Together for better education: Tuesdays for Education

Reading is a basic skill and represents a fundamental prerequisite for learning in all other subjects. Germany has not achieved the hoped-for education policy goals, notes IFS Executive Director Professor Nele McElvany: "The development of reading literacy in Germany from 2001 to 2021 can be classified as problematic, with a significant decline in mean reading literacy and a significant increase in the gap between the strongest and weakest readers." What can the German education system learn from other countries? This question is addressed by the program series Tuesdays for Education of the IFS explores this question on the second date.

In contrast to Germany, some countries have succeeded in increasing or maintaining high levels of average reading proficiency while reducing or keeping low levels of achievement dispersion. What measures appear to be helpful in achieving this? "Many of the successful countries are characterized by the fact that they use nationwide or mandatory screening at the beginning of elementary school and/or continuous remedial diagnostics, such as in England, Denmark or the Netherlands," states Dr. Ulrich Ludewig. "In Germany, on the other hand, the development of students' reading skills is hardly ever systematically tested in the classroom, and teachers predominantly resort to informal diagnostic procedures to determine reading literacy levels." Schools in Singapore, for example, test students' reading and math skills at the beginning of first grade. Those who need extra help are taught in small learning support programs to help them keep up with their peers. Similarly, in Finland, teachers refer students to specialized full-time staff who work with students in small groups or individually as needed. In Germany, there are only a few offerings beyond common classroom instruction. In addition, more attention needs to be paid to preschool: Many of the states and regions, e.g., the Czech Republic or Poland, with high literacy levels rely on structured preschool with learning objectives in the form of their own preschool curricula.

For more information, see the press release (in German) and the brief report (in German).

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