National Assessment Study 2012

National Assessment Study in Mathematics and Science 2012

Who participated in the study and when was it carried out? 

Around 44,500 ninth-grade students from more than 1,300 schools took part in the National Assessment Study 2012. The schools were chosen at random and then one to two classes from each were selected (also at random) to participate in the study. The data collection took place throughout Germany between May and June 2012.

Which content areas were tested for mathematics?

Within the Standing Conference’s educational standards for mathematics, proficiency level models based on subject didactics were used to identify six general competencies and five content areas that describe the full spectrum of mathematical working. The six general competencies cover reasoning and argumentation, problem solving, modelling, using representations, applying techniques and formal procedures, and communicating. The five content areas are numbers (core competency 1), measurement (core competency 2), space and shape (core competency 3), functional relationships (core competency 4), data and chance (core competency 5). The National Assessment Study 2012 tested all the competencies mentioned above.

More information on the educational standards for mathematics at secondary level I is available here (in German).

Which content areas were tested for science?

The educational standards for biology, chemistry and physics were developed on the basis of a collective concept of basic scientific education that was made concrete for all three sciences with four shared content areas: content knowledge, scientific inquiry, evaluation and communication. The development of test items for science began with the areas of content knowledge and scientific enquiry, which were both tested in the National Assessment Study 2012. The content areas of evaluation and communication are due to be tested for the first time in the National Assessment Study 2018, which will also test the other two areas. More information on the educational standards for biology, chemistry and physics is available here (in German).

Apart from information on student competencies, what other data did the study collect?

The study also investigated the role that curricular and extracurricular learning opportunities play in the development of student competencies, and which structures can be used to optimise learning processes. To collect this data, the students, the teachers of the subjects being tested, and the principals of the participating schools were asked to respond to a series of written questions. The study also measured indicators of the students’ reading abilities and basic cognitive skills. Collecting data on this range of background variables created scope for well-founded, differentiated analyses of the study results which can provide important guidance on how to improve the education system.  

Who is responsible for the study and who conducted it?

The study was commissioned by the ministers of education and cultural affairs in each state. Overall academic and data-protection responsibility for the study was with the Institute for Educational Quality Improvement (IQB) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The measuring instruments and questionnaires were developed, trialled and optimised at the IQB. The IEA Data Processing and Research Center (DPC) in Hamburg was tasked with organising and carrying out the study. The tests themselves were run by external administrators who had received special training for the task from the DPC.

Who analyses the study and when will the information be released?

The DPC has coded the students’ responses and prepared the data in line with IQB requirements. The statistical analyses that establish student competencies in the states were conducted at the IQB. The results were summarised in a report that was presented to the public in autumn 2013. After publication of the report, all participating schools have been informed of their individual results. The IQB will not, at any stage, publish individual school results or pass them on to third parties.