Unintended Effects of New Governance in the School System – Theoretical Conceptualization and the Design of Instruments for Empirical Research (NeFo)

Basic data for this project

Description

In recent years, various output- and competition-oriented governance instruments were introduced into the German school system. Whether these instruments lead to real gains in efficiency can only be determined once we consider not only their effectiveness but also their unintended effects. This project seeks to develop a set of instruments for systematic research into the unintended consequences of New Governance in the school system. This set will be tested in four German states. The project aims to develop a screening tool for education departments, school authorities and school bodies as well as individual schools that can be used for systematic research into reform effects. In order to describe the nature and the prevalence of the side effects of certain reforms, the project uses qualitative interviews with principals and teachers as well as quantitative data from questionnaires. Contrasting comparisons on different levels enable us to check hypotheses regarding the interplay between the unintended effects on attitudes and behaviour on the one hand and independent variables on the other hand. This will allow us to describe the differential effects of New Governance instruments more precisely. Moreover, it will also be possible to determine the risks of these instruments as weil as conditions for their successful employment.