De Relatie tussen Schooltype en het Niveau van Voorbereidende Rekenvaardigheid bij Kleuters in Nederland

Abstract

Aim: In the Netherlands, there are three different types of schools: public, confessional and alternative. Although these school types possibly influence the education children receive, this association has never been investigated before. Method: The current study investigated the association between school type and the level of early mathematical skills of Dutch primary school children. In addition, a possible moderating role of age and gender was investigated. The sample consisted of 1301 children (662 boys and 639 girls) who completed the UGT-3, a Dutch test to determine the level of early mathematical skills. The participants had a mean age of M = 5;7 years old. Results: The results showed that school type was indeed related to the level of early mathematical skills. Children from child-focused education had a higher level of early mathematical skills than children from traditional education. Although age played a significant moderating role, gender did not. Future research should be based on a representative sample, meaning it consists of comparable numbers of different school types. In addition, longitudinal data should be used to monitor these children to investigate possible emerging gender effects.