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Studies in schools are of great importance for educational research – but fewer and fewer school administrators, teachers, students, and their parents are willing to participate in them. A working group of the Society for Empirical Educational Research (GEBF) has now developed specific recommendations for action and formulated key working principles for members of the professional association in order to conduct surveys in the school context in a more transparent and cooperative manner that is beneficial for all involved. The position paper, which was approved by the GEBF board, will serve as an internal guideline for the professional association in the future and was published in mid-October. Employees of the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) were significantly involved in its development.

The position paper entitled “Improving access to schools and data from school surveys for empirical educational research” comprises three key guidelines. First, schools should be regarded as equal partners in the research process. This includes a stronger focus on mutual benefit, transparent communication, and practical data collection tailored to everyday school life. Second, access to existing research data should be improved and its use promoted—for example, through the increased use of secondary data and the sharing of own data sets for reuse. Particularly with regard to student qualification work, the GEBF advocates avoiding school-based surveys wherever possible. Instead, students should be encouraged and guided to make greater use of existing data. Thirdly, the aim is to ensure that approval procedures are handled professionally. This requires a better understanding of the requirements of the review bodies and more efficient coordination of content and data protection aspects.

Schools are opening their doors less and less frequently
"We have found that many schools are generally open to research—but only if it is clear what it is about and what specific benefits they will gain from making their time and human resources available to us. As researchers, we need to communicate this significance much more clearly,“ says Dr. Jutta von Maurice, head of the Center for Study Management at LIfBi, who led the GEBF working group. ”When we invite schools to participate in studies, we can't just collect data. It is our responsibility to communicate our research on an equal footing. Our research can only benefit from the expertise of the schools."

The position paper is based on two surveys of researchers and school representatives, as well as the results of discussion events held during the last two GEBF annual conferences.

To the position paper

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