SCHOOL CHOICE, RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS AND SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS

The article analyses the Dutch paradox of an education system that includes a large proportion of private religious schools in one of the most highly secularized of Western societies. Using a three - factor model of school choice, the authors analyze the most important motives for parental school choice and try to answer the question of why so many Dutch children from secularized families still attend private religious schools. Reasons for unconventional school choice and reflections of religious traditions within the schools are addressed as possible explanations for the Dutch paradox. The importance of school effectiveness is examined as a motive for school choice, along with factors contributing to effectiveness of public and private schools.