Málfríður - 15.05.1993, Blaðsíða 9

Gerda Cook:
Language Testing in
The Netherlands:
The Standardised Reading
Comprehension Test in
English at the Secondary
Schools
The topic of this article is the
national Reading Comprehen-
sion Test at the Dutch seconda-
ry schools. But since there are
probably not too many people in
Iceland familiar with the Dutch
school system I shall first give a
brief description of the second-
ary school level and of the exam-
ination system at the end of it.
There is quite a variety of
school types at the secondary
level. The diagram below out-
lines the current system (subject
to change in the near future).
In the last year of elementary
school the students have to
choose at which school type
they are going to continue their
schooling. The choice is be-
tween various types of voca-
tional schools and different le-
vels of general education. In ad-
dition to the student’s own pre-
ference there are three criteria
to base a final decision on: the
student’s school results, the
headmaster’s advice and the stu-
dent’s score on a standardised
national test administered in the
final year of elementary school.
This standardised test is not
compulsory, but the vast majori-
ty of the schools use it.
In talking about the national
reading comprehension test I
shall limit myself to general
Diagram of the Dutch education system
9
SPECIAL PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION