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Catering to students in the top third in terms of academic ability, the Gymnasium is geared primarily toward preparing these students for university entrance. Unlike both the Realschule and the Hauptschule, the Gymnasium includes an upper level (Oberstufe) consisting of school years 11-13. Emphasis is placed on achievement and performance, and assessment is rigorous. Poorly performing students face the possibility of transfer to a lower school type.
The number of students who leave the Gymnasium at the end of the lower level (10th grade) varies significantly among the Länder, and the variability is associated with the availability of Realschule as an alternative path. In Länder where the Realschule option is less available—as in the southern Länder—the Gymnasium functions as the Realschule, and many students leave without the Abitur.
Gymnasium students who continue into the upper level take the Abitur examination at the end of their 13th (in some places, 12th) year of schooling. Upon successfully completing the Abitur examination, students receive a qualification entitling them to admission to any institution of higher education, including the university. Higher education in Germany, particularly at the university, awaits students attracted to career opportunities in business, government, and academics.
Traditionally, the Gymnasium has specialized by area of emphasis: classical studies, modern languages, and natural science. In addition, some Länder developed Gymnasium with special emphases on economics, social science, and music. Such specialization of Gymnasien has been maintained primarily by the southern Länder; other Länder abandoned such specialization in the course of reforms in the mid-1970s (Baumert and Roeder 1994a). These reforms introduced an individuated curriculum in which students can tailor their coursework to their personal interests. The goal of this reform has been to maintain a common basic education while allowing curricular individuation and specialization (Baumert and Roeder 1994a).
Individuation of curriculum is most pronounced in the upper level of Gymnasium, where required and elective courses are taught at two levels: basic and advanced. Basic courses (Grundkurse) take up 2 to 3 hours per week and are intended to provide a foundation in a chosen subject. Because these courses bring together students whose interests and knowledge are in other areas, the students sometimes experience motivational problems (Baumert and Roeder 1994a). Critics have argued that the level of achievement in the basic courses may not be as high as that found in the traditional Gymnasium class prior to the introduction of the distinction between basic and advanced courses (Baumert and Roeder 1994a). Advanced courses (Leistungskurse) take up 5 to 6 hours per week and are intended to provide students with in-depth knowledge of a disciplinary subject area. These courses generally function well, as students in them are both interested and motivated. Students are required to choose two, and in some Länder three, advanced courses at the end of their 11th year.
The Abitur, which is given once a year, includes two advanced courses and two basic courses. Performance on the Abitur is measured through a complicated system of grading using grades earned in both basic and advanced coursework for subjects tested. Because grades contribute to Abitur results, students are under continuing pressure for high levels of performance, particularly in advanced courses.
Importance of Choice of Courses
Through their choice of advanced courses in their 11th year at the Gymnasium, students effectively commit to an area of specialization. Paradoxically, the reformed Gymnasium, which aims to avoid the disciplinary specialization in various types of Gymnasien, appears to foster an even greater degree of disciplinary specialization for individual students. Critics have noted that a student's choice of advanced courses is more important for his or her success at school than was the earlier choice of type of Gymnasium to attend (Baumert and Roeder 1994a). The reformed upper level of Gymnasium works to the advantage of high-performing students with strong interests and works to the disadvantage of poorly performing students with weak interests. Although the greatest motivation for the choice of courses appears to be students' interests and self-assessment of ability, weaker students are often forced to be strategic in their choices (Baumert and Roeder 1994a) because the choice of courses in the upper level of Gymnasium has significant implications for future study and career opportunities. In order to ease the burden of choice, schools provide extensive counseling and advice in these matters. As a result of this process, students develop a strong sense of their strengths and weaknesses.
The reform of the upper level Gymnasium has been the subject of much discussion and criticism. Some have argued that the emphasis on individuation of curriculum has gone too far and that students lack a shared foundation in basic knowledge and skills. The result has been a recent curtailment of the latitude of choice introduced by previous reforms and a new emphasis on core subjects. A 1988 revision of KMK guidelines increased the importance of basic required courses and emphasized continuity in instruction. A recent demographic decline in the number of students and the resulting smaller class sizes have fostered this development by placing limits on the degree of feasible curricular differentiation.
Changes in Instruction Methods
Emphasis on performance in the Gymnasium has also been influenced by demographic trends. A rapid expansion of the student population in the 1970s, coupled with the increased popularity of the Gymnasium as a school type, led to an abrupt change in the makeup of the corps of teachers. As the number of Gymnasien expanded, the average age of the teaching staff fell to the mid-thirties (Baumert and Roeder 1994a). The result has been an increased emphasis on supportive, if not explicitly remedial, education. The younger teachers have struck more of a balance between performance-oriented competition and an individualized fostering of ability.
