Between 1998 and 2002 an estimated 250 mentoring programmes were started in Dutch secondary vocational education in order to decrease motivational problems and drop-out rates, especially among youngsters from ethnic minorities. Currently there are only two schools in secondary vocational education that include mentoring as part and parcel of their…

To reduce the multiplicity of secondary schools, broaden students' educations, allow later career choices, and increase educational equality, the Netherlands in 1975 established several experimental comprehensive secondary schools. Opposition at the time led to the separation of the schools from the regular school system. Development of the…

This description of a project in the Netherlands concentrates on the progress made by participating schools since 1974, inhibiting and success factors, and the outlook for the future. The MAVO project provides secondary students with training for administrative functions. One of the characteristics of the program is that it provides a three-year…

The aim of this project was to set up a building that completely fulfilled the educational requirements for a cost-level of semi-permanent (at least 20 years) school buildings. Because of factors that made forecasting the exact future function of this school difficult, and also because building and activities were expected to change continuously,…

Using as an example the development of the comprehensive school concept in the Netherlands, this paper explores the strategy for educational innovation in a centralized national educational system, the role of educational research and evaluation in educational innovation, the impact of research on policy-making, and the strengths and weaknesses of…