The aim of the EDDI Catalogue is to support and compliment the EDDI e-platform and application. The EDDI catalogue (which you can find on the EDDi app) is giving lots of good examples. The Dutch good practise we have put forward is probably welll known: It’s about the Superschool, de Hugo de Groot school in Rotterdam: From the worst school in the Netherlands to one of the best schools in the Netherlands in five years.

Superschool

In 2009 Eric van ’t Zelfde became director of one of the worst schools in Rotterdam. A school with only 34 new student registrations, dramatic exam results, tired teachers and crime. Van ’t Zelfde tackled the problems off the beaten track. No less than 56 teachers left, 34 of whom in his first year as director. He introduced the ingenious rule of conduct ‘you behave yourself’, which is brilliant in its simplicity. He expelled a number of students against the law and had to answer to the judge. After several years, his school began to score at or above the national average. From the worst school in the Netherlands to one of the best schools in the Netherlands in five years.

EDDI Main Outputs

The EDDI Project has resulted in the development and production of 3 main outputs:

• The EDDI E-Platform
• The EDDI Catalogue
• The EDDI Android Application

Press Release April 30th 2023 – Early School Leaving (ESL) is a serious issue that affects many young people across the globe. There are many reasons why some young people give up education and (vocational) training prematurely: personal or family problems, learning difficulties, fragile socio-economic situation and of course the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the number of Dutch early school leavers has not been as high in MBO in the past ten years as it is now, due to Corona (AD, 30/4/2023). The ‘Early Digital Diagnosis and Intervention (EDDI)’ project helps teachers, families and students to better understand the causes and consequences of leaving education early. We have produced an electronic platform with modules, a catalogue and an android application in English, Dutch, Turkish and Greek. These outputs are contributing new solutions to help tackle the problem of Early School Leaving (ESL).

Effective EDDI Outputs

The EDDI project has developed a clear, holistic community-wide action plan for providing robust diagnostic tools that are capable of detecting problems early. The platform, the modules, the catalogue and the android application enable educational institutions to offer support to vulnerable students early, thus reducing the risk of early school leaving. We have involved family, teachers and students (14-25 years old) from mixed international groups. Furthermore, the EDDI project has benefited from the support of local social agencies, educational authorities and ICT solution partners. Through the multiplier events held in each country, we got some really good feedback on the outputs produced. We are happy to conclude that the feedback seems to suggest that we have achieved our aim, and are outputs reduce the risks of early school leaving, keeping students in education and/or in training.

EDDI Productions

The EDDI project has brought together innovative methods, digital interventions and pedagogies addressing the reasons for early school leaving, and has proposed approaches to early ESL diagnosis, prevention and intervention. Our project has managed to successfully deliver the following results:

1. The EDDI platform offers you a free course consisting of 4 modules with the aim of preventing early school leaving and improving the quality of education. You can reach the platform also from the QR code.

2. The EDDI Catalogue presents the policy recommendations and the Needs Analysis Report from the partner countries (United Kingdom, Greece, Turkey, Netherlands and French Polynesia) with regards to Early School Leaving ESL). Moreover, it provides an overview of the partner countries’ educational systems and good practice examples.

3. The EDDI Android Application offers the opportunity to access the EDDI training material fast and smoothly through your mobile phone, for free, through a QR scan, via MobinCube Store and the Google Play Store!

Multiplier Events for Students, Families & Teachers

Multiplier Events have taken place in the United Kingdom, Turkey, Greece and the Netherlands during April 2023. The EDDI-partners have had an opportunity to inform our stakeholders and beneficiaries about our project outputs and discuss the drop-out phenomenon. The project has undertaken a comparative review of national ESL practices and interventions, which  included countries that have low (Early School Leaving) ESL statistics and those at the opposite end of the scale, to help deliver sustainable solutions to the ESL problem.

