Worse benefits with early division

Performances of Bavarian students suffer from early division of students

15/02/2013

The usual division of students in Bavaria, depending on their academic achievement level from the 5th grade onwards, leads to a decline in overall academic performance, according to a recent study by the Ifo Institute for Economic Research in Munich. Since the year 2000, the children are divided into secondary school, junior high school and high school in Bavaria after completing the fourth grade. A recent study has shown that both the achievements of secondary school students as well as the Hauptschüler worsen by the early division, reports the Ifo Institute.

„While elementary and junior high school students have learned together until the end of sixth grade before the reform, they have been separated since the fourth grade at the end of elementary school“, explains Marc Piopiunik, who led the research study of the Ifo Institute. To analyze the impact of the 2000 school reform on student performance, researchers have used the evolution of PISA data.

Benefits of students of both types of school are falling
Numerous educational economic studies are also known, „that the earlier pupils are selected in different types of schools, the more the student performance will depend on the family background“, Marc Piopiunik reports in the magazine „ifo fast service“. In any case, the results of the PISA studies revealed that in Germany the academic performance „above average strong from the family background“to be influenced. The decision to introduce the six-year junior high school in Bavaria or the associated classification of students after completing the fourth grade, this has been reinforced. The division of Bavarian pupils into primary and secondary schools after the fourth grade led to „the performance of students of both types of schools is falling“, This is the message of the Ifo Institute.

Time of differentiation affecting cognitive performance
Above all, the number of low-achieving mainstream students has increased significantly, according to the study published on Thursday by the Ifo Institute. The timing of differentiation seems crucial to the development of cognitive abilities. According to the researchers, the reason for the decline in the level of performance in the case of an early division of students could, for example, be the „Lack of incentive to be in the fifth and sixth grades, in which the decision on the distribution of students has already fallen.“ In addition, the previous split increases the likelihood that students will be assigned to a school type that is unsuitable for them. The results of the current Ifo study certify the Bavarian school policy at this point, an insufficient performance. (Fp)

Picture credits: Birgitta Hohenester