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The TeCoLa project promotes telecollaboration to foster meaningful foreign language learning particularly in secondary schools throughout Europe. In 2018, a number of pilot experiences are being conducted. This paper focusses on one of these pilot experiences, where learners from a Dutch secondary school and a Spanish primary school telecollaborated in Spanish and English by carrying out four tasks (creation of vlogs) asynchronously and sharing them in their group's Padlet wall. Different sources of data were gathered (recordings, surveys, and interviews) in order to be able to disentangle the factors that might play a role in successful telecollaboration exchanges and language learning experiences. Overall learners seemed to enjoy the experience, but the Spanish participants found the exchanges much more meaningful than the Dutch ones. This might well be related to the autonomy given to the students, who might have needed further guidance to benefit fully from the exchange. [For the complete volume of short papers, see ED590612.]

This report describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs designed to improve the educational opportunities of working class children in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. First, an overview of the objectives, program types, timetable and organizational structure is presented. Secondly, programs are described according to three broad categories: (1) development of thought structures; (2) social development; and (3) mastery learning in reading, mathematics, and language. A model for summative evaluation is presented in terms of sixteen variables, including socioeconomic status, cultural and educational background of parents, motivation, and emotional and cognitive development of participating students. A list of references is appended. (JCD)

These seven papers from the section on children's libraries address such topics as library services for children, training of children's librarians, outreach programs for children, bibliographic instruction, and children's literature. Titles of the presentations are "Children's Libraries Information Services to Children, Adults and Institutions," by Alice Geradts, The Netherlands; "Children's Library Users--Are They Adults?" by Malin Koldenius, Sweden; "Information and Documentation on Children's and Youth Literature in the GDR," by Heinz Wegehaupt, East Germany; "Information Concepts and Skills for Schoolchildren: An International Study on Instructional Materials and Their Development," by Ann Irving, England; "Development of Children's Literature in Thailand," by M. L. Joy Nandhivajrin; "Information Services for Children, Adults, Institutions and Organizations in the Context of Library Work with Children in the German Democratic Republic," by Irmgard Dressler, East Germany; and "Education and Training of Children's Librarians," by Aase Bredsdorff, Denmark. (RBF)

Research on automated affect detection in educational software using play log data has shown promising results. Yet most studies use classroom-based software designed for adolescents or adults. In this paper, we aim to detect affection in an online educational platform primarily aimed at home use by young children. This presents two challenges: we have to rely on a self-report instrument of affect that users can utilize at home, and we have to make sure that this instrument is properly understood by children. To this end, we developed and validated an emoticon-based self-report instrument to derive ground-truth labels of four emotions: Joy, frustration, confusion, and boredom. Training a number of different classifiers for automated affect detection yields promising results, in particular for detecting joy and frustration. [For the full proceedings, see ED599096.]

In this study, we extend prior research in the role of school climate in civic education by exploring the relationship between immigrant students' experiences of bullying and their attitudes toward their countries of settlement. Using the 2016 IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, we employ a multiple regression analysis with country fixed effects to this large-scale assessment, finding that first-generation immigrants who experience a positive school climate were likely to report nearly as positive an attitude about the nation as native-born students. However, this positive outlook is negated by the abusive experiences some students encounter in schools, suggesting the critical role of schools as bridges--or barriers--in the national attachment of immigrant students to their countries of settlement.

This paper reports on a study carried out in the Netherlands which is aimed at finding an explanation for the curious evidence that the reformed approach to mathematics education appears to have a less positive influence on girls' results. Over and over it turns out that girls' achievement scores in primary mathematics are lower than those of boys. The research started with 5000 schools and ended up with 4 schools. The paper focuses on the last part of this zooming-in research in which the classroom observations took place. By means of these observations a number of classroom characteristics, which make the teaching less optimized for girls and may cause their mathematics scores to be lower, have been traced. (Contains 1 table.) [For complete proceedings, see ED500860.]

This paper evaluates an intensive 2-year Dutch training course, "Magistrum," as one possible answer to the training needs of principals. The paper posits the following question: "Is the Magistrum, as an illustrative example of an intensive training, an effective answer to the principals' need for professional development?" Preliminary findings are reported because data analysis is still in progress. The paper briefly describes the conceptual framework, with the central idea of professional development as an interactive and contextualized learning process. Next, it reports on the specific research approach in the study, that of semistructured interviews. The data suggest the Magistrum is a "timeout" for principals; the training offers them ways to "refuel." They can take a break while studying new theories, skills, and visions, all of which happen in intensive exchanges with other principals coping with the same challenges. Two patterns emerged in the meanings of "timeout": the acquisition of new knowledge, skills, and insights before principals returned to their schools; and a period of time that leads to more fundamental and pivotal changes in perspective. An appendix contains a description of the training program. (Contains 61 references.) (DFR)

This paper describes a field experiment with a pretest-posttest-control group design in which the potential of reading picture books to children for supporting their mathematical understanding was investigated. The study involved 384 children from eighteen kindergarten classes in eighteen schools in the Netherlands. Data analyses revealed that the experimental group showed a significantly larger increase than the control group in their mathematics performance in a project test containing items on a variety of mathematical topics including arithmetic, measurement, and geometry. [For the complete proceedings, see ED597799.]

