Het milieu en de overgang van het basis- naar het voortgezet onderwijs in Nederland

Samenvatting

It is a generally-accepted fact that children from the higher social classes have a better chance of acquiring an advanced secondary education than their classmates from a working class environment. However, since the publication of the talent project (F. van Heek: Het verborgen talent, The hidden talent Meppel, Boom, 1968), it has been assumed that the differences in promotion are directly related to achievement in the lower school, not to social environment (although this may influence achievement). There are 2 studies similar to the talent project, one conducted in Arnhem and the other in Helmond. These indicate that there are definite differences directly related to the child's environment. While in all of the projects there are differences in the definitions of such concepts as "environment" and "suitability," this would not appear to be significant. What could explain the differences between the studies is that the latter 2 judged a much larger % of the students suitable for higher education, whereas the talent project was quite conservative in this respect. The unusually low number of children out of working class families who were promoted in Helmond must be typical for that city. Furthermore, psychological testing, which was done with all students in the talent project, tends to lower the number of hs children admitted to higher education, and thus equalizes the situation. 5 tables. P. Tiersma