Quality indicators for SNE - Germany

The aim of special educational support is to enable children and young people who are either disabled or facing the threat of disablement to exercise their right to a form of schooling and education that is tailored to their personal capabilities. Children and young people receive support in the form of individual assistance measures so that they can achieve the highest possible level of integration at school and at work, participate in society and lead an independent life as far as possible.

The results of the PISA study were not satisfying for Germany and consequences currently have to be drawn from it. The Ministers of the Länder agreed in particular measures:

• to fix standards for main subjects in all Länder
• to optimise the transition from kindergarten to school
• to intensify speech-development programmes, especially for migrant pupils
• to improve the reading ability and reading competence of German pupils

Further general developments linked to quality improvement:

• In all Länder the autonomy of school has been increased in strength
• All schools in all Länder have developed individual school programmes – now the process of evaluation takes place
• All schools in Germany have access to information and communication technologies
• All German Länder have implemented the IEP as obligatory, as a contribution to ensure the quality of SNE. No extra standards will be defined, but the individual education plan is based on the individual abilities and skills of the SEN pupil

Geographical accessibility

As in the case of general education schools, school development planning is a task of the local authority maintaining bodies. For some types of special education, the low number of pupils necessitates the establishment of Sonderschulen whose catchment area is the whole of Germany.

Admission requirements and choice of school

Disabled children and young people are required to attend school, just as are their nondisabled peers. When a child reaches school age, his/her parents or legal guardians enrol the child in either the Grundschule or in the relevant Sonderschule. If it is assumed that a child cannot be sufficiently helped in lessons at a mainstream school without special educational assistance, the school supervisory authority recognises that the child concerned has special educational needs and a decision is taken on what sort of school he or she should attend and where (a certain type of Sonderschule or a mainstream school offering additional assistance on an individual basis). Pupils who are attending a mainstream school but are not receiving the assistance they require may be transferred to another type of school in the course of their school career.

The decision on a child's school career should be taken following consultation with the parents and, as far as possible, with their agreement. If the parents do not agree with the decision taken, they can seek redress through the courts or arbitration.

Age levels and grouping of pupils

Sonderschulen can be classified according to educational courses, grades and year groups.
Various types of Sonderschulen (e.g. for those with sensory impairments) combine the educational courses of the Hauptschule, Realschule and Gymnasium and lead to the qualifications normally awarded by these schools. As at mainstream schools, these educational courses are divided up into primary and secondary levels and organised in grades according to age, although instruction may be spread over more years than at mainstream schools.

Schools for children with learning difficulties are organised in grades according to age or performance levels. Schools for the mentally handicapped comprise four grades, the last of which is known as a work grade (Werkstufe). Each level is made up of several year groups. These two 261 types of educational courses can also be established at other Sonderschulen, e.g. at a special school for those with sensory impairments.

Organisation of the school year

The number of lessons stipulated in the timetables of mainstream schools is supplemented by special education measures. Some educational courses at Sonderschulen also last a year longer than those at mainstream schools.
(For the organisation of the school year, see the comments on the primary sector in the section Special Needs Education within the Education System. Information is also available at: http://www.kmk.org/fileadmin/doc/Dokumentation/Bildungswesen_en_pdfs/dossier_en_ebook.pdf )

Curriculum and teaching

Due to the existing sovereignty of culture of each Land, every Land has its own legislation and their own curriculum. The material, which is important to the educational process, is laid down in syllabuses or framework plans which may be subject-related, area-related or interdisciplinary. Syllabi for all types of school are the responsibility of the Ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs in the Länder. They are published as regulations of the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs.

They take the form of instructions from a higher authority and, as such, are binding teachers. At the same time, syllabuses are formulated in such a general way as to leave teachers the freedom of teaching methods in practice. The syllabuses not only deal with content, but also the course objectives and teaching methods. Nevertheless all the teachers of a specific subject or for special educational support at one school hold conferences to reach a degree of consensus on methods, special aids and assessment criteria.

At the level of special education in some Länder, a process of reflection relating to the modification of syllabi has begun. Some Länder have passed a recommendation for ‘Balance of Disadvantage’ (Nachteilsausgleich). Pupils with SEN, taught by general curriculum (e.g. those with sensory impairments), who do not have intellectual impairment but have difficulties because of their handicap, have a right to Nachteilsausgleich. In practice this could be, for example, a reduction of exercises in a special subject or in a test, more time for working, technical aids and so on.

 Apart from Sonderschulen for pupils with learning difficulties and the mentally handicapped, al special schools work on the basis of curricula which in terms of educational goals, lesson content and performance requirements match those of general schools (Grundschule and the educational courses offered by the Hauptschule, Realschule and Gymnasium). However, the methods used must take into account the special learning requirements and impairments relating to individual types of disability. The volume of lessons stipulated in the timetables of general schools is supplemented by special education lessons. Some educational courses at Sonderschulen also last a year longer than those at general schools. Schools for pupils with learning difficulties and for the mentally handicapped work according to their own guidelines which, as all other curricula, are issued by the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs of the relevant Land.