Election simulations are considered a viable tool to instigate democratic learning in schools. This paper reports an explorative qualitative inquiry into one type of simulation project: mock-elections (ME). Main objective was to gain an insight into the organization of ME-practices in eight schools in the Netherlands in 2012. Thematic analysis of interviews with teachers and materials revealed how student roles in the organization could be classified as being organizer, assistant and recipient. Prevailing types of activities concerned a one-lesson assignment on party programs and personal interests, and discussion of political news items. Discussion of the ME-practices in light of CDC-theory suggests that meaningful democratic learning can benefit from strengthening student participation in the organization and introducing (peer-) assessments.

This paper explores written calculation methods for solving division problems used by students in England and the Netherlands at two points in the same school year. It analyzes informal strategies and identifies progression toward more structured procedures that result from different teaching approaches. Comparison of the methods used by fifth grade students in the two countries shows greater success with the Dutch approach, which is based on careful progression from informal strategies to more structured and efficient procedures. This success is particularly significant for the girls in the sample. For the English students, whose written solutions largely involve the traditional algorithm, the discontinuity between the formal computation procedure and informal solutions strategies presents difficulties. In addition to the influences of different teaching approaches, strategies and facilities are associated with the presence or absence of a context and the nature of the numbers involved. (Contains 32 references.) (Author/SM)

This paper describes the preliminary findings of a training program to develop skills of Dutch primary school principals in coaching teachers for improved teaching. The major research questions addressed whether the 28 school principals who participated in the training program implemented the target coaching skills whether teachers coached by the trained school perceived a change in the coaching skills of the school principals. A training manual was developed and used in a one-day workshop for the principals focusing on skills relevant to the confrontational conference, pre-conference, observation, and post-conference. A quasi-experimental, treatment-controlled group investigation was used to test the effects of the training program. The coaching of trained versus untrained school principals (n=21) was rated by expert judges. Then the coaching of the trained versus untrained school principals was rated by the coached teachers. Based on the pre- and post-training ratings of coaching conferences, a significant treatment effect was found in regard to coaching skills concerned with the development of autonomy (empowerment), feedback, and agreement on classroom observational goals. Although the training was directed at the functions of consulting and confronting, the majority of the school principals conducted coaching conferences that emphasized consulting. (Contains 31 references.) (JLS)

This paper describes the long-term effects of a staff-development program, "Dealing with Multi-Grade Classes," based on selected findings from teaching-effectiveness research in schools with multi-grade or mixed-age classes. The short-term effects were examined in two studies conducted in 1986-87 and 1989-90. In 1992 a follow-up study was conducted. A quasi-experimental, treatment-control group design was used to test the long-term effects of the program and the effects of coaching. Based on pre- and post-training classroom observations, the follow-up study revealed a significant treatment effect for the time-on-task levels of the pupils in the multi-grade classes and for the instructional and classroom management skills of the teachers. No significant differences were found between the coached and un-coached teachers and between the teachers who received the training program either 2 or 5 years ago. No significant differences were found between the post-test and retention test scores. This suggests that the training results were quite stable. No indication of further growth in the executive control of the selected instructional and classroom-management skills was found. No significant differences in achievement were found between the pupils in classes with trained teachers and the pupils in classes with untrained teachers. (Contains 33 references.) (JB)

Since 1988, education deregulation policies in the Netherlands have granted more autonomy to schools. This paper presents findings of a study that analyzed the changing role of school managers that has resulted from such policies. The study identified underlying values in the attitudes of school leaders toward their changing roles as managers of more autonomous schools. Data were obtained from interviews conducted with at least two school managers at eight Dutch primary schools and analysis of school documents. Findings show that school leaders cannot escape from their values while coping with the shift toward school autonomy. Administrators reported that tensions existed between being an educational professional and a chief executive; being in charge and being a member of the team; and feeling overloaded and being able to delegate tasks. One table is included. (Contains 11 references.) (LMI)

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the influence of organizational and instructional factors on the efficacy of cooperative learning in Dutch classrooms, as measured by student achievement. To answer the question "What is the degree to which primary schools in the Netherlands use cooperative learning," a questionnaire was completed by 500 teachers from 750 schools. The second phase involved classroom observation of 1,200 students aged 10-12 years in 55 classrooms in 33 schools, a survey of their teachers, and analysis of student achievement test scores. Findings indicate that there was no difference in the mean quality of cooperation and the mean learning progress in classrooms that used cooperative learning frequently and those that did not. Therefore, no clear conclusions about which organizational and instructional factors affect the efficacy of cooperative learning could be drawn. A research design for more indepth study is highlighted. Four tables are included. (LMI)

