For the third time, the University School Research Center ForUS collected comparative data on math and spelling skills at Dresden schools. In May and June 2024, the scientists of the ForUS research center conducted surveys in 29 classes at five schools in Dresden with about 1,200 participants. The pupils in grades 3 to 6 wrote standardized tests in the areas of mathematics (German Mathematics Test - DEMAT) and German (Hamburg Writing Test - HSP).

In addition to primary and secondary school pupils, children from Dresden University Community School and another community school in Dresden also took part. The aim of the survey is "to collect data for a performance comparison of the pupils. We want to understand how the skills of pupils at the University Community School Dresden develop in comparison to other schools and school types. The findings are also incorporated into articles for the online journal 'SPE - Schulpraxis entwickeln'. In addition, the test data is also reported directly back to the schools so that it can be used for lesson development," state the survey managers Marlis Pesch and Matthias Ritter.

Applied educational research for students

The researchers were supported in the surveys at the University Community School by student teachers from TU Dresden. The future teachers were initially trained for the surveys in an accompanying seminar, helped to evaluate the tests and used some of the data for their seminar work. This enables them to combine theories of educational science and learning research with their experiences in the classroom on their path to professionalization.
As part of a state examination thesis, students can take an in-depth look at the data about development of the mathematical and spelling skills of pupils at Dresden University School compared over time.

Another generous donation and recognition of the research project

Ernst Klett Verlag has once again donated around 600 booklets of its standardized spelling test Hamburger Schreib-Probe, HSP for short, to the ForUS research center free of charge for a large-scale survey of the spelling skills of all grades at the University School Dresden.

"We are very pleased about this generous gesture from Klett Verlag, which, in addition to providing concrete support for our research project, is also a tribute to our motivated team of scientists, students and teachers," says Prof. Dr. Anke Langner, Scientific Director of the University School Dresden, about the donations also in previous years.

About HSP and DEMAT

The Klett test series Hamburger Schreib-Probe, which has been used successfully for over 25 years, focuses on orthographic structural knowledge as well as the mastery of basic spelling strategies. The standardized tests take into account the different performance distributions within city states and metropolitan areas, as used in the current study, in addition to the nationwide comparison norms. The HSP series includes various test versions for grades 1 to 10, which can be scored manually or electronically. klett.de/diagnostik

The German Mathematics Test - DEMAT is a group test that measures the arithmetic performance of an entire school class in the course of a school lesson. The respective test is based on the curricula of all federal states and the educational standards of the KMK (Kultusministerkonferenz is the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany), for this grade. The tests enable an objective assessment of arithmetic performance at the end of the respective grade level up to the beginning of the following grade level and are suitable for identifying particular weaknesses or strengths in mathematics. Usually, they include tasks on arithmetic operations, factual tasks and geometry. testzentrale.de/produkte/tests/schultests

About the University School Dresden

The Dresden University School is a joint project of the city of Dresden and the TUD Dresden University of Technology. It is a public and free community school run by the city, where innovative forms of teaching and learning are tested under scientific supervision. In addition, it is a training school for future teachers and, in the future, a further education school for teachers. The school trial is being scientifically supported by the ForUS research center at TU Dresden.

• Information on the research project at TU Dresden: https: //tu-dresden.de/gsw/unischule
• Information on the Dresden University School: http://universitaetsschule.org

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