Top note

This article deals with the top note on school reports. For the top note of a fragrance, see perfume .

Top grades are called the school grades that assess something other than the performance in the individual subjects . This includes cooperation and social behavior . The top grades are generally created by the respective class teacher on the basis of the assessments of the subject teacher or decided in the certificate conference . They are usually not relevant to the transfer . The term top note is derived from the fact that these notes are or were to be found above the remaining notes, i.e. in the head of the certificate. In Austria, this note, of which there is only one, is called the amount note .

Situation in Germany

Certificate top notes in Hesse (1960s)

GDR

In the GDR school system, a distinction was made between four top grades: order , cooperation , hard work and behavior . Until about 1978 these were combined into a fifth overall behavior grade .

Saxony

After the fall of the Wall in 1989, the top notes were largely abolished. In Saxony are

1. Behavior (attention, willingness to help, moral courage and appropriate handling of conflicts, consideration, tolerance and public spirit as well as self-assessment),
2. Diligence (willingness to learn, determination, perseverance and regularity in completing tasks),
3. Participation (initiative, willingness to cooperate and teamwork, participation in lessons, independence, creativity and willingness to take responsibility) and
4. Order (diligence, punctuality, reliability, compliance with rules and agreements as well as having necessary teaching materials ready),

as

1. very good (1) meaning "exemplary",
2. good (2) meaning "strongly pronounced",
3. satisfactory (3) meaning "average",
4. sufficient (4) meaning "weak",
5. insufficient (5) meaning "insufficiently pronounced"

graded ( Section 23 Paragraphs 7 and 8 of the School Regulations for Upper and Evening High Schools).

Brandenburg

In Brandenburg in elementary school from the third to class work behavior

1. Work and social behavior,
2. Willingness to learn and perform,
3. Reliability and diligence,
4. Endurance and resilience as well
5. independence

and social behavior

1. Willingness to take responsibility,
2. Cooperation and teamwork skills as well
3. Ability to deal with conflict and tolerance

each graded as excellent (1), clearly pronounced (2), partially pronounced (3) or not very pronounced (4).

In the Federal Republic of Germany, the top notes were abolished in some federal states in the 1960s and 1970s. Only in Baden-Württemberg , Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate were top marks in behavior and cooperation always retained. In Hesse and Lower Saxony there are the top notes “work behavior” and “ social behavior ”, which are awarded from the 3rd grade to the end of lower secondary level (in the G8 model: year 10 inclusive). There is also no uniform regulation for the gradations. While in Rhineland-Palatinate, for example, only four grades can be awarded ( very good, good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory ), in Hesse all grades from very good to unsatisfactory are possible in accordance with the subject grades , whereas in Lower Saxony there are five different written comments instead of grades.

In the meantime, the top notes have been reintroduced in some countries. For the 2005/2006 school year, top marks were again awarded in the third and fourth grades of primary school in Bavaria . Also, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern awards top notes. In North Rhine-Westphalia , however, they were abolished again in 2010 after they were introduced in 2007.

Lower Saxony

In Lower Saxony , work behavior and social behavior are each rated with a comment. The assessment does not take place with a grade, but with a written comment in five levels:

• "Deserves special recognition",
• "Fully meets expectations",
• "in line with expectations",
• "Meets expectations with restrictions",
• "does not meet expectations".

These comments may be supplemented or replaced by individual comments. However, additions are absolutely necessary for the last two levels.

The evaluation of work behavior includes: motivation and cooperation, goal and result orientation, ability to cooperate, independence, diligence and perseverance as well as reliability. The assessment of social behavior relates primarily to the ability to reflect, deal with conflict, agreeing and complying with rules, fairness, helpfulness and respect for others, assuming responsibility and helping to shape community life.

The assessment is carried out by the certificate conference on the proposal of the class teacher, in which all of the student's teachers, but not the conference representatives from the student body and parents, have the right to vote. In the certificate, these remarks are then - contrary to tradition - attached in the final section, thus below the subject grades.

North Rhine-Westphalia

In North Rhine-Westphalia (see Section 49 of the NRW Schools Act ) from 2007, the following top marks in the grades were initially very good (“corresponds to expectations in particular”), good (“fully meets expectations”), satisfactory (“corresponds to Expectations in general ”) and rated unsatisfactory (“ does not yet meet expectations ”) (Annex 3. VVAPO-GOSt NRW):

• Motivation
• Reliability / diligence
• independence
• Willingness to take responsibility
• Conflict behavior
• Ability to cooperate .

For the 2008/2009 school year, only top marks were awarded for willingness to perform, reliability / diligence and social behavior, after the high number was criticized in an opinion among schools and businesses. The School Act NRW was changed by the 4th School Law Amendment Act of December 21, 2010 (GV. NRW. P. 691) and the top notes abolished with immediate effect. The written statements on work and social behavior have remained.

criticism

The Education and Science Union (GEW) in North Rhine-Westphalia described the top notes as "educational nonsense". Furthermore, the teachers are not sufficiently prepared for the grading, and there is additional work. In contrast to the subject grade, it is unclear how different behaviors in individual subjects are reflected in a collective grade. Die Zeit quoted the North Rhine-Westphalian state student council with the statement that students objected to the top notes as slime notes and feared that a “critical statement” in class might be “punished with a bad behavioral grade”. Two demonstrations against the introduction of the top notes on January 19 and June 20, 2008 in Düsseldorf , according to the police, each had around 1000 participants. The Catholic and Protestant Churches , as school bodies for denominational schools, also reject the awarding of top marks, as it is "not compatible with the Christian image of man".

