Implementation and effects of the Dutch Educational Priority Policy: Results of Four Years of Evaluation Studies

This article deals with the evaluation studies of the Dutch Educational Priority Policy (OVB) conducted in the period up to 1993. The aim of the policy is to improve achievements among pupils who are disadvantaged because of social, economical or cultural circumstances. The emphasis is on improving achievements in arithmetic and language in primary schools. The core of the evaluation are longitudinal studies of successive cohorts of primary school children. Every two years cognitive capabilities and achievements are measured in years 4, 6, and 8. A total of 600 schools participated in these measurements, involving 10,000 pupils in each year of measurement. This article focusses on the questions to what extent the OVB is implemented and to what extent the policy does produce the desired effects. Data were analyzed with the help of cross‐sectional and longitudinal analyses. The results indicate that inside the Educational Priority Areas the OVB is being implemented considerably better than outside these areas. Also, the achievements of pupils at schools in priority areas have improved more than the achievements of pupils outside the areas. It appears, however, that the longer length of stay in the Netherlands is largely responsible for the improved achievements at the area schools.