Educational Reform in the Netherlands: Did it Change the Impact of Parental Occupation and Education?

This article compares three critical transitions at the end of primary school and during secondary education of two cohorts of Dutch male pupils: those born around 1953 and those born around 1965. The first cohort participated in an old educational system and the second, in a reformed system. Although significant increases in the survival ratios for these three transitions were found, the effects of parental occupation and education on these increasing survival ratios did not change significantly. This conclusion contradicts the results of earlier Dutch intercohort comparisons that used linear models. The contradiction can be explained by the increased educational participation (reflected by the increasing survival ratios) that decreased the correlations between parental background and educational attainment. The educational reform promoted more equal educational opportunities, not by changes in the selection and allocation of pupils, but by the increased educational participation of pupils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]