Reasons for school choice in The Netherlands

Eddie Denessen

Peter Sleegers

University of Nijmegen

Geert Driessen

Institute of Applied Social Sciences, Nijmegen

Freedom of school choice

Positive aspects - stimulus for the quality of education - accomodation of educational system to parents needs Negative aspects - contribution to educational inequality - ethnic segregation (white flight, black flight)

Research questions

What reasons do parents have to choose a school? To what extent are these reasons group-specific? (religion, class, ethnicity) To what extent are parents reasons related to school charteristics? What is the level of interplay of parents background and school characteristics?

Reasons for school choice

Four categories: 1 ideological reasons (religious identity; pedagogical views underlying education) 2 Home-school distance (easy reach) 3 Quality of education (content, goals of education) 4 Non-educational school characteristics (population characteristics)

Method

Cohort study Primary Education (PRIMA) 1998/1999 - questionnaire for parents of grade 2 pupils (N = 11,362) - religion - level of education - ethnical background - reasons for school choice - questionnaire for school administrations (N = 573) - denomination - social class composition - ethnical composition

Results

Reason for school choice

Mean

Rank

a. the school climate b. the social background of most of the pupils c. no other school was available d. order and discipline e. reputation of the school f. pupils attending this school get ahead in society g. the school pays attention to each child h. the other parents are our kind of people i. extra-curricular activities j. the denomination of the school (e.g. catholic, non-religious, islamic) k. the school is within easy reach l. the possibility to come in contact with other cultures m. the quality of education n. an attractive school building o. advice of friends p. class size q. the school is considerate of our religion

4.10 3.15 2.17 4.02 3.74 3.34 4.05 2.64 2.65 3.18 3.84 2.60 4.40 3.38 2.90 3.80 2.93

2 11 17 4 7 9 3 15 14 10 5 16 1 8 13 6 12

Results

Parents religion denomination of school considerate of religion contact with other cultures Parents level of education no differences Parents ethnical background considerate of religion contact with other cultures

Results

Schools denomination denomination of school considerate of religion contact with other cultures Schools social class composition no differences Schools ethnical composition considerate of religion contact with other cultures

Results

Reason for school choice : denomination of the school

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

non-religious protestant catholic islamic

Denomination of the school

no religionprotestantcatholicislamic

Parents' religion

Chart1

3.153412.860222.650753.24

2.461914.13163.035462.58

2.293013.13.199742.76

islamicislamicislamic4.52

Parents' religion

no religion

protestant

catholic

islamic

Denomination of the school

Reason for school choice : denomination of the school

Sheet1

Variable richting van de school D32J

GELOOF

DENOMno religionprotestantcatholicislamic

non-religious3.153412.860222.650753.24

protestant2.461914.13163.035462.58

catholic2.293013.13.199742.76

islamic4.52

Variable .. rekening houden met ons geloof D32Q

GELOOF

DENOMgeenhe/ge/chrk

openbaar1.858062.519712.1809

pc/re/gv2.006483.994942.78369

rk1.891133.0242.87527

Sheet2

Sheet3

Discussion

- quality of education leading reason for school choice - absence of social-related reasons for school choice - religion and ethnicity might be contaminated - autosegregation black flight - supply of islamic schools: expand or limit?

Reasons for school choice in The NetherlandsFreedom of school choiceResearch questionsReasons for school choiceMethodResultsResultsResultsResultsDiscussion