Effects of incentives on (un)desired behavior of students, teachers and school leaders

In this study, we test the effectiveness of (behavioural) incentives commonly used in the Netherlands: (1) selection, (2) information provision, (3) reward, and (4) educational supervision. The central question is whether these interventions are effective in Dutch education and what behavioural changes they lead to.

Subproject 1 investigates the effectiveness of selection measures in higher education. It deals with the effects of the language and numeracy test in teacher training programmes. The policy goal of this intervention was to increase the quality of intake. We examine to what extent this happened and what any side effects are.

Subproject 2 investigates how information on the labour market opportunities of study programmes can be presented to arrive at a more labour market-oriented study choice. We implement ‘eye-tracking’ technology to investigate, in a ‘randomised controlled trial setting’, young people’s behavioural responses to the labour market information presented to them.

Subproject 3 investigates the effect of teacher reward measures on the labour supply of teachers in disadvantaged schools. On the one hand, a ‘systematic literature review’ outlines the effects of financial incentives in the Netherlands and other countries. On the other hand, the effectiveness of a salary increase on teacher employment is tested at schools with a complex pupil population in Amsterdam.

Subproject 4 investigates the effects and side-effects of educational supervision in primary schools. In a quasi-experimental setting, we investigate to what extent educational supervision leads to improved educational quality.