Findings of a study that examined the effects of teacher behavior and organizational factors on student behavior in peer work groups are presented in this paper. Methodology included observation of one classroom from each of 10 Dutch elementary schools that frequently used forms of peer work groups and teacher interviews. Findings indicate that cooperative work groups were used only 20 percent of the total peer group time, even by teachers who said that they frequently used cooperative learning. Helping groups were the most frequently used type of peer work group. Teachers used individualistic reward structures; the groups did not demonstrate competitive reward structures. The degree to which students were involved in their tasks and showed desirable/undesirable interactions during peer work groups was related to organizational factors and teacher behavior. Organizational factors, such as group type and composition, influenced the kind of student interaction. For application tasks, monitoring by the teacher promoted student involvement and favorable interactions. Ten tables are included. (LMI)

During the last decade in Belgium and the Netherlands, comprehensive reform of primary education emanated from central policy. In both countries the national authorities set up a program to encourage and facilitate the new primary school concept. This paper reports on 25 schools in the Netherlands and 52 in Belgium that acquired special funding and assistance. Research was based on the assumption that the school's response manifests itself in three ways: in the nature of the implementation agenda; in specially arranged structures to conduct the implementation activities; and in steering the flow of implementation work. Data were collected from interviews, questionnaires, observation, and document analysis. Respondents included principals and staff, external change facilitators, school inspectors, and policy makers. The first part provides an overview of national policy at the local school level, with attention to school/national policy interaction. Part 2 outlines and illustrates a profile of steering functions--direction/concept clarification, directional pressure, assistance/support, and latitude definition. The concept of implementation as an intervention in the ongoing school organizational processes is examined in part 3, which describes the local concerns generated by comprehensive mandates for change. Part 4 accounts for differences in the two national repertoires of policy inducements and addresses the question of how a central policy program presents itself locally. A profile of policy inducements from the school's perspective is articulated. Two figures are included. (29 references) (LMI)

This paper presents the results of a school improvement study (main field test) directed at schools with mixed-age classes in the context of inservice teacher education. A quasi-experimental treatment control group investigation was designed to test the effects of the staff development program "Dealing with Mixed-age Classes," and the effects of coaching in addition to the program. Based on pre-and post-training classroom observations, a significant treatment effect was found for pupil's time-on-task levels in mixed-age classrooms and for teachers' instructional and classroom management skills. On two aspects of instructional and classroom management skills larger gains were found for coached teachers: organizing instruction and dealing with disturbances. Time-on-task levels improved more strongly in classes of coached teachers. (Author/IAH)

In the present study we investigated to what extent workshops aimed at improving teachers' use of classroom assessment techniques had an effect on students' achievement in mathematics. Ten primary school teachers participated in two consecutive small-scale studies, aimed at using and improving different classroom assessment techniques in mathematics education. In total, 214 students were involved. The studies were carried out in the Netherlands. Qualitative and quantitative measures were used to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of the assessment techniques. In both studies teachers and students reported enjoying the techniques and finding them useful. In terms of mathematics achievement, results indicate students improving considerably; the students' scores increased more than the national mean. [For the complete proceedings, see ED597799.]

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a fast pace and affecting academia and professional practice in many ways. Paradigms such as just-in-time learning, constructivism, student-centered learning and collaborative approaches have emerged and are being supported by technological advancements such as simulations, virtual reality and multi-agents systems. These developments have created both opportunities and areas of serious concerns. This conference aimed to cover both technological as well as pedagogical issues related to these developments. The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference received 98 submissions from more than 24 countries. Out of the papers submitted, 29 were accepted as full papers. In addition to the presentation of full papers, short papers and reflection papers, the conference also includes a keynote presentation from internationally distinguished researchers. Individual papers contain figures, tables, and references.

