The performance of German students in the latest Pisa study is currently in the focus of media attention. Although the results of the 15-year-old German students are again above the OECD average, they are not as good as one might think at first sight. Overall, their performance has been declining since 2015, especially in reading comprehension which has fallen back to the level of 2009. Schools such as accadis ISB are countering this with an increased number of German lessons per week.
Sobering result
In reading, Germany ranks 20th among the 79 countries participating in the Pisa study. This ranking is all the more frightening when one looks at the "risk group", i.e. the 15-year-olds who cannot write (and calculate) correctly. At 21 percent, it approaches the "Pisa shock" result that shook Germany two decades ago. The risk group’s size at secondary schools differs even more among the federal states. In some federal states, every second student lacks the basic skills for learning.
High-value German lessons at accadis ISB
The keyword "migration background" plays a role in many Pisa discussions. The growing proportion of students with a migration background may be one of the reasons for the poor results in reading. The linguistic support at accadis ISB, where children from 53 nations learn together, however, shows that an international background is not an obstacle to learning a language.
More German lessons
As a bilingual school, accadis ISB attaches great importance to ensuring that Elementary School students in particular, intensively improve their German language skills. For this reason, they attend more German lessons per week than their classmates at state elementary schools. The English language is given the same weighting. In the same manner accadis ISB students improve their reading and writing skills to the same extent in their English lessons. Ineffective early English lessons – as provided in other elementary schools – has no place in the accadis ISB curricula.
Browse the library
In additional weekly library lessons, students read and then take a book home with them to read it. Reading is especially fun in the newly renovated accadis ISB library with its colorful seating areas and large books selection.
Fostering in the afternoon
A further plus is the co-curricular program in the afternoons, in which the supervising teachers encourage the students to read. accadis ISB offers the HLA clubs – homework and learning activities – for all students from Primary Class through Grade 4.
Discover the world of reading
Every spring accadis ISB students look forward to the "Literacy Month of March". For four weeks, they engage with the world of German- and English-language literature, reading, reading aloud and writing in a variety of age-appropriate activities. They collect "reading miles", listen to the stories of well-known children's book authors who come to visit, “drop everything and read” at a random signal, celebrate their favorite book characters in a costume parade, craft bookmarks and – above all – discover new stories and reading worlds in German and English.