valid procedures to increase effectively safety in and around schools.

Differential ability and attainment in language and arithmetic of Dutch primary school pupils

BACKGROUNDnIn preschool and primary education, pupils differ in many abilities and competences (giftedness). Yet mainstream educational practice seems rather homogeneous in providing age-based or grade-class subject matter approaches.nnnAIMSnTo clarify whether pupils scoring initially at high ability level do develop and attain differently at school with respect to language and arithmetic compared with those displaying other initial ability levels. To investigate whether specific individual, family, or educational variables covary with the attainment of these different types of pupils in school.nnnSAMPLESnData from the large-scale PRIMA cohort study including a total of 8,258 Grades 2 and 4 pupils from 438 primary schools in The Netherlands.nnnMETHODSnSecondary analyses were carried out to construct gain scores for both language and arithmetic proficiency and a number of behavioural, attitudinal, family, and educational characteristics. The pupils were grouped into four different ability categories (highly able, able, above average, average or below average). Further analyses used Pearson correlations and analyses of variance both between- and within-ability categories. Cross-validation was done by introducing a cohort of younger pupils in preschool and grouping both cohorts into decile groups based on initial ability in language and arithmetic.nnnRESULTSnHighly able pupils generally decreased in attainment in both language and arithmetic, whereas pupils in average and below-average groups improved their language and arithmetic scores. Only with highly able pupils were some educational characteristics correlated with the pupils development in achievement, behaviour, and attitudes.nnnCONCLUSIONSnPreschool and primary education should better match pupils differences in abilities and competences from their start in preschool to improve their functioning, learning processes, and outcomes. Recommendations for educational improvement strategies are presented at the end of the article.

A Mokken Scale to Assess Secondary Pupils’ Experience of Violence in Terms of Severity

Violence assessment can potentially be improved by Item Response Theory, that is, ordinal Mokken Scale Analysis. The research question is as follows: Does Mokken Scale Analysis of secondary pupils’ experience of violence result in a homogeneous, reliable, and valid unidimensional scale that fits all the requirements of Mokken scaling? The method used is secondary analysis of Dutch national data collected from secondary school pupils in 2008 by means of a digital school safety survey. The first random sample (n1 = 14,388) was used to develop the scale; the second sample (n2 = 14,350) is meant to cross-validate the first results. Pupils’ experience of violence is assessed by 29 items reflecting six types of antisocial or aggressive behavior. A Mokken scale of 25 items meets the requirements of monotone homogeneity and double monotonicity. Ordering is invariant between boys and girls; being born in the Netherlands or not; and feeling at home in the Netherlands or not. These results are cross-validated in Sample 2. The latent construct concerns pupils’ experience of violence in terms of severity, varying from verbal and mild physical violence (relatively most frequent), to combinations of social, material, and severe physical violence, to very severe and serious sexual violence (relatively least frequent). Some limitations and further developments are discussed.

Factors affecting intervention fidelity of differentiated instruction in kindergarten

Abstract This paper reports on the findings in the first phase of a design-based research project as part of a large-scale intervention study in Dutch kindergartens. The project aims at enhancing differentiated instruction and evaluating its effects on children’s development, in particular high-ability children. This study investigates relevant intervention fidelity factors based on [Fullan, M. (2007). The New Meaning of Educational Change. New York: Teachers College Press]. A one-year intervention in 18 K-6 schools was conducted to implement the screening of children’s entry characteristics, differentiation of (preparatory) mathematics and language curricula, and a policy for the differentiation and teaching high-ability children. The intervention fidelity and implementation process were scored for each school using data from observations, field notes and log books. Self-report questionnaires measured participants’ perceptions of the intervention (n = 35 teachers, 18 principals). Quantitative results showed that intervention fidelity differed between schools. Qualitative analyses of perceptions and cross-case analyses of three kindergartens showed that a strong need, pressure from parents, an involved principal, and teacher time and motivation contributed to successful implementation. Implementation barriers were the innovation’s complexity, teacher beliefs, an absent principal and low teacher motivation (which was partly due to communication problems). Implications for interventions in general and differentiated instruction for high-ability children in particular are discussed.

Improving kindergarten teachers’ differentiation practices to better anticipate student differences

Abstract This article presents the findings from a teacher intervention in Dutch kindergartens aimed at improving teachers’ differentiation practices (DP) to better anticipate student differences. The intervention was designed to improve the match between student levels and curricular activities, in particular for high-ability students and consists of three components. A pretest–posttest cluster randomised design was used with three conditions: control (n = 34), pilot intervention (n = 32) and improved intervention (n = 34). Quantitative results demonstrate that the intervention fidelity was relatively high in the improved intervention. Correlations confirmed that teacher-reported DP were higher in schools where the intervention was more completely implemented. DP were enhanced in both intervention conditions, but showed greater improvement in the improved intervention. Qualitative data revealed process characteristics that reflect problems schools encounter with this intervention. Teachers can be supported in improving DP, but this requires school-wide intensive and long support.