1. EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN THE NETHERLANDS Country background report for the OECD study on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes Jaap Scheerens, Melanie Ehren, Peter Sleegers and Renske de Leeuw University of Twente, the Netherlands J.Scheerens@utwente.nl

2. Features of the educational system in the Netherlands Freedom of education, with respect to founding of schools, and choice Two thirds of schools is government dependent private Intermediary layer of governance, made up of educational organizations and pressure groups High degree of school autonomy

3. Historic development of evaluation and assessment 70 ‘ies: Large scale program evaluations 80 ‘ies: start of systemic evaluation, cohort studies, national assessment, systematic school inspection Developments in 1990 ‘ies, early 2000: rise of school self evaluation, proportional inspection, School Quality Cards, CITO pupil monitoring system, participation in international assessments

4. Current situation system evaluation a number of stable data collection procedures: Periodic national assessment PPON Cohort studies Gradual development of system indicators (including examination results) Various data collections by Inspectorate Participation in international studies

5. Current situation school evaluation School self evaluation (internal) School inspection (external) “Windows for accountability” as a new hybrid external/internal evaluation, in which major powers that be: schools, central administration and intermediary organizations all have a piece of the cake

6. Current situation teacher evaluation In the Netherlands, the evaluation or appraisal of individual teachers belongs to the jurisdiction of the Competent Authority of the school, the school board, or the municipality No external teacher appraisal, although the inspectorate evaluates the teaching quality of the school and school personnel policies

7. Current situation student assessment Central examination at the end of secondary school Primary school leavers test CITO pupil monitoring system (LVS) Stimulation of performance feedback, formative assessment on the basis of LVS, as part of government policy to support achievement orientation

8. Some salient features of evaluation and assessment in the Netherlands Strong resistance by schools against external evaluation in the nineteen seventies; slow acceptation and persistent reservations The rise and fall of school self evaluation Different interpretations of proportional inspections Educational evaluation as a power struggle