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Here you'll discover news from the EFFEct partners and consortium in blog-style articles. Stay up to date on a variety of topics. Engage with our diverse range of content and explore fascinating perspectives that will keep you informed and inspired.
Redefining education together
Primary educators’ perception of school today
In the past few years, Parents International has carried out research in various segments of the renewal of formal education, building on the opinions, experiences and needs of the primary educators of children, their parents. This work was especially intensive during the school closure periods of 2020-2022. Very recent research carried out together with the Brookings Institution (and being published in the coming months) shows a major mismatch between the perception of the role of school and satisfaction with school between different stakeholders. Parents and children generally show similar trends while teachers’ perception and expectations are different. It is even more worrying to see that teachers generally do not understand what expectations parents and students have.
EFFEct research in keynote speech
Daniel Horn will serve as the plenary speaker at the upcoming 20th Conference on Educational Assessment on April 26th 2024 in Szeged, Hungary. During this keynote talk, he will present his EFFEct research which investigates the challenges and pitfalls of determining the true impact of elite academic tracks in Hungary on student outcomes. Elite schools cater to students with high socio-economic status and abilities, aiming to provide top-tier education. However, the effectiveness of such schools in enhancing student outcomes remains debatable, with international studies showing mixed results. Horn's work particularly focuses on Hungary's 6-year elite academic track, leveraging the National Assessment of Basic Competencies and other administrative data. He discusses the significant issue of selection bias, which complicates the estimation of these schools' effects. Horn also raises concerns about the pre-test preparation for entrance exams affecting results, thus potentially understating the benefits of elite tracks. His objective is to underscore the importance of critical assumptions in econometric analyses and understanding the mechanisms behind observed effects.
The Critical Role of Primary Education in Cognitive Development
Bert De Smet's contribution at the Inspiratiedag Basisonderwijs, held by the Flemish Education Council on March 7th, shed light on the critical aspects of primary education, as part of our ongoing research in the EFFEct Project. He emphasized that primary school years are crucial for brain development, with the school environment playing a significant role. His insights pointed out that both domain-specific knowledge in areas like language and math, and general cognitive skills, particularly executive functions used in learning, are deeply influenced by educational experiences. The importance of quality interactions in these domains was also highlighted as a key factor in early cognitive development, making this an area of continued research focus for us.
Conference on financial literacy
On Wednesday, 21 February 2024, the European Commission, the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), and KU Leuven organised an academic conference on financial literacy research - pathways to becoming financially competent. This conference aims to shed light on the importance of improving financial literacy levels, both for individuals and for society as a whole.