Abstracts - Earli

science show that first-generation students learn the most, whereas second-generation students lagbehind native students. In contrast, there were no significant differences between the groups’ meangain scores in mathematics. Multi-level-analyses show that social, cultural and economic factorshave a significant influence on performances until the end of ninth grade, but lost much of theirpredictive power at the end of tenth grade. They also show that negative effects of a highpercentage of immigrant students in school seems to be mediated by a low level of generalcognitive abilities at the school level.The free fall of Dutch written arithmetic: what can solution strategies tell us?Marian Hickendorff, Leiden University, NetherlandsCornelis M. van Putten, Leiden University, NetherlandsWillem J. Heiser, Leiden University, NetherlandsNorman D. Verhelst , CITO, Arnhem, NetherlandsIn the Netherlands, achievement on problems of written arithmetic shows a steady decline over thelast two decades. This is reported in the fourth consecutive large-scale national assessment of thelevel of mathematical competence at the end of primary school. By investigating the strategiespupils used in solving problems of written division, this study aims at contributing to theexplanation of this decline. For the assessments of 1997 and 2004, strategies for solving writtendivision problems were studied and classified as being either traditional long division, or someform of a so-called realistic strategy. Furthermore, it occurred quite often that pupils stated ananswer, without writing down any calculations. Results show that two important changes tookplace from 1997 to 2004. Firstly, fewer pupils solved the problems by the traditional algorithm in2004 than in 1997. That could be expected because of the Dutch reform in mathematics education,the Realistic Mathematics Education (RME). However, the amount of pupils using realisticstrategies did not increase accordingly, but was quite stable. Instead, more and more pupils statedan answer without working, which turned out to be a quite unsuccessful approach. Secondly,traditional and realistic strategies and stating an answer without working were all significantly lesssuccessful in 2004 than in 1997. So, pupils not only shifted to a less successful strategy, they alsowere less successful in using all strategies.Is the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) the best method to assess graduatingjunior medical doctor’s skills competences?Griet Peeraer, University of Antwerp, BelgiumArno Muijtjens, Maastricht University, NetherlandsRoy Remmen, University of Antwerp, BelgiumBenedicte De Winter, University of Antwerp, BelgiumKristin Hendrickx, University of Antwerp, BelgiumLeo Bossaert, University of Antwerp, BelgiumAlbert Scherpbier, Maastricht University, Netherlandsaims One goal of undergraduate assessment in medical education is to predict medical students’(future) performance. In the area of skills testing, the objective structured clinical examination(OSCE) has been of great value as a tool to test a number of skills in a limited time, with biasreduction and improved reliability. It is therefore used in several final and licensing examinationsto test junior doctor’s skills competences. But can OSCE’s measure competences acquired throughmedical clerkships in the field of basic clinical skills? method Undergraduate students (N=32)were given a questionnaire with 184 basic clinical skills. We asked them to score the number oftimes they performed each skill during their clerkships (12 month period in year 6). We assessed– 317 –