Educational Science Programmes at five Dutch universities in the year 2012: Ready for the future?

This state-of-the-art report describes the main findings of the National Evaluation Committee regarding the quality of Educational Programs in the Educational Sciences in the Netherlands in the year 2012. The report describes the state-of-the-art and trends based on QANU-assessments (Quality Assurance Netherlands Universities) of Educational Science programs offered by the University of Amsterdam, Utrecht University, University of Twente, University of Groningen, and the Open University of the Netherlands. All five universities offer a Master program; in the assessed period, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Twente also offered a Bachelor program. The main goal of this article is to answer the question if the assessed programs are ready for the future, based on the observed state-of-the art and trends, and to give recommendations to make the programs more sustainable in the years to come. The state-of-the-art and trends are described by answering eight questions: (1) What goals do the programs try to reach? (2) What kind of students do they attract? (3) Which didactical concepts are used? (4) How is assessment and evaluation organized? (5) How international are the programs? (6) How are the curricula constructed? (7) How is quality assurance arranged? (8) How sustainable are the programs? The article ends with a summary of main recommendations.