The dominant emphasis on performance in the Gymnasium is evident in teaching practices. The Gymnasium exhibits less frequent use of alternative forms of learning—group lessons, partner work, and individual activities—than do other types of school. The primary mode of instruction is a lecture guiding students through the lessons. Quiet work and unsupervised student activities are of little importance in the Gymnasium (Baumert and Roeder 1994a). Gymnasium lessons are also characterized by frequent discussion and a problem orientation. Both teachers and students have much greater opportunities to express themselves about subjects than is possible in either the Realschule or the Hauptschule. Some commentators have noted that the Gymnasium has developed a specific culture based on talk and reflection.
The Hauptschule, attended by students in the lower third of ability, generally includes grades 5 through 9. It was established by the KMK as a school type in the 1964 Hamburg Agreement for the standardization of German schooling (Hamburger Abkommen). The Hauptschule was designed to replace the Volksschule, a school form which included years 1 through 9 or 10, and catered to the working-class population. With the introduction of the Hauptschule, the KMK hoped to lift the standards of the lower tier school and stem the then-incipient rush of students to the Realschule and the Gymnasium. The Hauptschule, conceived to be on an equal footing with the Realschule and the Gymnasium, was explicitly designed to avoid the traditional disadvantages associated with the Volksschule, which included grades 1 through 8 or 9 (Leschinsky 1994a). It introduced both the division of students into classes and a differentiated curriculum based to an extent on disciplinary teaching.
Despite efforts to the contrary, the Hauptschule has never established itself as a stable type of school. It failed in most cases to stem the rush to the Realschule and Gymnasium. Instead of being seen as an equal among types of school, the Hauptschule has been stigmatized as the school of the working-class and lower class populations and, consequently, has followed the fate of its predecessor, the Volksschule. In the general trend toward higher educational standards in Germany, the Hauptschule has been the loser (Leschinsky 1994a). Although previously considered the norm of basic German schooling, the Hauptschule has been, in some cases, reduced to a Restschule [school of leftovers], a dumping ground for those students who do not succeed in the Realschule or Gymnasium.
Students
The work profile of the Hauptschule students demonstrates the limited social and career possibilities of this group. Students work primarily in traditional craft professions and in hard labor or unqualified service?work that is both poorly paid and sensitive to economic swings. Most Hauptschule graduates can hope for little more in career opportunities than to go directly into a low-status job or practical training. Dropouts from the Hauptschule often become chronically unemployed (Leschinsky 1994a).
Because the Hauptschule is not respected and is in a downward spiral, students there often represent a mix of groups who have been left behind in the general elevation of the standards of education in Germany. The Hauptschule has become a repository for children who need particular fostering. Due to their marginal status, children at the Hauptschule often lack the cultural preconditions and the individual support for success at school. Because these groups are often marginal in one way or another, students in the Hauptschule are fairly heterogeneous. They include relatively high proportions of students from rural backgrounds, students with handicaps or special needs, foreign students, and students from socially and economically disadvantaged groups (Leschinsky 1994a).
The diversity and low social standing of students in the Hauptschule have often created what may appropriately be called a negative learning atmosphere. There are high dropout rates, frequent discipline problems, and occasional cases of vandalism. Students in the Hauptschule are more likely to have problems and to be less motivated than students in the Realschule or Gymnasium. Lack of motivation is particularly a problem with children who have been transferred to the Hauptschule during the seventh or eighth year of schooling because of poor performance. The propensity in the Hauptschule to aggression and rule breaking is higher than elsewhere in the school system, and problems of school violence are concentrated in these schools (Leschinsky 1994a).
Teaching Methods
The Hauptschule has a favorable teacher-student ratio relative to both the Realschule and the Gymnasium, but the concentration of students requiring special attention often leaves the teaching staff stretched thin. Quiet work and individual work are more common in the Hauptschule than in other types of school, and reflect a higher degree of heterogeneity in teaching strategies. Teachers adopt more flexible and individualized teaching methods in order to cope with the broad range of difficulties facing students. There is a strong emphasis on remedial education in the Hauptschule.
