Orientation level

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The orientation level ( OS ) was originally a separate school type for grades 5 and 6. Today, the orientation level is mostly no longer a separate type of school, but is organizationally assigned to a different one.

Original type of orientation level

Traditionally, the orientation level is understood to mean a school in which pupils are also taught together after the fourth grade, in contrast to a school system that is structured from grade 5 onwards. The task of the orientation level is to observe the pupils intensively in their learning behavior during these two years in order to then refer them to the secondary school that is suitable for them. As a result, the differentiation of the pupils into the three school types of the three-tier school system in Germany ( Hauptschule , Realschule and Gymnasium ) does not take place after the 4th grade, but only after the 6th grade.

A characteristic of the orientation level is that it is possible to transition to grammar school after the 6th grade. Often, additional grammar school classes were set up that began after the 4th grade.

Orientation level as part of the mainstream school

The term "orientation level" is also used in some federal states for grades 5 and 6 within the structured school system. The term is intended to refer to permeability, i.e. H. Under certain conditions the pupil can change the school type after class 5 or 6. The orientation level thus forms the grades 5 and 6 of the respective school type Hauptschule, Realschule or Gymnasium and enables through its targeted support and observation a confirmation or a correction of the school career decision that was made after the elementary school. In this context, the orientation level has a twofold task: on the one hand, pupils in the orientation level should get to know the new requirements of the secondary level and their school types and, on the other hand, the special abilities and inclinations of the students should be encouraged and observed. The orientation level is therefore not a separate school type, but in each case is organizationally assigned to a school type. Sometimes this stage is also referred to as the “trial stage”.

Promotion and Integration

Promoting pupils in the orientation level ties in with the work of the primary schools. There is a further internal differentiation, i.e. H. Students are encouraged depending on their identity development and learning opportunities. This takes place in orientation levels of the original kind mainly through external subject performance differentiations (A, B and C courses), even if teaching in the class group is seen as a priority.

Observations and advice

Systematic student observation was introduced as a new element with the introduction of the orientation level. In Lower Saxony , a student observation sheet was developed for this task. One reason for this was again to be able to promote the learning of the students individually. Another reason was the better advice given to the legal guardians when deciding on a school career.

Regulations in the individual federal states

In Lower Saxony , the orientation level was introduced at individual schools from 1972, nationally from the 1981/82 school year and abolished again in 2004. The scientific support was in the hands of Jörg W. Ziegenspeck , University of Lüneburg .

In Bremen all primary schools went up to the 6th grade until 1977, the secondary schools started from grade 7, and high school classes also from grade 5. In 1977 the orientation level was introduced across the board and abolished in 2005. Since 2005, primary schools up to the 6th grade have only existed at five locations, the secondary schools start with grade 5.

The orientation stage was not introduced in North Rhine-Westphalia . Depending on the type of school, grades 5 and 6 are carried out as test levels at secondary schools, secondary schools and grammar schools. The term orientation level is often used synonymously.

In Berlin and Brandenburg , primary school goes up to 6th grade. As an exception, only a few high schools start in class 5.

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , primary school goes up to 4th grade. Since the 2006/2007 school year, this has been followed by the two-year, school-type-independent orientation level. In the newly created regional schools and in comprehensive schools, the children continue learning together up to grade 6.

In 1972 there were first attempts at the orientation level with nine locations in Hamburg . In 2002 there were only two locations left.

In Bavaria , until 1999, selection for high school took place after the 4th grade, but only after the 6th grade. In grades 5 and 6, all students who did not go to grammar school were taught together in Hauptschule or at one of the lower secondary schools affiliated with the primary school . After completing the 5th grade, you could switch to the 5th grade, if the grades were sufficient, so you lost a year. In the 7th grade, they could switch to a Realschule, but not to a Gymnasium. Since 1999 the secondary school has also started in grade 5. As an exception, there has been a school in Munich- Neuperlach since 1973 as an orientation level.

In Hesse there is a "support level" at all comprehensive schools and also at some secondary schools and secondary schools, which roughly corresponds to the orientation level, but without this name being used.

In Saxony , Schleswig-Holstein , Saxony-Anhalt , Rhineland-Palatinate , Baden-Württemberg and Saarland , the term “orientation level” is used today for grades 5 and 6 within the structured school system.

Differentiation within the orientation level

(Example: Lower Saxony until 2004) Originally, in the 6th grade, there was a differentiation in the subjects English and mathematics into A, B and C courses (up to around 1984 still D courses) (A: high school level to D: lower secondary school level), later on I level or II level. Also at the I-level and II-level, in the 5th and 6th grade, in addition to the lessons in the class group, lessons were given outside the closed class group in German, in English and mathematics in the 5th grade. This already provided initial information about the abilities of the students and the resulting recommendation for secondary schools. In addition, the lessons in the courses were specially tailored to the learning behavior of the students. The requirements in A courses corresponded roughly to those of a grammar school, in B courses in Realschule and in C courses in Hauptschule. After the 6th grade, the pupils received a recommendation for the secondary schools, which, however, was not binding. In accompanying scientific studies by Jörg W. Ziegenspeck at the University of Lüneburg, special attention was paid to the differentiation of academic performance in the subjects of English and mathematics.

