Schulkomposition und Lernbedingungen: die Perspektive von Schulleitungen zu Qualitätsmerkmalen an Grundschulen

In light of elementary schools’ increasing decline in competencies this paper examines learning conditions in differently composed elementary schools.

The analysis is based on a survey of 152 principals at elementary schools, which was combined with VERA 3 data on the composition of 5553 grade 3 pupils.

Latent profile analyses point to three school types that can be characterized as (1) socially privileged, (2) socially disadvantaged and (3) moderate elementary schools, depending on pupils’ reading performance, cultural capital and everyday multilingualism. In terms of school learning conditions, the three types differ from principals’ perspective, particularly with regard to the academic climate and the way they dealt with the demands of distance learning during the pandemic. In the socially disadvantaged elementary schools, parents tend to be perceived as less committed, teachers’ performance expectations as lower and pupils as less willing to perform. Principals of this type of primary schools also appear to have reduced requirements in distance learning and to be convinced of the influence of family determinants on educational success. The shortage of teachers at socially disadvantaged elementary schools is significantly higher than at more privileged school types, according to school principals.