Starting Cohort 8 — Grade 5 (2022)
Education for the World of Tomorrow
The lower secondary level constitutes the connecting link between elementary school and the general or vocational upper secondary level. With the study „Education for the world of tomorrow“, the National Educational Panel Study has launched a second cohort from the 5th grade onwards, twelve years after Starting Cohort 3 
. The new Starting Cohort 8 characterizes a particular focus on questions dealing with the effects of social and educational policy changes over the last decade on everyday school life:
- What role does the use of digital media play in education and in the general lives of students today?
- How have the requirements for digital competencies and the role of social media changed?
- Under what conditions and how do young people engage politically and civically for the world of tomorrow?
- What are the challenges that come along with increasing heterogeneity and diversity in schools and other learning environments?
The general framework of this study comprises the development of students in relevant competence domains as well as the various educational processes, educational decisions and educational returns throughout secondary school, taking also into account institutional and family factors. In addition to the comparative perspective, the research potential of Starting Cohort 8 benefits from innovative survey methods, new contents and further competence measures. For instance, the data collection design enables a more specific view on the school as learning context (by including the entire teaching staff in the survey) as well as on the reading and mathematics competencies of the students (by coupling the NEPS measures with the IQB Trends in Student Achievement [IQB Bildungstrends] on the basis of identical tests and identical schools).
The aim of the panel study is to establish an empirical basis for a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities of education for the world of tomorrow and to provide it for research purposes. For this purpose, the NEPS Starting Cohort 8 follows a sample of representatively selected students who attend regular as well as special schools and are willing to participate in annual surveys and competence tests. Important contextual information is also gathered from parents, teachers and school management.