Belly stain

Researchers give middle school a poor report card

The many reform efforts have changed less than hoped for in everyday school life

(Bild: ©Ideenkoch - stock.adobe.com)

It was a (belly) stain - two researchers have given the new secondary school reform project a poor report card. They would have expected much more from team teaching in particular - i.e. two teachers in one class. But unfortunately, many teachers would rather check homework than teach together.

The two educational researchers Christoph Helm from the JKU in Linz and his colleague Claudia Schreiner from Innsbruck University draw a sobering conclusion after ten years of the new secondary school. They analyzed the research data from 2009 to 2018. The result: while a significant improvement in learning support was found in German lessons, the results in English show only slight improvements and in mathematics even a decrease in the first few years after the introduction of the NMS.

"Reform was half-baked"
The positive "outlier" in German could be due to the fact that teachers in disadvantaged schools try harder to support pupils with a migration background. Study author Helm: "The reform was half-baked, it did not fulfill what was expected."