Coalition wants to take a final test for the school advice
Before teachers give school advice to their eighth graders, they need to know what the results of the final test are. According to the coalition parties, pupils should therefore take the final test before the school advice. A different order than now. CDA MP Michel Rog: “Let it be clear: this is not a vote of no confidence against teachers. They remain in charge of the advice. ”
Image: Pixabay
Since the 2014-2015 school year, the advice of the teacher determines at what level a pupil from group 8 enters secondary education. The final test was pushed back in that school year and was less guiding. In the current situation, primary schools must have the school advice ready for their eighth-graders before 1 March. The students then take the final test in April or May. If the score of the test is higher than the advice, the teacher must reconsider his advice.
All information
The coalition parties, CDA, D66, ChristenUnie and VVD, now want schools to take the final test again for the school's advice from the teacher. “I want teachers to have all the information and to take that into account when giving the school advice,” says Rog. According to the MP, this concerns data from the student tracking system, the teacher's own knowledge and experiences and the results of the final test.
D66 also supports this plan, says MP Paul van Meenen. D66 and CDA were previously in favor of a change in 2014 to make school advice leading. “I still support that 100 percent,” says Van Meenen. “Only now is it time for the second step and that is to include the final test in the advice again. And I mean as a resource for the teachers. They must be able to consider everything. ”
Disappointments
In this way the CDA wants to avoid disappointments. School advice is adjusted in almost 8 percent of the cases, reported the Central Bureau of Statistics earlier. Rog: “That leads to organizational hassle and students who can no longer be placed in their school of choice. That's just annoying. ”
Opportunities
D66 also points to the equality of opportunity. “One third of the students receive an advice that is lower than the test. Advice is then mainly adjusted by parents who are articulate and highly educated. I want students to be treated equally. ”
The Education Inspectorate noted in its most recent report 'The State of Education' also notes that the school recommendations of pupils with lower educated parents are more often lower. Moreover, they are less often advised for a higher school level than can be expected on the basis of the final test scores. 'Of all students with a VMBO-G / T final test result in 2017, 25 percent of the students with low-educated parents received a school recommendation of at most VMBO-K; for pupils with highly educated parents, this was the case for 6 percent, 'the inspectorate said.
The new plan should avoid disappointments and adjustments. The VVD and ChristenUnie also think in the same direction, they said the NOS know.
Moment
AObprimary education director Eugenie Stolk says that the discussion often concerns the moment of the final test. “It should be about how the final test is used and how heavy that test weighs in the advice. In our opinion, it should be an extra useful tool to determine where a student should go in secondary education. Moreover, I think that teacher training courses should pay more attention to final advice and its complexity. ”
The employers' organization PO council supports the plan, says chairman Anko van Hoepen the website of the council know. 'Just as an X-ray helps a doctor to make a diagnosis, the final test becomes an objective judgment that can substantiate the professional judgment of the school. The advice of the school thus continues to weigh more heavily and at the same time it is given more weight. '
It is not yet clear when the test must be taken. The parties have yet to debate this. The CDA is considering taking the final test to the beginning of April. Rog: "If schools then know the advice before King's Day, primary schools will also have two months longer of lessons and pupils can prove themselves two more months longer."
Education Minister Slob left it to it Algemeen Dagblad know that he is waiting for the outcome of the evaluation. This report is expected in May.