Historical

As early as 1959, the German Committee for Education published a “framework plan for the restructuring and standardization of the public school system” in which it recommended the introduction of a “support level” in grades 5 and 6 (the word “orientation level” still existed at that time Not).

In the 1960s, however , criticism of the school system grew more and more. Empirical studies had shown that many deficiencies had arisen in the promotion of talented students as well as in the prognoses for secondary schools. Talented people did not receive the necessary funding, which seemed particularly worrying in times of increased need for scientists. The prognoses of which pupils selected for secondary schools after primary school also turned out to be poor. In addition, there were new scientific findings on learning and teaching didactics, which suggested fundamental changes.

The nationwide introduction of the orientation level was therefore recommended in the 1973 “Overall Education Plan” of the Federal and State Commission . However, it was already clear at that time that this recommendation would not be implemented nationwide, as the five federal states governed by the CDU / CSU at the time spoke out against it.

At the same time, in 1972 the Federal Constitutional Court had to deal with the question of whether the Hessian regulation, which has been in force since 1969, according to which attendance at a special level is mandatory for all pupils, is constitutional. It did decide that the introduction of a compulsory level of funding is not constitutionally questionable in and of itself. However, the specific regulation in the state of Hesse violates Article 7 (4) of the Basic Law because it prohibits attending private substitute schools without exception; In addition, the parents' right under Article 6, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law is violated to the extent that children in border areas are prohibited from attending secondary schools in a neighboring federal state.

In the period that followed, the orientation level was introduced in SPD-ruled countries, around 1977 in Bremen.

School numbers 1982
type of school student
Orientation level independent of school type (orientation school) 295,400
Orientation level depending on the school type at secondary schools 343,900
Orientation level depending on the school type at Realschulen 204,400
Orientation level depending on the school type at grammar schools 241,300
Orientation level depending on the school type at comprehensive schools 21,100
All in all 1.106.100

criticism

The orientation level is often criticized for the fact that it is not possible to promote all students individually according to their talents. While some students would be overwhelmed by the type and speed of the lessons, the gifted could not be adequately promoted. However, many critics overlook the fact that the students in the OS are already being taught in different courses according to their level of performance.

literature

  • Jörg W. Ziegenspeck (Ed.): Inventory: Orientation level. Texts on a current problem. Westermann, Braunschweig 1975, ISBN 3-14-16 71 41-9
  • Jörg W. Ziegenspeck: On the planning and development status of the orientation level in the Federal Republic of Germany. A documentation and interim balance. Education and Science Union, Frankfurt a. M. 1976
  • Hans Haenisch, Jörg W. Ziegenspeck: The orientation level. School development between differentiation and integration. Beltz, Weinheim / Basel 1977, ISBN 3-407-50055-6
  • Hannelore Besser, Manfred Wöbcke, Jörg W. Ziegenspeck: The student observation sheet . An instrument to improve the diagnosis of learning. Westermann, Braunschweig 1977, ISBN 3-14-160080-5
  • Jörg W. Ziegenspeck: Parents' home and school. On the socio-familial situation of students. Westermann, Braunschweig 1978, ISBN 3-14-160089-9
  • Orientation level working group at the Lower Saxony University of Education - Lüneburg Department (ed.): Differentiation in the orientation level. The "Example of Lower Saxony" in the field of tension between educational policy and pedagogical possibilities and limits (1971 - 1978) . Hermann Schroedel, Hanover 1978, ISBN 3-507-36443-3
  • Horst Neumann, Jörg W. Ziegenspeck: Funding and distributing - or: What does the orientation level do? Transitions to the secondary schools before and after the introduction of the school-type-independent orientation level. Klinkhardt, Bad Heilbrunn / Obb. 1979, ISBN 3-7815-0408-5
  • Jörg W. Ziegenspeck: Handbook orientation level. Status report and interim balance. Klinkhardt, Bad Heilbrunn / Obb. 2000, ISBN 3-7815-1079-4
  • Manfred Bönsch, Eiko Jürgens, Jörg W. Ziegenspeck: The orientation level must be maintained! What makes it worth preserving? A memorandum. Edition Erlebnispädagogik, Lüneburg 2001, ISBN 3-89569-056-2
  • Claudia Schuchart: Orientation level and educational opportunities. An evaluation study. Waxmann, Münster [a. a.] 2006, ISBN 3-8309-1588-8
  • Jörg W. Ziegenspeck: Education policy without progress - education reform without effect. To the problem of the grades in the 4th and 5th school year. A report with an educational policy appeal. Schneider Hohengehren, Baltmannsweiler 2009, ISBN 978-3-8340-0568-7

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schools in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , on www.mecklenburg-vorpommern.eu, accessed on October 8, 2018
  2. ↑ BVerfG, judgment of 6 December 1972, Az. 1 BvR 230/70, 1 BvR 95/71, BVerfGE 34, 165 - funding level.