Typically, students are taught in mixed-ability classes in the fifth and sixth grades. In grades 7 through 10, students are still taught in mixed-ability classes but are also offered a number of subjects in ability-specific classes. In Nordrhein-Westfalen, for example, from the seventh grade onward, English and mathematics are offered in advanced courses (Fachleistungskurse) for students of differing ability levels. Students are placed in either basic courses (Grundkurse) or advanced courses (Erweiterungskurse). If a student's level of achievement improves, he or she may transfer from a basic to an advanced course (Kultusministerium Nordrhein-Westfalen [KNW] 1990). The Hauptschule seeks to deal with ability differences among students through a differentiated system of achievement courses. As with both the Realschule and the Gymnasium, the intention of policymakers has been to provide instruction by teachers who are grounded in the disciplines they teach. In practice, however, such disciplinary specialization has generally proven neither feasible nor helpful. The emphasis on disciplinary competence among teachers in the Hauptschule has been somewhat modified by the recognition that problem students may need a more consistent figure to relate to, thus necessitating instruction in several subjects by a single teacher (Leschinsky 1994a).
Future of the Hauptschule
There is a debate about whether the Hauptschule is meeting the needs of its constituents and what can be done to help those doing poorly in the school system to lead independent and fulfilling lives. One indicator of success is that the number of students who drop out of the Hauptschule has fallen over the past 2 decades, from about 16 percent in the 1970s to roughly 12 percent in 1990. In 1990, a full 14 percent of Hauptschule students obtained a Realschule qualification by completing an extra (10th) year of schooling and by reaching a level of achievement deemed equivalent to the qualification for Realschule (Leschinsky 1994a).
Although the dropout rate has fallen, so too has enrollment, primarily because of the low social prestige of the Hauptschule. This is particularly true of its relation to the Realschule. Although the Realschule and the Hauptschule are near relatives in terms of tradition, conception, and clientele, they have followed different paths. Where the Realschule has flourished, the Hauptschule has stagnated. As a result, the Hauptschule?once by far the dominant form of schooling?has been reduced in some Länder to the smallest of lower secondary school forms. For the western German Länder taken together, the percentage of seventh- graders attending the Hauptschule fell from 79.3 percent in 1952?53 to 31.7 percent in 1989?90 (Engel 1994).
The decline of the Hauptschule does, however, exhibit substantial variation across the Länder. It has truly been reduced to a Restschule in Berlin, where it is attended by only 9 percent of nonforeign lower secondary students (Leschinsky 1994a). In Bavaria, by contrast, it is still the dominant school form, with 38 percent of lower secondary students (BSME 1993). The decline of the Hauptschule is perhaps most demonstrably visible in the former East German Länder. Several eastern Länder have anticipated the general evolution of the tripartite system by doing away altogether with the Hauptschule as an independent type of schooling; Mittelschule in Saxony, Sekundarschule in Saxony-Anhalt, and the Regelschule in Thüringen combine the Hauptschule in various ways with the Realschule (KMK 1993).
The Realschule, attended by students in the middle third of ability, spans the 5th through 10th grades in most Länder. In the tripartite German school system, it is situated above the Hauptschule and below the Gymnasium. This position manifests itself in a curriculum which simultaneously deals with the practical and the theoretical. Like the Hauptschule, the Realschule emphasizes the acquisition of concrete vocational skills, and like the Gymnasium, it emphasizes the acquisition of complex, abstract knowledge. Yet unlike the traditional Gymnasium, the Realschule emphasizes theoretical knowledge about the natural and social world (mathematics, science, history, and geography) and not—as was typically the case with the Gymnasium—about cultural traditions (Latin, religion, and German literature). Increasingly, the Realschule and the Gymnasium have come closer together, while the gap between the Hauptschule and these two types of schools has widened.
The Realschule has developed a distinctive curricular profile that, mainly in grades 9 and 10, emphasizes the link between general and vocational education. In the first several years of Realschule, students take a core of required courses together as a class. There is no ability grouping or streaming (SSBS 1993). In recent years, a differentiated system of elective courses comprising 12 to 20 percent of class hours has allowed students to develop in different areas of interest and vocational specialization (Leschinsky 1994b). Most Realschulen offer courses in at least three of five areas of concentration: languages, mathematics and science, social studies and business, social science, and music. Through this system of elective courses, Realschule organizationally combines vocationally and academically oriented courses of study.
The choice of electives effectively opens up later career and study options. A concentration in a second foreign language or in some Länder in mathematics and science makes it possible to transfer to the upper level of Gymnasium. Roughly one-quarter of students choose to keep this option open. A concentration in either social studies or business creates fewer options for further study, and most students elect to take courses in these areas. It is commonly understood that the choice of elective acts as a mechanism for differentiating students by ability (Leschinsky 1994b).
The Realschule, like the Gymnasium, is oriented toward performance. There is no explicit emphasis on remedial education, except in the first year. In Berlin, for example, split classes enable Realschulen to offer additional teaching or to form smaller groups in subjects where necessary. The aim of such remedial classes is primarily to help first-year (seventh-grade) students become accustomed to the new school organization, new classmates, new teachers, and an increased number of subjects (Leschinsky 1994b).
