Monitoring Student Achievement in Austria: Implementation, Results and Political Reactions

Understanding low outcomes in English language education in Austrian middle schools: the role of teachers’ beliefs and practices

“…As one of the few OECD countries that has not converted to a more comprehensive system, Austria has an established tendency towards social segregation in education, and of being less effective regarding social mobility and integration than countries in which there is a longer comprehensive system (Bruneforth et al 2016;Fend 2009;Herzog-Punzenberger 2017;Schreiner, Suchań, and Salchegger 2020). This has been argued to be partly related to a historical allocation of upper classes to general academic secondary schools, which were originally not designed for 'the masses' (Gruber 2015).…”

“…Middle school is often considered a school type of lower quality and prestige, which leads to what has been referred to as the 'creaming effect'the tendency of academically socialised and ambitious parents to steer their children towards a more academic school type (Gruber 2015, 70). While on the surface, student performance is the main criterion for school choice, studies have shown that the performance indicators used cannot be taken as independent from socioeconomic status (Bruneforth, Weber, and Bacher 2012;Fend 2009;Schreiner, Suchań, and Salchegger 2020). The association between social background and performance in Austria has been established as 'one of the highest among OECD/EU countries' (Schreiner, Suchań, and Salchegger 2020, 71), with PISA findings emphasising a need to make 'student performance less dependent on students' socio-economic status, and more on students' own efforts and talents' (OECD 2018, 104).…”

“…Instead, a political compromise was implemented, in which the new middle school model has essentially replaced its predecessor, Hauptschule, and the vast majority of general academic secondary schools have been untouched (Rechnungshof 2013). The most recent statistics reveal that the reform had a limited impact in terms of reducing social inequality: Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are still overrepresented in middle school and are more likely to have parents with less experience of formal education, implying less academic parental support and less access to extracurricular learning opportunities (Oberwimmer et al 2018;Schreiner, Suchań, and Salchegger 2020). As Beer (2018) points out, however, despite such evidence, the political situation makes it unlikely that greater changes will be made in the near future.…”

“…After Grade 4 in primary school, when students are around ten years old, they are tracked into one of two different school types: General academic secondary schools steer students towards university, while middle schools aim to equip students for starting professional life and/or moving on to upper secondary levels of education (BMBWF 2018). Research reveals that this dual-track education system perpetuates disadvantage: Middle schools attract a higher number of students from families of lower socioeconomic status where students' parents often have less experience of formal education than those of students who attend the more academic track of schooling (Bruneforth et al 2016;Bruneforth, Weber, and Bacher 2012;Fend 2009;Herzog-Punzenberger 2017;Luciak 2008;Schreiner, Suchań, and Salchegger 2020). In urban areas, middle schools are also known for having high numbers of students from a migration background and who speak languages other than German at home (Statistik Austria 2019).…”

“…In standardised national assessments, middle school students typically perform below the national average (Schreiner, Suchań, and Salchegger 2020). This is also the case with regard to learning outcomes for English, one of the three core subjects in Austrian education.…”