'Welkom in de ratrace.' Over de dwang van de Cito-toets

Samenvatting

'Welcome to the Rat Race': On the Pressure of the Cito-Test. This article discusses why the Cito-test (a scholastic aptitude test) at the end of the primary school has become so important, while at the same time parents, primary and secondary school teachers, and educational professionals argue that excessive weight should not be placed to the test results at the expense of the advice of the primary school teachers. An analysis of the coverage of the beginning of the Cito-test in five national newspapers in Feb 2004 shows two reasons. Selection for the hierarchically ordered secondary schools takes place directly after elementary school. Secondary schools rely more and more on 'objective' admission criteria and ask for a minimum test score. In the race for the highest educational qualifications, parents stress the importance of the Cito-score for their child to guarantee admission to the higher levels of secondary education. At the same time, parents judge schools on their average Cito-scores. So, in the competition for pupils, schools have to demonstrate their quality. Moreover, the state demands that schools account for their achievements. Quantifiable measurements, like the test scores at school level, are the easiest to judge, and are increasingly considered as an indication of the quality of the school. 22 References. Adapted from the source document.