In this contribution to the Special Issue of Studies in Higher Education, I describe developments during the COVID-19 pandemic in Dutch higher education along three lines. First, the context is outlined in chronological order. It concerns the evolution of the pandemic in the Netherlands, complemented by the general situation at my own university…

Self-evaluation is supposed to be a valid, reliable and easy-to-use instrument to commit professionals to external quality assurance. The writing of a self-evaluation report is the first step in most higher education accreditation systems all over the world. Research on accreditation in the Netherlands and Flanders shows that professionals…

The article entitled "The selection of scientific talent in the allocation of research grants" by van Arensbergen and van den Besselaar published in "Higher Education Policy" 25/3 (2012) is based on research that both researchers carried out on behalf of The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. In this comment, we…

I address two issues that were inspired by my work on the Dutch Committee on Tests and Testing (COTAN). The first issue is the understanding of problems test constructors and researchers using tests have of psychometric knowledge. I argue that this understanding is important for a field, like psychometrics, for which the dissemination of…

Using a two-step approach, Van Soest et al. (2010) recently questioned the pertinence of the conclusions drawn by Bootsma and Van Wieringen (1990) with respect to the visual regulation of an exemplary rapid interceptive action: the attacking forehand drive in table tennis. In the first step, they experimentally compared the movement behaviors of…

In this paper, I will argue that it is possible to use data from large-scale international and national mathematics assessment programmes, whose attention is on summative achievement, to provide formative information that informs teachers about the effects of their classroom practice. However, to have impact on, and be useful for, classroom…

The "Standards for Evaluations of Educational Programs Projects Materials," formulated by the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation raise certain questions which should be regarded as indicating a further complementary perspective rather than as a criticism of their formulation. The possibility of conflict between the…

Government's role differs according to whether it restricts itself to creating a structural framework within which institutional performance evaluation takes place or takes the evaluative task on itself. Process-directed and output-directed evaluation are compared, with examples given from the Netherlands. (Author/MSE)

Responsive evaluation offers a perspective in which evaluation is reframed from the assessment of program interventions on the basis of policy makers' goals to an engagement with and among all stakeholders about the value and meaning of their practice. Responsive evaluators have to be extra sensitive to power relations given the deliberate…

A model of quality assessment for higher education that incorporates both accountability (representing extrinsic values) and peer-review/collegiality (reflecting intrinsic values) is outlined. It is presented in both a historical context and the context of experiences with quality assessment in North America and Western Europe. (Author/MSE)

This guide provides advice and recommendations on designing a system of external quality assessment (EQA) for systems and institutions of higher education. Based on a Dutch national model, key features of the suggested system include: ownership by higher education institutions themselves although sanctioned by the government; primary aims of…

Discusses different world views on the roles of both science and education in society, questions some of the arguments put forward by proponents of national standards for environmental education in the United States, and argues for an alternative form of quality assessment in environmental education which is process-based instead of product- or…

This paper discusses the incongruity among education's multiplicity of conflicting actors, theories, and values that affect curriculum decision-making. This discussion is divided into three major concerns: sociopolitical, professional, and student. Sociopolitical concerns include the impact of peace, war, human sexuality, environment, work and…

Describes a Dutch study of the daily evaluation procedures and instructional decisions of 50 regular and special education teachers over six weeks. Teachers evaluated virtually all the tasks assigned to students, most informally, but did not deviate from their instructional plans on the basis of evaluation results. (DMM)

Critiques comparative empirical research on the effects of public policy. Provides a framework for the analysis of comparative research. (JDH)