Sonderschulen are often all-day schools or boarding schools. Comprehensive assistance for the disabled pupil is part of the teaching concept and instruction and education complement each other. The Instruction is designed to meet individual needs and some lessons are held in small groups or on an individual basis. In addition, the class sizes at Sonderschulen are particularly small. Depending on the type of disability, therapeutic measures such as physiotherapy, behavioural therapy, speech therapy, and so on, are integrated into lessons. Technical and disability related aids and devices are used where necessary.

The 16 Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany developed at their plenary session in May 1994 the recommendations on Special Needs Education, replacing earlier guidelines of March 1972. This basic paper documents (reveals) the SEN development of all German Bundesländer. The Ministers were in agreement with the current trend to focus on the support of the individual pupil rather than on its deficits, on the type of school or institution.

The recommendations aimed to maintain and develop the present variety and level of special education facilities, and to encourage efforts to educate disabled and non-disabled students together. The Ministers recommended that any changes should guarantee the necessary amount and quality of special support, allow for flexibility in a system combining different degrees of special support, and ensure that students with SEN – as far as possible – are afforded the same possibilities and opportunities all over Germany, regardless of the place and nature of special support given.

Great importance should be given to a variety of measures to prevent disabilities and to encourage mainstreaming and co-operation within the different systems. Traditional special schools should develop themselves into resource centres for prevention of SEN and inclusion in mainstream schools.

In the following years up until 1999 the KMK enacted recommendations for the ‘emphasis of individual education support’ (Förderschwerpunkte) on the level of:  

• learning
• speech
• emotion and social development
• mental development
• physical development
• hearing
• vision
• autism
• chronic illness

Each of these Förderschwerpunkte provides information about the education starting point and condition on this level of SEN, the phenomenon of the individual special needs and its diagnosis, the provision of SNE and possible placements. The user gets an indication regarding co-operation and collaboration as well as regarding qualifications of the staff. With regard to the Förderschwerpunkte, all Länder are in the process of revising their curriculum. In Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein the implementation of the IEPs (Individual Education Plans) is regulated in the curriculum.

Progression of pupils:Continuous assessment of performance takes place in Sonderschulen in a similar form to that of mainstream schools. In the case of the mentally retarded and the very severely disabled, assessment is confined to reports on personality development.

Promotion to the next school grade

At the end of the school year the Sonderschule examines whether the needs of the pupil can still be catered for there and in which grade he or she should be placed or, alternatively, whether the pupil should move to another special school or to a general school. The decision on which grade a pupil should be placed in is a matter for the school, but it is the education authority that decides on a school transfer, following consultation with the parents and consideration of commissioned reports.

Leaving certificates

In so far as the type of disability or illness allows, Sonderschulen award qualifications equivalent to the qualifications obtained from general schools (Hauptschulabschluss, Mittlerer Schulabschluss, Allgemeine Hochschulreife), provided that instruction was based on the curricula of the respective school type and the educational course was completed successfully. The subjects may be taught over more years than at general schools.

For pupils who were not taught using the curricula of general schools, such as the mentally handicapped, the Teachers' Council deems that an educational course has been successfully completed when the pupil has passed through all the stipulated school levels successfully.

Transition from school to work

In taking the decision on a child's school career, the school concerned and the school supervisory authority co-operate with various agencies within and outside the school system, including school psychological services, the public health office, the youth welfare office and education counselling agencies (for example, in the case of behavioural problems and domestic disputes).

Particular importance is attached to the integration of disabled young people into the workforce. Compulsory schooling does not end with a general education; rather, it includes vocational training or pre-vocational training, sometimes at vocational Sonderschulen. Pupils are prepared for making a decision on their choice of career at schools providing general education (in such subjects as Arbeitslehre and through visits to companies and work placements). Schools co-operate in this area with the careers guidance departments of public employment agencies.

The aim is for the disabled to be trained in an anerkannter Ausbildungsberuf (recognised occupation requiring formal training) under the duales System (dual system), as far as their learning abilities allow. The school part of vocational training takes place at a general Berufsschulen or at establishments for the disabled. The first stage of training is usually completed on a full-time basis as a Berufsgrundbildungsjahr, i.e. basic vocational training year. It can be preceded by a Berufsvorbereitungsjahr, a year of pre-vocational training. Practical training takes place in companies, at inter-company training centres or in vocational training workshops for the disabled.

Alongside training within the dual system training opportunities are also available at full-time vocational schools. Pupils with appropriate school-leaving qualifications are also offered the opportunity to continue their education (at the Fachoberschule or Fachschule). These institutions providing vocational training for the disabled usually have a large catchment area and offer student accommodation.

If training in a recognised occupation requiring formal training is not possible, disabled young people receive a preparatory training geared to their individual capabilities and skills either for an occupation that will enable them to lead an independent life, or for employment in a workshop for the disabled with the aim of facilitating future permanent integration into a work environment.