Seminar: Test scores, teacher assessment and effective track placement in a secondary school system with early tracking

Time: 13.00-14.00 hours
Location: CPB-office, Van Stolkweg 14, The Hague

Presentation: Bas ter Weel (CPB)

Discussant: TBA

Language: English

Registration:  Please register by sending an email to seminars@cpb.nl.

Abstract subject
OECD countries differ in the age at which they first track pupils into different types of schools. In the majority of OECD countries, tracking takes place at the age of 14 to 16. Some countries, including the Netherlands, undertake the first tracking at the age of 12 when pupils progress from primary to secondary school. Research has been conducted to investigate the effects of early tracking on differences in human capital formation and educational opportunities. The overall conclusion of these investigations has been that the earlier the tracking, the greater the impact of socio-economic factors on educational outcomes. In addition, later school tracking seems to increase equality of educational opportunities. Given the fact that there is an educational system with early tracking in the Netherlands, a smooth transition from primary to secondary education is crucial for the human capital development and educational opportunities of Dutch pupils. This research studies the transition from primary to secondary education and successive pupil performance until age 15. We first test whether there are systematic differences between objective (Cito eindtoets) and subjective (teacher) assessment measures in the final year of primary education that determine track allocation in secondary school in the Netherlands. Second, we examine the number of track switchers and relate those to the objective and subjective assessment measures. The number of switchers is a measure of the efficiency of the tracking system.

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