BERLIN-Survey

Overview

The Federal State of Berlin is currently restructuring the secondary school system. The new structure includes a reorganization of the transition process from primary to secondary school. Since the school year 2010/2011, the number of secondary school tracks has been reduced to two: the Gymnasium (academic track) and the newly introduced Integrierte Sekundarschule (ISS; integrated secondary school). The ISS combines the Haupt-, Real- and Gesamtschule (former non- or partial-academic tracks) and provides all kinds of secondary school qualifications up to the Abitur (higher education entrance qualification). Parents can now enrol their child in the school of their choice in the whole Berlin region as long as there are enough places left. The BERLIN Survey scientifically supervises this reform process.
The survey is a cooperation between the Max Planck Institute for Human Development (MPIB), the German Institute for International Educational Research (DIPF) and the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN).

Figure 1 illustrates the design of the whole project, which is comprised of three modules. Modules 1 and 2 consider the first cohort of the reformed secondary school system, module 3 surveys students from the last year of the former system as a control cohort.

 IPN-involved activities within the project

The IPN is mainly responsible for the instrumentation and analysis of performance assessment in modules 2 and 3. PISA 2006 tests were used for the assessment of reading comprehension as well as mathematics and scientific literacy. Additionally, English reading comprehension was assessed on the basis of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (i.e., tests for the assessment of the German National Educational Standards in the National Assessment of Educational Progress 2009). A second focus is on the evaluation of a test for the assessment of vocational literacy in the areas of economics, work and vocation, technology, career and life planning. This test serves as an instrument for the assessment of skills that are supposed to be developed within the new school subject Wirtschaft-Arbeit-Technik (Economy-Work-Technology) that has been introduced in the ISS. The IPN has already developed and calibrated a version of this test that makes the completion of all four areas of the test possible within 60 minutes. This shortened test has been used in a number of other IPN studies.

Groups of people involved

IPN, Departments of Educational Science and Research Methodology:
Olaf Köller, Gabriel Nagy, Johanna Fleckenstein

DIPF, Department of Educational Governance:
Kai Maaz, Marko Neumann, Ricarda Albrecht, Michael Becker, Susanne Böse, Hannah Dumont, Michaela Kropf, Josefine Lühe, Franziska Stäbler

MPIB, Emeritus Group Educational Research:
Jürgen Baumert