IQB Trends in Student Achievement 2018

A total of 44,941 Grade 9 students in 1,462 schools across all German federal states participated in the IQB Trends in Student Achievement 2018. In each randomly selected school, one to two classes were also chosen at random to participate in the assessment. In special schools, a larger test group was formed instead, usually including several learning groups. The assessment took place from April to June 2018, although the exact timing varied slightly between the individual federal states.

The KMK educational standards for Mathematics distinguish six general and five content-related mathematical competences. These are based on subject-specific proficiency models and describe the full range of mathematical work. The general mathematical competences include “Arguing Mathematically””, “Solving Mathematical Problems”, “Modelling Mathematically”, “Using Mathematical Representations”, “Handling Symbolic, Formal and Technical Elements of Mathematics” and “Communicating”. On the other hand, the content-related mathematical competences are “Number” (core idea 1), “Measurements” (core idea 2), “Space and Shape” (core idea 3), “Functional Relations” (core idea 4), and “Data and Probability” (core idea 5). The IQB Trends in Student Achievement 2018 included test items covering all these competences.

The educational standards for Biology, Chemistry and Physics build on a shared concept of scientific literacy. For all three subjects, this concept has been set out in four common competence domains: “Subject Knowledge”, “Scientific Inquiry”, “Evaluation” and “Communication”. The IQB Trends in Student Achievement 2018, like the IQB National Assessment Study 2012, included test items covering the domains of subject knowledge and scientific inquiry in all three subjects.

In addition to the proficiency assessment, the IQB Trends in Student Achievement 2018 also included a student questionnaire recording learning conditions both within and outside school. When interpreting the test results, this made it possible to identify links between the learning and teaching context and the development of students’ competences.

Both students and their parents were asked to provide information about their backgrounds, including their parents' professions and educational backgrounds. This information about family circumstances forms the basis for identifying social and immigration-related disparities. The parents’ questionnaire was made available in several languages for the first time (German, Arabic, English, Polish, Russian and Turkish).

Furthermore, the study included written questionnaires on teaching and learning conditions at school for teachers in the relevant subjects and for the headteachers of participating schools. Also, the study measured indicators of students’ basic cognitive skills to be taken into account when interpreting the results. Collecting background information allows the test results to be interpreted in a substantiated and differentiated way. This can provide valuable insights to support the further development of the federal states’ education systems.

The IQB Trends in Student Achievement are conducted by decision of the ministers of education of the German federal states. Overall responsibility for scientific oversight and data protection compliance rests with the Institute for Educational Quality Improvement (IQB) at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin under the academic leadership of Prof. Dr Petra Stanat. The IQB developed, pre-tested and optimised the assessment instruments and questionnaires used in the study. IEA Hamburg was responsible for organising and conducting the data collection. IEA Hamburg also trained external test administrators, who then carried out the assessments in the schools.

Furthermore, IEA Hamburg scored the students’ answers and processed the data according to the IQB’s stipulations. The IQB analysed the data and determined students’ proficiency levels in the individual federal states.

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