Uniform examination requirements in the Abitur examination

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Since 1979 , the German Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs has decided on uniform examination requirements in the Abitur examination (EPA) for over 40 Abitur examination subjects from the general education and professional area in order to provide a basis for the respective professional requirements. They also contain information for the preparation of examination questions at the basic level (basic course) and the advanced level ( advanced course ), their evaluation and concrete examples. By adopting them in the state ordinances and decrees of the education ministries, they become legally binding for qualifications recognized in Germany. They also apply to German schools abroad .

history

The first generation EPA from 1979, initially also called “standards books”, were a reaction to the polyphonic criticism of the disintegration of requirements through the reform of the upper secondary school of 1972. One reason was the different handling in the federal states. In February 1977, a numerus clausus ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court forced the KMK to urgently standardize the basis for grading. The long-time highly controversial subject of community studies was placed on a nationwide common basis of the Beutelsbach Consensus in 1979 .

The first revision of the EPA took over ten years to 1989 (in the equally controversial subject of history). All EPAs were revised again after the PISA study discussion in 2004/05 and, among other things, provided with a subject-specific competence model and an operator catalog. These include rare subjects such as Jewish religious studies , Hebrew , Low German , Danish , Polish , Turkish, Farsi , Arabic or Chinese. The EPA shape all teaching in the upper secondary school, the operators are used in teacher training and are also used in non- grammar schools .

An early forerunner was the Tutzing Matura catalog (1958).

Educational standards instead of EPA

In October 2007, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs decided to further develop the uniform examination requirements in a few selected subjects into educational standards for the general university entrance qualification . By resolution of October 18, 2012, the educational standards developed by the Institute for Quality Development in Education (IQB) in the subjects of German , mathematics and a continued foreign language (English / French) were submitted (but not the continued foreign languages ​​Latin / Spanish / Russian) . They replace the EPA in these subjects and are the basis for the Abitur exams in all countries from the 2016/17 school year. In addition, the educational standards in the natural sciences of biology , chemistry and physics will be introduced from 2021 . Except for these seven subjects, there are no nationwide applicable educational standards for the Abitur examination, but rather non-binding suggestions from associations, etc. This is due to the high costs of preparation and the expected conflicts in subjects such as history , politics or religion , which do not seem to be solvable within the KMK .

Requirement areas

Despite all the technical differences, there are common features of all EPAs. This includes the didactic grading in the requirement areas (AFB) I - II - III, to which the levels of reproduction (I), reorganization and transfer (II) and reflection / problem solving / assessment (III) are assigned according to complexity . The psychologist Heinrich Roth developed these four learning target levels in preparation for the 1972 reform. Abitur examinations at all levels must contain tasks to which specific operators for the work orders (e.g. describe, explain, discuss) correspond. The selectivity of the AFB is often unclear or the operators in different subjects and countries are different.

  • Requirement area I : Reproduction comprises the reproduction and description of subject-specific facts from a defined area and in the context of learning, using reproductive work techniques practiced.
  • Requirement area II: Reorganization / transfer includes the independent explanation, processing and ordering of known subject-specific content and the appropriate application of learned content and methods to other issues.
  • Requirement area III: Reflection / problem solving / assessment comprises the reflexive handling of new problems, the methods used and the knowledge gained in order to arrive at justifications, conclusions, assessments and options for action.

The EPA set the standard for grading. For a good grade (from 10 grade points), some achievements in AFB III must be achieved. A purely reproductive performance (AFB I) can at most be sufficient. Percentages are also set for the services to be provided, according to which z. B. 45% for a smoothly sufficient performance (5 grade points), 70% for a still good performance (10 grade points).

Although the requirement areas only apply to the Abitur examination, they have an effect back in the elementary school in the structuring of the requirements. Good assignments are particularly difficult for AFB III, because the required assessments can easily be subjective or ideological. In the examination systems of other European countries (France, Italy) there is no AFB III, which makes comparison difficult.

Web links

Single receipts

  1. ↑ List of the adoption and entry into force of the individual EPAs (as of May 10, 2007) , on kmk.org
  2. ↑ Peter Horn, Hans-Georg Herrlitz, Christa Berg: Brief history of the German Society for Educational Science: A specialist society between science and politics . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-663-07782-4 ( google.de [accessed on June 3, 2020]).
  3. ^ Handbook of the German history of education . CH Beck, 1987, ISBN 978-3-406-32468-0 ( google.de [accessed on May 31, 2020]).
  4. ^ Sabine Gerbaulet: Storm on the fortress. Die Zeit, September 12, 1986, accessed June 3, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Agreement on Uniform Examination Requirements in the Abitur examination , on kmk.org
  6. ↑ Mutually recognized country-specific subjects in the Abitur examination , on kmk.org
  7. ↑ Foreign languages. KMK, accessed June 3, 2020 .
  8. ↑ University entrance qualification criteria. Retrieved June 3, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Vanishing point high school diploma. November 29, 2016, accessed June 3, 2020 .