Situation in Austria

Since, according to Section 18 (5) of the School Education Act, the behavior of the pupil in school and in public cannot be included in the performance assessment, top marks are given in Austria for the purpose of “self-control and self-criticism by the pupil”. Only behavior within the school and the community is taken into account; actions that take place outside of school must not affect the grade. In contrast to the school systems of other countries, there is only one such assessment, which is referred to as the grade . Participation and other factors are included in the grade for the respective school subject.

Gradations

In contrast to the performance assessment in the individual school subjects, only four different levels are used to assess behavior:

• "Very satisfying",
• "Satisfactory",
• "Not very satisfactory",
• "Not satisfactory". (In these cases, the teacher is obliged to leave the legal guardians an early notice - followed by a conversation with the student.)

The assessment to be decided by the class conference is not noted in the school news or in the annual report card in the last stage of a school type. The same applies if a student leaves school after completing compulsory schooling.

criticism

The Austrian student representative Sophie Lojka describes top notes as “medieval” and “unnecessary, because it's all about whether students are bad or good people”. As an alternative, "the young people should be offered psychological support instead of punishing their behavior with negative grades."

Martina Kaufmann, Chairwoman of the Student Union, describes the grade as an "important means of ensuring order, [...] on the other hand, there is always the risk that teachers will express their anger on the students in grades." To ensure objectivity , suggests Kaufmann to use standardized criteria for assessment.

The LSV Niederösterreich criticizes the lack of justification for the amount grades and demands a note (e.g. on the certificate), which justifies the assessment, as an insignificant violation of the rules can cause a downgrade.

Situation in Poland

Public schools in Poland issue annual certificates in which two head notes are highlighted above the list of compulsory and non-compulsory subjects. The first is a classic top grade for behavior / behavior ( Polish zachowanie ) and the second is awarded for religion / ethics ( religia / etyka ). Behavior is rated exemplary ( wzorowe ), very good ( bardzo dobre ), good ( dobre ), correct ( poprawne ), inadequate ( nieodpowiednie ), faultless ( naganne ). For religion or ethics there are grades excellent ( celujący ), very good ( bardzo dobry ), good ( dobry ), satisfactory ( dostateczny ), sufficient ( dopuszczający ) and unsatisfactory ( niedostateczny ). The religious grade is mainly based on the student's performance in the school subject religion , but also the religiousness in everyday life and participation in ritual acts is partially graded, although at least in the case of Roman Catholic lessons the grading of the latter no longer corresponds to the provisions of the Church is compatible.

Web links

Wiktionary: top note  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• Non-binding basis for behavioral grades in Austria (PDF; 26 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Time Online : heady debate , articles of 4 September 2003
2. ↑ Administrative regulations on school certificates , § 11 Paragraph 6 of the Primary School Ordinance, § 58 Paragraph 2 and 3 of the Brandenburg School Act
3. ↑ dpa: Schools: Off for top notes in NRW. Focus Online, December 16, 2010, accessed November 7, 2011 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Lower Saxony Ministry of Culture: Certificates in general schools. In: RdErl. D. MK v. May 24, 2004 -303-83203 (SVBl. 7/2004 p. 305; ber.SVBl. 11/2004 p. 505), last amended by RdErl. December 5, 2011 (SVBl. 1/2012 p. 6) (VORIS 22410). December 5, 2012, accessed February 11, 2012 . 
5. ↑ Official Journal NRW, Annex 3 ( Memento of the original of December 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 719 kB). 
6. ^ Die Welt-Online of September 24, 2008 .
7. ↑ Die Zeit: Dubious Top Notes , article of January 21, 2008.
8. ↑ ^{a b} WDR.de: No top notes in church schools? , Article dated June 20, 2008.
9. ↑ RP Online: Demo against top notes , article from January 21, 2008.
10. ↑ https://www.jusline.at/18_Leistungsbeendung_SchUG.html
11. ↑ Amount grade - Lower Austrian School Union  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  
12. ↑ "Top notes are for an ass" - School & Teaching - derStandard.at ›Education .
13. ↑ Claims paper of the LSV Niederösterreich (PDF; 764 kB).
14. ↑ Rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji Narodowej z dnia 14 kwietnia 1992 r. w sprawie warunków i sposobu organizowania nauki religii w szkołach publicznych. In: sejm.gov.pl. April 14, 1992, accessed October 10, 2012 . 
15. ↑ Dariusz Wojno: Przedmiotowy system oceniania for religii w liceum i technikum. In: 4lomza.pl. June 28, 2006, accessed October 10, 2012 . 
16. ↑ Tadeusz Miłek: Dla kogo Piątka for religii? (No longer available online.) In: Przewodnik Katolicki. 2009, formerly in the original ; Retrieved October 10, 2012 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
17. ↑ Kazimierz Nycz : Zasady oceniania osiągnięć edukacyjnych z religii rzymsko-katolickiej w szkołach. (No longer available online.) In: Diecezja Opolska. 2009, archived from the original on October 18, 2012 ; Retrieved October 11, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.