Bildung,Ausbildung und soziale Ungleichheiten im Lebenslauf

This paper describes mutual links between educational attainment and social inequality from a life course perspective. Analytically we distinguish between aspects of inequality with regard to access to education, consequences of education, and social reproduction through education. A special emphasis is put on the role institutions play in these processes. The paper presents selected empirical findings, discusses theoretical mechanisms, and draws some conclusions for the conceptualisation of education systems.     

Soziale Ungleichheit beim Zugang in eine Berufsausbildung: Welche Bedeutung haben die Institutionen?

The corporatistic governance model of nonacademic vocational training, which is predominant in Germany, has produced heterogeneous and complex conditions for the access to vocational training. Which training programs are offered and the selection of applicants is largely determined by the training companies themselves. Adolescents interested in vocational training are thus confronted with diverse admission requirements. Which resources they can and have to use in order to receive a training position is significantly determined by the respective admission requirements. The present paper elucidates key institutional conditions of the access to vocational training which can serve as explanations for the (re-)production of social inequalities in the transition process from school to vocational training. In particular, the inequalities with respect the admission to vocation training along the lines of educational degrees, gender, as well as regional, social, and ethnic backgrounds are investigated.     

Sprachförderung von Kindern und Jugendlichen aus Zuwandererfamilien

Children and adolescents of families with immigrant background are less successful in the German education systems than those without immigrant background. These differences can largely be explained by deficits in the language of instruction, indicating a lack of learning opportunities in the second language. The present paper investigates how it is possible to reduce language disparities before children enter school on the one hand and during the course of schooling on the other hand. This is being done by presenting the current state of research on the acquisition of a second language. In particular, recent findings on the influence of the quantity and quality of early childhood education on the language acquisition of children are summarized. Furthermore, findings on the effectiveness of attending all-day schools and of current programs for language instruction are presented. Finally, potential avenues for further development of language instruction as well as for future research are discussed.     

Elite und Exzellenz aus der Perspektive von Jugendlichen und ihren Peers an exklusiven Schulen

Against the backdrop of the recent political discourse on elite and excellence in the German education system, this paper examines how such constructions manifest themselves in programmatic concepts of schools and in the orientations of their pupils and their peers. They are reconstructed on the basis of a qualitative research project on educational careers of young people. This paper focuses on pupils and their peers at an elite school of sports and an international school. Firstly, the state of research on those types of school as well as on educational careers of their pupils will be presented. Secondly, the theoretical reference points and the methodological design of the study will be introduced. At the core of the paper is the analysis of the education related orientations of selected cases of young people and their peers: How do they position themselves towards elite and excellence in their individual and collective orientations and how is this relevant for processes of distinction and coherence building in the groups? In the resuming part of the paper, the results will be summarised and related to the state of research and the scientific discourse on elite and excellence.     

A known group analysis validity study of the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education in US elementary and secondary schools

The Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education (VAL-ED) provides educators with a tool for principal evaluation based on principal, teacher, and supervisor reports of principals’ learning-centered leadership. In this study, we conduct a known group analysis as part of a larger argument for the validity of the VAL-ED in US elementary and secondary schools. We asked superintendents to select the principals in their district who they believe in performance of their duties are in the top 20 % and the bottom 20 %. We ask how accurately VAL-ED scores can identify membership of the two known groups. Using a discriminant analysis, the VAL-ED places principals in the superintendent groups, on average, 70 % of the time for both elementary and secondary schools. Placement accuracy is greater for the top group than the bottom group.     

Implementing web 2.0 tools in the classroom: Four teachers’ accounts

In this paper, four teachers shared their experiences using the following free Web 2.0 tools with their students: Jing, Wix, Google Sites, and Blogger. The teachers found that students reacted positively to lessons in which these tools were used, and also noted improvements they could make when using them in the future.