General description

The department’s research program titled “Effectiveness of school and training organizations” has been organized around the questions which school factors promote high educational productivity and effectiveness and how to model the mechanisms through which these factors have their impact. Special interest is given to the explanation of inequity and differential opportunities in education. School factors are traced through the techniques of meta-analysis and statistical modeling. Empirical studies are conducted collecting survey data on schools and organizations, or through secondary analyses of data from large-scale international studies (e.g. PISA and TIMSS). In addition to school effectiveness studies on general education, the program also comprises studies on effectiveness and curriculum development for vocational and corporate training.

Developments like changed patterns of governance and management, re-conceptualizations considering human capital e.g. the employability concept and social capital, have induced several important new emphases:

·	consideration of a broader set of educational outcomes, including labour market and organisational outcomes and competencies;

·	expanding the concept of training to human resource development (HRD) and consequently viewing HRD as embedded in human resource management (HRM) approaches.

This development is inspired by the fact that learning concepts are expanded to include informal learning of students and employees as well as professional development of teachers and trainers. From a performance-oriented perspective on corporate training and HRD, it becomes increasingly relevant to compare the effectiveness of HRD approaches to a wider set of HRM options, including instruments such as selection, rewards, job security, participation in decision making and career counselling.

Examples of ongoing and recently started research projects:

·	The development of process indicators within the framework of the OECD INES project (Chairmanship of INES Network C);

·	Pilot study to develop an international comparative study on teaching effectiveness (OECD);

·	Decentralization and effectiveness: an exploratory study using cross-national comparisons (Dutch Organization for Scientific Research);

·	From review to improvement in European vocational education and training (European Commission; Leonardo Program);

·	Educational Steering and School Effectiveness (Dutch Organization for Scientific Research);

·	The utilization and effects of school self evaluation;

·	Causes and effects of Bureaucratization in Dutch primary schools (Dutch Organization for Scientific Research);

·	Educational Leadership and the PISA results;

·	Evaluation of the Dutch framework for school inspections (including a meta-analyses of school and instructional effectiveness);

·	The development of active citizenship on the basis of informal learning at school (European Commission; Socrates Program);

·	The effects of HRM within schools;

·	TIMSS-2007, in The Netherlands (Dutch Organization for Scientific Research);

·	Strategies for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe from Education (European Commission: 6th Framework Program);

·	Effects of leadership within school organizations;

·	Effects of Performance Appraisal within schools;

·	The role and position of HR managers within schools;

·	The relationship between team learning and the behavior of employees;

·	Field of Special Interest funded by the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research “Learning at the workplace”.