The German European School Manila participates in the annual benchmarking test of Germany. The results of this year were once again excellent, compared to the average of German schools in Germany.

Competence Test

 

Benchmarking tests (Competence Tests) at the German European School Manila

In Germany, consistent national pedagogic benchmarks have been developed for the primary section (Grade level 4), the “Hauptschul-” and secondary school qualifications (Grade level 9 and 10, respectively), based on the Programme for International Student Assessment. These pedagogic benchmarks describe the amount of knowledge and especially competences (e.g. working methods) of students, which they need to reach for the corresponding grade level. They are necessary in order to successfully master the developments in school and in their future career.

The observance of these pedagogic benchmarks is to be ensured through national external evaluation in form of competence tests. In order to use the results in the development of the school’s educational program, the competence tests are always carried out one grade level before of the completion of the course of education.

By now, the competence tests are being centralized in all grade levels and they uniformly take place in several or all federal states.

The German European School Manila participates in all national and centralized competence tests in the grade levels offered (3, 6 and 8) and in the subjects possible (mathematics, German or English and French, respectively, depending on the grade level).

The competence tests always take place in the time period between February and May of the current school year. Following a phase of centralized evaluation, the schools receive a notification about results. These will be discussed among teachers and students and later in the class- and subject conferences. The results of the competence tests reveal strengths and weaknesses in the development of competences of our students. They need to be considered for the class concept as well as for the learning support in the concepts of the subject as well as general methods and need to run according to the following scheme:

In evaluating our results and creating a clearer presentation of the student performances (number of correct answers), the performances are separated into quartiles. When a student answers 60 % of questions correctly, he/she mastered the fundamental concepts. When students score more than 75 %, they are able to apply all concepts in a confident manner and also in other areas of knowledge.