Teacher Tea
The Dutch Model of Education: Balancing Structure and Student Success
The Dutch public school system is known for its early tracking and strong emphasis on standardization. Primary education lasts eight years (from ages 4 to 12), culminating in a track recommendation based on academic performance and teacher assessment. At age 12, students enter one of the following secondary education tracks: pre-vocational education (VMBO), general secondary education (HAVO), or pre-university education (VWO). These tracks determine future educational and career paths, with limited mobility among them. This system is highly structured, with national standardized testing and government oversight, but schools and teachers still have considerable autonomy in making track recommendations.
Academic tracking, as we know, directly impacts students’ educational opportunities and social mobility. Thoughtful tracking can help place students in environments where they are most likely to succeed, but there is always a risk of bias or rigidity that can ultimately reinforce inequalities and limit individual student potential. Understanding how tracking decisions are made gives us more insight, and helps to ensure that all students—regardless of background—are given a fair chance to excel. Responsible tracking supports both individual student growth and a more equitable education system.
How might cultural perceptions of success influence a teacher’s expectations for students from different socioeconomic backgrounds?
Researcher Sara Geven, of the University of Amsterdam, investigates the socioeconomic status (SES) bias in teacher track recommendations in the Dutch education system. Her article, “Tracking Procedures and Criteria and the SES Bias in Teacher Track Recommendations,” appears in the American Educational Research Journal, and provides insights into how tracking systems might be used overall.
One of the main findings is that there is indeed significant SES bias in track recommendations. Teachers tend to recommend students from higher SES backgrounds to higher academic tracks than equally performing peers from lower SES backgrounds. This bias persists despite controlling for factors like academic performance and parental support.
While the bias certainly exists, the study also finds that it varies significantly across individual teachers rather than across schools. Teachers in the same school, for instance, often have differing interpretations of tracking procedures, and apply their own criteria inconsistently. This bias is stronger amongst teachers who believe that their school’s tracking procedure includes a student’s home environment as an important criterion. These teachers are more likely to recommend higher tracks for high-SES students.
While Dutch schools have formal tracking procedures, the study found that teachers within the same school often disagree on how these procedures should be applied, leading to variability in student placement decisions.
These observations suggest that policies aimed at reducing SES bias should focus on teacher training and the standardization of track recommendation criteria, rather than mere school-wide procedures.
One might argue that differences in track recommendations are not inherently a sign of bias, but rather a reflection of broader societal structures, like family stability and cultural attitudes toward education. Higher-SES families are often able to provide stronger academic support and expectations, which naturally impact a child's long-term success. Teachers may recognize these realities and take them into account when making recommendations. But does taking SES into account actually allow students to be placed where they are most likely to succeed? Along with eliminating bias based on SES, there are larger conversations that we could be having in our communities about parental involvement and what success looks like in the classroom. Education systems should uphold high standards for everyone, while recognizing that success is influenced by more than just raw test scores.