topic Education

Educational standards and their evaluation

Evaluations are a matter of course in the countries which were successful in the PISA benchmarking study. Binding targets for skills and abilities of all pupils of an age group are defined. The performance of the education system is measured in terms of fulfilment of these targets.

One of the reasons for the below-average German results in the international PISA benchmarking study and for the growing gap between the different sectors of the German school system is a lack of binding national standards for education and performance. The successful states show that a targeted quality development of the education system requires national yardsticks. We therefore need binding definitions of targets across the Länder, e.g. with regard to the skills and abilities which all pupils should have acquired at defined points in time of their education career. A simple list of performance standards will not solve the problem.

The German education system must be regularly evaluated to obtain reliable statements on its performance: For years, evaluations have been a matter of course in the countries which were successful in the PISA benchmarking study. Evaluations in this sense control the performance of the education system rather than the successful individual learning of pupils or the teaching activities of teachers. The evaluation of the German education system must be implemented by an independent evaluation agency, because independence is the only way to ensure objective implementation and results. Evaluation makes sense only if the data is gathered differentiated by Länder and the Länder results are then compared.