The project had lined up, among others, the following questions: It is clear that students vulnerable to early school leaving are not fully engaged in either education or the labour market. But why? What are their experiences? What are the needs of this target group? It is necessary to find out the reasons for drop-outs. What factors influence particular personal attitudes and behaviours? Why isn’t enough action being taken to address drop-outs? Why do existing school digital services and programmes fall short of delivering the warning indicators? What would make programmes that support early school leavers successful? How do students’ personal experiences affect subsequent behaviour? What type of digital services would meet the needs of early school leavers? What actions are needed to make programmes and digital services more effective?

A lot of participants joined the multiplier events and the feedback suggests we achieved some pretty good results. The Dutch EDDI multiplier event, held on April 24^th in Leiderdorp, The Netherlands had some amazing feedback from the participants: 76,2% really liked the EDDI android app, 71,7% liked the EDDI Platform and 65,2% liked the EDDI Catalogue. The full EDDI programme was packed with exciting presentations and a vibrant EDDI market place. Pieter van Schie and Carla de Vreij were the hosts of the day. ,,The discussions and feedback on what we have showcased was pretty good’’, said Pieter. ,,The feedback was also that the blended way of the modules really gave a lot of excitement and energy on the topics.”

Did you know that…

• Teachers, trainers and lecturers who really know their students can make a difference.
• 100% of the participants of the Dutch EDDI multiplier event said that during the event they were provided with an opportunity to learn new things and improve their knowledge on preventing school drop-outs
• That Dutch schools try to get their students back to school by calling, sending them WhatsApp messages and even by sending them personal postcards.
• For years, the wrong choice of education was one of the biggest causes of school dropout, but since the program ‘M-Year, mind the gap!’ has been introduced, an initiative that started in 2021 in Alphen aan den Rijn has made a change so far been so successful that it will also be offered at MBO Rijnland Gouda as well from the 2023-2024 academic year.
• De Hugo de Grootschool in Rotterdam went from the worst school in the Netherlands to one of the best schools in the Netherlands in five years!

On Monday April 24th we will organise the Dutch EDDI multiplier event. The EDDI Project aims to help students to better understand the causality and consequences of leaving education in order to find the possible solutions to the Early School Leaving (ESL) problem. During the multiplier event we will showcase our platform, catologue and app.

The final demo of the EDDI Application has been finalised on January 30th 2023. The app has a great black and blue design. The Android application has various screens with topics sucha as the EDDI Catalogue, EDDI modules and EDDI social apps, connected to our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. has an interactive online toolbox that gives opportunity to teachers, learners, parents and others involved.

Android App

Since the demo was finalised, we have updated the app seven times. It functions perfectly.The EDDI App can be uploaded from Google Play. The app, as a BETA VERSION, has been tested for a long time. Any feedback is stll welcome till the end of the project. See below our YouTube EDDI App video and our Quick screenvideo of the app: Enjoy!

QR Code

The Android EDDI app can already be uploaded on the Google Play Store. Soon we will also provide a QR Code, easy for you to scan and get access.

In 2009 Eric van ’t Zelfde became director of one of the worst schools in Rotterdam. A school with only 34 new student registrations, dramatic exam results, tired teachers and crime. Van ’t Zelfde tackled the problems off the beaten track. No less than 56 teachers left, 34 of whom in his first year as director. He introduced the ingenious rule of conduct ‘you behave yourself’, which is brilliant in its simplicity. He expelled a number of students against the law and had to answer to the judge. After several years, his school began to score at or above the national average. From the worst school in the Netherlands to one of the best schools in the Netherlands in five years.

Superschool

Welcome to the second issue of the EDDI (Early Digital Diagnosis and Intervention) project newsletter. The EDDI project aims to help teachers, families and students to better understand the causes and consequences of early school leaving. In turn, this will help find possible solutions to the problem of Early School Leaving (ESL). The Project is funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ programme – KA2 Strategic Partnerships for School Education. The project is set to run for 30 months (November 2020 – April 2023). Project No: 2020-1-UK01-KA201-079073).

