This article examines the extent to which parental socioeconomic status (SES) affects the likelihood of a child becoming a top-performing student, offering an international perspective by reporting this relationship in 31 developed countries. The impact of 3 important educational system characteristics (differentiation in terms of early tracking,…

This paper aims to explain the high scores of 15-year-old native pupils in The Netherlands and Flanders by comparing them with the scores of pupils in countries with the same highly stratified educational system: Wallonia, the German "Lander," the Swiss German cantons, and Austria. We use the data from the Programme for International…

In Flanders, 2 classes per school were selected to participate in TIMSS. Therefore, a multilevel model with an intermediate level could be implemented. The data collection was extended with additional questionnaires and an intelligence test. The empty model revealed that 57% of the variance of mathematics scores was situated at the student level,…

After a drastic mathematics curriculum change in The Netherlands in 1993, a study on the alignment of intended, implemented, and attained curriculum was carried out using TIMSS-99. For benchmarking, identical instruments were used in a neighboring country (Flanders), and for science. Two innovative methodological features were: (1) the teachers'…