Does your secondary school matter for student success in higher education? Annemarie Oomen, APS International 20th October 2011

Frames of Reference Senior consultant & researcher at APS National Center for School Improvement The Netherlands In Europe… Next to UK, above Belgium Doing fine in PISA benchmarking

Senior consultant & researcher at APS National Center for School Improvement The Netherlands: Population 16.5 million 19 year olds: > 90% in education. Increase participation in higher education incl. university however…. still approx. 30% switch or drop out in year 1.

Research Questions 1.Do secondary schools ( i.e. pre-university track), with high (>80%) return and low (<70%) return at one of the largest University in the Netherlands, differ? If yes: how? 2.Do these schools differ in the nature and degree in which they prepare students for success at University?

Research model -Social and cultural capital -Support environment -Gender -Programme characteristics - Student support - Assessment - Student approach Educational practice and management Specific Programme Academic orientation and preparation CEIAG Aspiration & motivation (academic) Self-efficacy Social economic and cultural background Features of Course and/or. University Previous scholing Adapted from: Tinto: 1987,1993, 2004; Prins, 1997; De Metsenare et al, 2002

Research design- qualitative Selected 13 schools in benchmark of a large Uni: 5 high return (> 80%); 5 low return ( <70%) first year Deskresearch Questionnaire and interview at site one month before national examinations: 1 Schoolmanager 6 students (M/F; STEM/not STEM oriented; 6 of their teachers

Do Dutch secondary schools with high and low return differ? No correlations found in respect to: public/private; a large pre- university section; a specific eductional profile; amount of university-educated teaching staff. Correlations are found between return and : the assessment by the national Inspectorate assessment of the quality of the student population by the teachers having made a course- and university choice one month before finishing national examinations

Do Dutch secondary schools with high and low return differ? Range school -return first year on university ABCDEFGHIJ -assessment by Inspectorate XXX  -assessment quality student population by teaching staff Below av Below av Below av AvAbove av Above av Above av Above av Above av Av - both parents have university degree -- - ******?** -students feel sure about choises made    -students made both choices       High return: school A, B, C, D, E

The nature and degree of university preparation? Educational programme and management: School segregation found at school A, B and C; Enhanced educational practice at school A All subject teachers in school A – J “knowledge, skills and exploration are important for student success at Uni” Most report to prepare students: in knowledge and/or skills Most are in direct contacts with Uni-staff: on subjectmatters Students in school A-J report to learn academic thinking and develop social and personal skills Both teachers and students report a learning culture in which “6 on a scale 1-10 is good enough”

The nature and degree of university preparation? CEIAG: Students at these secondary schools are encouraged to explore academic courses and uni in the last 3 years, but are not aware of the main and differing features of academic programmes and of relevant issues that cause drop-out, fail, swith; careermanagement skills aren’t developed. In the last 3 years of these secondary schools: students experience they are encouraged to take up own initiative in exploration; the role of the school is limited mostly to personal interviews with tutor or career teacher; career decisionmaking takes place at home with the parents. Uni-staff is no ‘natural’interview source. No real differences in CEIAG between schools with high and low return but for the position of CEIAG in a school: this is more solid in a school with high return according to schoolmanagement.

Discussion Students at schools with an ‘above average’rated student population and one or both parents having a uni-degree are almost obvious supposed to go to uni, with no need to explore which course or level of HE. What teachers at these secondary school think necessary for uni-success differs from what they (can) do New perspectives on the national policy ‘to involve parents more in career decisionmaking’