On the productivity and efficiency of education : the role of innovations in Dutch secondary education

Innovative schools in general perform better than less innovative schools. Moreover, this dissertation shows that Dutch schools for secondary education are relatively efficient (although there are major differences between schools) and that innovations, the distribution of financial means and scale play an important role in that. The efficiency scores of schools vary per region and school type. Finally, it turns out that about one fourth of the schools are still in the middle of a considerable improvement process. These conclusions contribute to the discussion about productivity and efficiency in secondary education and the role of innovations.