As an increasing number of multilingual children are enrolled in European schools, it is important to gain more insight into teachers' attitudes towards multilingual approaches in education. The goal of this study is to investigate the attitudes of primary school teachers in Greece, Italy and the Netherlands, three countries that have a highly…

Across the globe, education quality has become synonymous with student performance. The shift towards test-based accountability (TBA) has changed what is required of schools and what it means to be a 'good teacher'. Different tools may trigger a performance orientation within schools, from administrative (such as the Inspectorate) to market…

Track recommendations provided to students in the final grade of primary education lead the allocation to specific school tracks in secondary education in the Netherlands. Where the results of a standardised test indicate that students are able to go to a higher track level, primary schools are required to reconsider and potentially adjust the…

The increasing levels of diversity in primary education make it essential to identify factors that influence Intercultural Teaching Competence (ITC). This study investigates which factors of Educational Effectiveness Research contribute to five dimensions of ITC: openness, classroom management, enriched lesson design, social initiative, and…

School-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS) is a school-wide approach to create a safe and positive school climate. SWPBIS is a framework in which core features and procedures need to be adjusted to its specific school context, referred to as contextual fit. Implementing with fidelity is related to positive outcomes such as a…

Although peer victimization in school mainly takes place between children in the same classroom or grade and bullying is generally seen as a group process, little is known about how stability and change in classroom composition affect peer victimization. Hence, this study addressed the following questions: (a) Are newcomers in the classroom more…

Sociocultural diversity in classrooms can result in inequality, when discontinuities between school and home make children perform below their abilities. Funds of knowledge/identity theory makes a plea for building on the skills and knowledge that students acquire in their families, communities and peer groups, and that may not be recognised by…

There is an increasing global emphasis on using data for decision making, with a growing body of research on interventions aimed at implementing and sustaining data-based decision making (DBDM) in schools. Yet, little is known about the school features that facilitate or hinder the implementation of DBDM. Based on a literature review, the authors…

The increasing occurrence of multilingualism in the educational sphere is challenging teachers to deal with the coexistence of different languages in the classroom. The present paper presents the analysis of language portraits as a tool to make students' multilingualism visible by using colours to represent their multilingual repertoires. Through…

In this article the authors present the results of their research of cooperation schools in the Netherlands. These schools are an exception in the dual educational system because they originate from a merger of a religiously neutral public school and a religious school. The data, provided by school principals, show key values of the cooperation…

Over the past decades, many schools have adapted towards social constructivism with the aim of enhancing students' motivation. There are a variety of perspectives in educational theory, with social constructivist views standing in contrast to traditional views. Hence, we compared students' motivation (levels and developments) in social…

The use of data for adaptive, tailor-made education can be beneficial for students with learning difficulties. While evaluating the effects of a data-based decision-making (DBDM) intervention on student outcomes, considerable variation between intervention effects, ranging from high-intervention effects to small or even negative intervention…

Despite growing international interest in the use of data to improve education, few studies examining the effects on student achievement are yet available. In the present study, the effects of a two-year data-based decision-making intervention on student achievement growth were investigated. Fifty-three primary schools participated in the project,…

A recent development in educational accountability is a risk-based approach, in which intensity and frequency of school inspections vary across schools to make educational accountability more efficient and effective by enabling inspectorates to focus on organizations at risk. Characteristics relevant in predicting which schools are "at risk…

This study examines the effects of general educational quality of schools, school citizenship policy, and ethnic homogeneity of the student body on the acquisition of citizenship competences in the final year of primary education. The theoretical framework is based on developmental, psychological, and sociological studies into effects of social…