Institutional Contexts and International Performances in Schooling: comparing patterns and trends over time in international surveys

15 European countries were classified into four types in an international comparative study. The country profiles are based on indicators of the key concepts' funding, governance and choice. This research attempts to answer the question of how the quality of schooling of these types of education systems progressed as from 1995 and what explanations an expert panel of educationalists and researchers can provide for the outcomes. We observe significant differences between the performance trends of the four types of education systems. Also, comparisons between the different years show relatively high and significant correlations, especially between the original sample of countries in 1995 and future performances in TIMSS and PISA measurements.     

Ethnic-Specific Achievement in Dutch Higher Education

This study investigates the extent to which ethnic-specific differences occur in higher education and the underlying factors behind them. The research sample was made up of about 7,000 students at universities in the Netherlands. The authors established that ethnic-specific differ ences in achievement do indeed exist, even after background variables such as sex have been corrected. Structural modeling shows that prior education, financial (income) factors, and effort have a significant impact on study success.