The EDDI 4-day Learning, Teaching, Training activities were held in Thessaloniki, Greece at the offices of Stimmuli for Change. During the LTT-days informative seminars have been conducted by the experts from Universities and successful enterprises from the host country and also by the experts from the other partner countries joining at the location and via interactive tools like skype, zoom etc.

Stimmuli for Change

It was the first time that the EDDI partners saw each other face-to-face. Important feature of the LTT was getting some valuable feedback on the EDDi platform. Furthermore there were interview sessions planned about module 4 – Absenteeism. Overall discussions took place and future plans were made on the last day of the training.

What does the project EDDI do?

Absenteeism

All EDDI-partner organisations were interviewed on the absenteeism topic. All videos below are EDDI-videos are productions of the LTT-days. Below Masha Garibyan from the Aston University (United Kingdom) EDDI-project manager about ‘how absenteeism affects student performance:

Theofilos Poulipoulos, project manager Stimmuli for Change about tackling absenteeism in school. This video is an EDDI production.

More results of the training will be published and broadcasted by all the partners via videos on Youtube, the organiosation Websites and the website of the project.

Dropping out, also known as Early School Leaving (ESL) is a serious issue. It affects many young people across the globe. It is closely connected to unemployment, social exclusion, poverty and poor health. In the 2020/2021 school year, there were 24,385 Dutch early school leavers. The “Early Digital Diagnosis and Intervention (EDDI)” project aims to help improve student retention rates by helping teachers, families and students better understand the causes and consequences of ‘Early School Leaving’. An explanantion, from a Dutch perspective:

Definition Dutch Drop Out

A Dutch school dropout is a young person who:

• is between 12 and 23 years old;
• is not enrolled in a school;
• does not have a basic qualification (a diploma at a minimum of MBO 2, HAVO or VWO level);
• does not come from practical education or secondary special education

Why do Young people leave school too early?

Young people leave school too early for various reasons. Often it is a combination of causes that contribute to the school dropout, such as:

• A wrong choice of study;
• Would rather make money than go to school;
• Personal and mental problems;
• Not the same expectations about the education between school and the pupil or student;
• There is also the issue of the strong correlation between early schoolleaving and juvenile behavior. One possible explanation for this correlation is a lack of social bonding that causes adolescents to both commit crime and drop out of school;
• Poor school performance is the one that matters in the end: Targeting the poorest performers at an early age should therefore be advocated, as this would appear to be the most efficient means to reduce their sequential participation in all forms of risk behavior

Comparison on EU Level

In 2021, 9.7 % of 18-24 year olds in the EU had completed at most a lower secondary education and were not in further education or training (early leavers). On a European level the Dutch are doing pretty good. In 2021, the Member States that reported the lowest shares of early leavers from education and training were Croatia (2%), Slovenia, Greece and Ireland (all 3%) and Lithuania and the Netherlands (5%).

Impacts

Young people who start working without a basic qualification have a greater chance of losing their job than an employee with a diploma. And they more often have flexible jobs, which means that they also have little income as adults.

The Dutch national government wants to prevent young people between the ages of 12 and 23 leaving school without a basic qualification (early school leaving). Without a basic qualification, young people have less chance on the labor market. The government, schools and municipalities are jointly taking measures to help young people go back to school.

The most common measures preventing early school leaving in secondary school and senior secondary vocational education are:

• The national government encourages secondary schools with performance tools to prevent early school leaving. For example, a secondary school receives extra money if it has fewer than a certain number of school leavers. The national government has set standards for this. Secondary schools receive approximately €17 million annually.
• Quality Agendas: MBO institutions themselves take measures to improve the quality of education and appropriate supervision of students. These are in the quality agendas. MBO schools and the national government have agreed that attention will be paid to young people in a vulnerable position and equal opportunities. MBO institutions decide for themselves how they spend the money. An independent committee assesses the plan of each MBO school.
• RMC Function: Installed are regional reporting and coordination function of municipalities. The municipalities have a statutory duty to combat young people dropping out: the Regional Reporting and Coordination Function (RMC function). The people who perform this task are called RMC consultants (advisors). The RMC consultants guide school-leavers back to school. They seek contact by, for example, visiting, calling or sending a letter. And encourage the young people to get the diploma anyway. If this is not feasible, the RMC consultants guide the young people to work or another daily activity. Such as treatment in a care program or volunteer work. The counselors also seek contact with young people who often skip school. Because truancy is sometimes a sign of dropping out of school.

