Do Textbooks Matter for Reading Comprehension? A Study in Flemish Primary Education.

This study assessed whether textbooks affect academic performance and engagement in reading comprehension in primary education in Flanders (Belgium). The data of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2016 and a reassessment of this study in 2018 were used to describe students' learning progress in reading comprehension and evolution in engagement between the fourth and sixth grade. The sample consisted of 3051 students in 98 schools.

Measuring School Absenteeism: Administrative Attendance Data Collected by Schools Differ From Self-Reports in Systematic Ways.

In order to use attendance monitoring within an integrative strategy for preventing, assessing and addressing cases of youth with school absenteeism, we need to know whether the attendance data collected by schools cover all students with (emerging) school attendance problems (SAPs). The current article addresses this issue by comparing administrative attendance data collected by schools with self-reported attendance data from the same group of students (age 15-16) in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium ( = 4344). We seek to answer the following question: does an estimation of unauthorized absenteeism based on attendance data as collected by schools through electronic registration differ from self-reported unauthorized absenteeism and, if so, are the differences between administrative and self-reported unauthorized absenteeism systematic? Our results revealed a weak association between self-reported unauthorized school absenteeism and registered unauthorized school absenteeism.

Effortless or less effort? Effects of tracks on students' engagement.

Background: It is found that assigning students to a lower track during secondary education negatively affects their academic performance. As an explanation, it is often mentioned that an anti-school culture in lower tracks undermines students' effort and involvement.

Aims: This study assessed whether going to a lower track affects student engagement.