Mathematics and science proficiency of young refugees in secondary schools in Germany

Abstract

Reliable information on the integration of refugee students in the German educational system is scarce. In this paper, we examine refugee students’ proficiency in mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics in comparison to other students with and without an immigrant background, including non-refugee foreign-born students. We analyzed test data from 44,882 ninth-grade students, including 939 refugees, who participated in a national educational monitoring study in Germany (IQB Trends in Student Achievement 2018). In a series of regression models, we estimated the extent to which differences in students’ language proficiency and their families’ social background account for disparities in mathematics and science achievement. Compared to students without an immigrant background, refugee students’ achievement scores were on average 15 to 17 points lower (on a scale with SD = 10 for all ninth-grade students in Germany). Refugees also scored substantially lower than non-refugee foreign-born students (difference of 7 to 10 points). Taking social background and language proficiency into account substantially reduced refugees’ achievement disadvantage to 2 to 5 points compared to students without an immigrant background and to 1 to 5 points compared to non-refugee foreign-born students, with language proficiency explaining the largest proportion of variance. The remaining disparities correspond to a learning gain of roughly one school year in Germany. The results emphasize the importance of providing effective support aimed at fostering refugees’ proficiency in the language of instruction.

Thrown in at the deep end? Perceptions of burdens, gains, and contributions to the integration of refugee students among teachers with(out) target group-specific professional knowledge

“…Esser, 2006 , p. 26), for which schooling is particularly significant (Chiswick and Miller, 1995 , 1996 ; Becker-Mrotzek et al, 2021 ). Moreover, language acquisition again critically influences learning in other subjects (Schipolowski et al, 2021 ). Teachers can contribute to improving the language skills of refugees both in regular language classes (cf.…”

“…Teachers play a crucial role in the attainment of educational qualifications because their teaching provides the subject-specific and cross-curricular foundations for successful completion (Reinke and Goller, 2022 ). Language teaching is an essential element in this regard, as knowledge of the language of instruction is closely related to academic achievement (Kempert et al, 2016 , p. 158; Schipolowski et al, 2021 ).…”

“…In addition to the particularities of the students, teachers in preparation classes face structural challenges. First, teachers are under great pressure to support students in transitioning successfully to regular classes and to close prior knowledge gaps (Schipolowski et al, 2021 ) in order to increase the students' chances of completing their regular classes, graduating from high school, and succeeding in integrating in general. Second, in particular shortly after implementation of the preparation classes, when the teachers of our study were surveyed, teachers had to cope with fuzzy guidelines instead of binding curricula (Karakayali et al, 2017 ) that teachers of regular classes have.…”

IQB Trends in Student Achievement 2018: A Large-Scale Educational Assessment Study in Germany

“…The comprehensive study report for the IQB Trends in Student Achievement 2018-study (Stanat et al, 2019) summarizes the main findings and is primarily intended for policy makers and the education administration, but also for the general public. Schipolowski et al (2021) investigated mathematics and science proficiency of young refugees in secondary schools in Germany and compared them to other students with and without an immigrant background. Furthermore, Schneider et al (2022) published an article about gender differences in academic self-concepts and interests and how the temporal changes of these constructs could be explained by differences in academic achievement between cohorts.…”

“…The large student sample in particular allows for robust analyses of school achievement in small subpopulations such as refugees (n = 941; see also Schipolowski et al, 2021) or students with special educational needs (n = 2.729). In this regard, possible research questions include differences in achievement and motivational characteristics for SEN students in general education schools versus SEN schools or disparities in achievement for refugee students in comparison to other students with and without immigration background.…”