Regional Collabouration Dutch schools and municipalities

The regional plan states which measures schools and municipalities will jointly implement to combat early school leaving.

The most common measures are:

• Extra guidance at schools for young people who need more support. For example, by teachers, social workers or youth workers, who enter into discussions with the young people to give advice;
• Coaches ‘for Switching’ offer help to young people who find it difficult to make a good choice of study.
  Helping young people after school dropout. For example, with research into a new education or work. Or with personal problems;
• Regions provide training to young people in the field of self-knowledge, behavior and social experience;
• Dealing with school absenteeism. If a young person often calls in absent or sick, there may be more going on;
• Schools, municipalities, social workers and youth doctors work together to allow young people to go back to school as much as possible.

The EDDI (Early Digital Diagnosis and Intervention) project aims to help teachers, families and students to better understand the causes and consequences of leaving education early. In turn this will help find possible solutions to the problem of Early School Leaving (ESL). Currently we are building a catologue with policy documents and good practices on Early School Leaving (ESL), a platform and an App.

Dutch Catologue on ESL

One of the articles which will be in the EDDI Catologue is the one about the significant reduction of Dutch Dropouts in VET: The number of students having successfully finished their VET course has risen to almost 84%, concluded the Inspectorate of Education in its 2019 report on the State of Education in the Netherlands. What more can be done to reduce the share of drop-outs even further, now since more than a decade a great number of policy instruments has already been applied?

In search of innovative methods the Ministry of Education allowed VET schools to experiment with homemade interventions. Subsidies were granted to three VET-schools under the condition of participating in an evaluation of the effectiveness of the instrument of choice. One VET school improved the intake procedure for prospective students under the assumption that the risk of dropout will be reduced by a careful match between the student’s expectations and competences and a study program. Another VET school introduced stricter policies in the event of a student’s unauthorized absence, as absence often precedes early school leaving. And the third encouraged parental involvement in the education of their children through the use of e-coaching for parents.

The aim of the EDDI Project is to prevent ESL in the partner countires and in the EU as a whole.

Objectives of the EDDI Project

The objectives of the EDDI Project are:

• Provide practical ideas and new strategies for classroom interventions
• Raise students’ motivation to learn
• Improve competences linked to the teachers’ professional profiles
• Provide teachers with a resource of ready- to-use materials to prevent ESL
• Involve students, families, health and social agencies
• Improve students’ and teachers’ knowledge and competences in English and ICT
• Promote social integration at school

EDDI Platform & App

One of the main outcomes of the project is the EDDI platform, which will provide an online space for teachers to develop a wide European network for institutions, teachers, trainers, students and parents to
share and exchange tips and suggestions in regards to fighting ESL. The EDDI app will be complimentary to the platform.

The first EDDI newsletter is published ! The EDDI (Early Digital Diagnosis and Intervention) project aims to help teachers, families and students to better understand the causes and consequences of leaving education early. In turn this will help find possible solutions to the problem of Early School Leaving (ESL). We believe that only a comparative analysis of practices and interventions between countries which do well in the ESL statistics and those at the opposite end of the spectrum would deliver a sustainable solution to the ESL problem. Besides economic and social mobility impacts, ESL has been linked to bullying, violence and micro criminality. ESL is a threat to the successful future development of the workforce and community prospects. Read more about our project in our newsletter

EDDI Newsletter Nr. 1