IQB Trends in Student Achievement 2022

Grade 9 students from all German federal states participated in the IQB Trends in Student Achievement 2022. In each randomly selected school, one class was chosen – also 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 July 2022, although the exact timing varied slightly between the individual federal states.

In all federal states, students’ competences in German and English were assessed. In Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, French competences were also assessed. In German, the test items referred to the three competence domains defined in the educational standards: „Reading – Dealing with Texts and Media”, “Speaking and Listening”, and “Writing”. However, the study focused only on the subdomains of Reading, Listening, and Orthography, rather than assessing the full range of these competence domains. In English and French, students completed test items on Reading Comprehension and Listening Comprehension.

The study also recorded learning conditions both within and outside school. This made it possible to take these factors into account when interpreting the test results and to identify links between the learning and teaching context and the development of students’ competences. To that end, the study included written questionnaires for the students, their parents, their German and Mathematics teachers and their schools’ headteachers. Furthermore, the study measured indicators of students’ basic cognitive skills. Collecting background information helps interpret test results 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, as a crucial aspect of the KMK’s overall strategy for educational monitoring, 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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• Copyright 2025 Katerina Limpitsouni via undraw.co
• Copyright 2025 Katerina Limpitsouni via undraw.co