The Second International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM2009) was held at the University of Cordoba, Spain, on July 1-3, 2009. EDM brings together researchers from computer science, education, psychology, psychometrics, and statistics to analyze large data sets to answer educational research questions. The increase in instrumented educational software and databases of student test scores, has created large repositories of data reflecting how students learn. The EDM conference focuses on computational approaches for using those data to address important educational questions. The broad collection of research disciplines ensures cross fertilization of ideas, with the central questions of educational research serving as a unifying focus. This publication presents the following papers: (1) A Comparison of Student Skill Knowledge Estimates (Elizabeth Ayers, Rebecca Nugent, Nema Dean); (2) Differences Between Intelligent Tutor Lessons, and the Choice to Go Off-Task (Ryan S.J.d. Baker); (3) A User-Driven and Data-Driven Approach for Supporting Teachers in Reflection and Adaptation of Adaptive Tutorials (Dror Ben-Naim, Michael Bain, and Nadine Marcus); (4) Detecting Symptoms of Low Performance Using Production Rules (Javier Bravo and Alvaro Ortigosa); (5) Predicting Students Drop Out: A Case Study (Gerben W. Dekker, Mykola Pechenizkiy and Jan M. Vleeshouwers); (6) Using Learning Decomposition and Bootstrapping with Randomization to Compare the Impact of Different Educational Interventions on Learning (Mingyu Feng, Joseph E. Beck and Neil T. Heffernan); (7) Does Self-Discipline impact students' knowledge and learning? (Yue Gong, Dovan Rai, Joseph E. Beck, and Neil T. Heffernan); (8) Consistency of Students' Pace in Online Learning (Arnon Hershkovitz and Rafi Nachmias); (9) Student Consistency and Implications for Feedback in Online Assessment Systems (Tara M. Madhyastha and Steven Tanimoto); (10) Edu-mining for Book Recommendation for Pupils (Ryo Nagata, Keigo Takeda, Koji Suda, Junichi Kakegawa, and Koichiro Morihiro); (11) Conditional Subspace Clustering of Skill Mastery: Identifying Skills that Separate Students (Rebecca Nugent, Elizabeth Ayers, and Nema Dean); (12) Determining the Significance of Item Order In Randomized Problem Sets (Zachary A. Pardos and Neil T. Heffernan); (13) Learning Factors Transfer Analysis: Using Learning Curve Analysis to Automatically Generate Domain Models (Philip I. Pavlik Jr., Hao Cen, Kenneth R. Koedinger); (14) Detecting and Understanding the Impact of Cognitive and Interpersonal Conflict in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Environments (David Nadler Prata, Ryan S.J.d. Baker, Evandro d.B. Costa, Carolyn P. Rose, Yue Cui, Adriana M.J.B. de Carvalho); (15) Using Dirichlet priors to improve model parameter plausibility (Dovan Rai, Yue Gong, Joseph E. Beck); (16) Reducing the Knowledge Tracing Space (Steven Ritter, Thomas K. Harris, Tristan Nixon, Daniel Dickison, R. Charles Murray, and Brendon Towle); (17) Automatic Detection of Student Mental Models During Prior Knowledge Activation in MetaTutor (Vasile Rus, Mihai Lintean, and Roger Azevedo); (18) Automatic Concept Relationships Discovery for an Adaptive E-course (Marian Simko, Maria Bielikova); (19) Unsupervised MDP Value Selection for Automating ITS Capabilities (John Stamper and Tiffany Barnes); (20) Recommendation in Higher Education Using Data Mining Techniques (Cesar Vialardi, Javier Bravo Agapito, Leila Shafti, Alvaro and Ortigosa); (21) Developing an Argument Learning Environment Using Agent-Based ITS (ALES) (Safia Abbas and Hajime Sawamura); (22) A Data Mining Approach to Reveal Representative Collaboration Indicators in Open Collaboration Frameworks (Antonio R. Anaya and Jesus G. Boticario); (23) Dimensions of Difficulty in Translating Natural Language into First-Order Logic (Dave Barker-Plummer, Richard Cox, and Robert Dale); (24) Predicting Correctness of Problem Solving from Low-level Log Data in Intelligent Tutoring Systems (Suleyman Cetintas, Luo Si, Yan Ping Xin, and Casey Hord); (25) Back to the future: a non-automated method of constructing transfer models (Ming Feng and Joseph Beck); (26) How do Students Organize Personal Information Spaces? (Sharon Hardof-Jaffe, Arnon Hershkovitz, Hama Abu-Kishk, Ofer Bergman, and Rafi Nachmias); (27) Improving Student Question Classification (Cecily Heiner and Joseph L. Zachary); (28) Why, What, and How to Log? Lessons from LISTEN (Jack Mostow and Joseph E. Beck); (29) Process Mining Online Assessment Data (Mykola Pechenizkiy, Nikola Trcka, Ekaterina Vasilyeva, Wil van der Aalst, and Paul De Bra); (30) Obtaining Rubric Weights For Assessments By More Than One Lecturer Using A Pairwise Learning Model (J. R. Quevedo and E. Montanes); (31) Collaborative Data Mining Tool for Education (Enrique Garcia, Cristobal Romero, Sebastian Ventura, Miguel Gea, and Carlos de Castro); (32) Predicting Student Grades in Learning Management Systems with Multiple Instance Genetic Programming (Amelia Zafra and Sebastian Ventura); and (33) Visualization of Differences in Data Measuring Mathematical Skills (Lukas Zoubek and Michal Burda). Individual papers contain tables, figures, footnotes, references and appendices.