Students
The Realschule's dual emphasis on both practical and theoretical knowledge gives it a unique position vis-à-vis career and educational opportunities. As a central feeder school both to middle- and high-level white-collar careers and to various forms of advanced vocational and academic education, the Realschule is biased neither toward employment nor toward studies (Führ 1989). Students with a Realschule qualification and who do not wish to attend a university may opt to enter either a company-based course of vocational training or a multiyear course of full-time vocational schooling. In the past several years, between two-thirds and three-quarters of Realschule graduates have entered company-based vocational training. Many students with the Realschule qualification eventually continue their studies in a full-time course of vocational education. In 1990, roughly 30 percent of students in full-time vocational schools had received this qualification. More academically oriented students may opt to enter the upper level of Gymnasium. In 1991, between 6 and 10 percent of Realschule students made this decision (Leschinsky 1994b).
Future of the Realschule
The wide range of opportunities available to holders of the Realschule qualification have made it popular among parents and have contributed to its rapid growth over the past several decades. The Realschule has expanded more than any other kind of school in the lower level secondary domain (Führ 1989). Roughly a quarter of students in the former West Germany and between one-eighth and one-quarter of the students in the former East Germany attend the Realschule (Leschinsky 1994b). In addition, there are multiple other institutional options for achieving the Realschule qualification, including a 10th year at the Hauptschule, completion of schooling at the end of the lower level Gymnasium, completion of the dual system of vocational education, and evening education for employed people. The Realschule qualification has replaced the Hauptschule qualification as the minimum standard of education in Germany (Leschinsky 1994b).
Debates in the 1960s and 1970s over the reform of schools helped to introduce a fourth type of secondary school: the Gesamtschule (comprehensive school). Integrated Gesamtschulen combine grades 5 to 10 of the traditionally separate Hauptschulen, Realschulen, and Gymnasien. Accordingly, school-leaving certificates from the Hauptschule, Realschule, and Gymnasium can be earned by students attending the Gesamtschule. Some students qualify after 10th grade for the upper level of Gymnasium, the gymnasiale Oberstufe (grades 11-13), and will take basic and advanced courses (Grundkurse and Leistungskurse). Students completing the Oberstufe graduate from the comprehensive school with the Abitur, the traditional Gymnasium-leaving certificate (KNW 1990).
Gesamtschulen were implemented as an alternative to the traditional tripartite system, and attempt to overcome the disadvantages of this system. Consequently, students with large differences in individual ability may enter the Gesamtschule without any special transitional procedures, thereby avoiding early decisions regarding their school career. Students are not segregated into separate schools but are streamed within the Gesamtschule according to ability. Gesamtschulen aim to
When students enter the integrated Gesamtschule in fifth grade (in Berlin and Brandenburg, students enter in seventh grade), they are not tracked according to ability but rather are placed in mixed-ability classes. In 7th to 10th grades, students still remain in mixed-ability classes in some subjects, such as history, geography, music, and art. In other subjects, such as mathematics, German, and science, students are tracked into separate classes according to ability, since it is assumed that the aptitude and interests of individual students differ (Baumert and Roeder 1994b). In Berlin, for example, students are placed in different ability-level courses in English and mathematics from grade 7 onward, and in German and sciences from grade 9 onward. Although most states have either two- or three-level tracking schemes, four ability levels are sometimes included in the Fachleistungsunterricht (courses for which students are assigned based on their achievements): F = Fortgeschrittenenkurs (advanced level), E = Erweiterungskurs (intermediate level), G = Grundkurse (basic level), and A = Anschlu kurs (remedial level for slow learners). In some subjects, such as science, mixed ability-level courses are sometimes offered, including, for example, an advanced/intermediate-level course or a basic/remedial-level course (SSBS 1993). Students who advance in one course and show a higher level of achievement will be placed accordingly. In order to promote advancement and make the transition easier from one level of ability to another, Förderunterricht (remedial teaching) is provided (KNW 1990).
Efforts have been made to replace this four-class-level grouping by forming different groups within one mixed-ability class (Baumert and Roeder 1994b). The teacher of a mixed-ability class prepares varied tasks for different ability groups within the class and assists each group accordingly. In addition, a student who needs supplemental help also will receive special instruction outside the classroom (Förderunterricht). Only in exceptional cases does a Gesamtschule recommend that a student repeat a school year. However, a student may repeat a year only with the consent of the parents (KNW 1990). Whereas 4 percent of students in the traditional secondary school system (5th to 10th grades) repeat a year in school, only 2 percent of students at the Gesamtschule do so (Baumert and Roeder 1994b).
Continued
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[The Perception of Ability Differences in German Education - Part 3]