Conceptualization and establishment of a university school in Potsdam (state funding)

Under ideal educational conditions, the individual educational success of learners depends solely on performance criteria. In Germany in particular, however, the family characteristics of adolescents have a major influence. Schools therefore have the task of compensating for unequal starting points and promoting all adolescents according to their talents. This is particularly relevant and challenging in cities with high levels of social segregation. Potsdam, along with Schwerin and Rostock, is one of the cities with the highest segregation of families with children.
With the establishment of a university school, we are pursuing the goal of developing and testing a progressive, flexible type of school that can promote educational equality and counteract social segregation. A central component of the concept is the flexibilization of learning structures and the associated extension or reduction of learning times so that all learners receive exactly the support they need to develop their strengths. The simultaneous establishment of a so-called “transfer workshop” will have a broad impact on other schools.

Funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the “Transferstelle lernen:digital” (Learning:Digital Transfer Center) funding program

Scientific support for subprojects of the transfer office, further information at: https://lernen.digital/

SEGEL - Students' attitudes toward inclusive learning

SEGEL aims to assess and improve the attitudes of fourth and fifth grade elementary school children before and after a teaching unit. With the help of classroom-integrated support, the aim is to increase the pupils' acceptance of collaborative learning. Through individual and group exercises, knowledge transfer phases, playful elements, and discussion rounds, children are sensitized to various areas that are fundamental to collaborative learning, such as empathy, well-being, a sense of justice, individual and class-specific strengths, and teamwork.

Scientific evaluation of the introduction of Lerngruppe+ in the federal state of Brandenburg (state funding)

The implementation of the Lerngruppe+ project is linked both in terms of content and organization to the implementation of the state government's concept of “joint learning in schools.” The evaluation project was carried out in the school years of 2022/2023 and 2023/24 and focused on the implementation of the concept using two cohorts. The design of the Learning Group+ as a specific, temporary support measure for a specific target group of students meant that various levels were considered in the evaluation: (1) the level of the students in the Lerngruppen+, (2) the level of the Learning Lerngruppe+, (3) the level of the class groups from which the students in the Lerngruppen+ originate, (4) the school level, and (5) the extracurricular level. The relationships between these levels were examined in terms of their significance for the successful implementation of the Lerngruppe+ concept and compiled in a comprehensive analytical report.

The report is available in open access at: mbjs.brandenburg.de/sixcms/media.php/140/abschlussbericht_zur_evaluation_der_einfuehrung_der_lerngruppe__im_bundesland_brandenburg.pdf

Project-related publications:

Lenkeit, J., Hartmann, A., Knigge, M., Ehlert, A., & Spörer, N. (2025). Die Lerngruppe+ an Schulen für Gemeinsames Lernen. Abschlussbericht zur „Evaluation der Einführung der Lerngruppe+ im Bundesland Brandenburg“. Potsdam: Ministeriums für Bildung, Jugend und Sport des Landes Brandenburg. mbjs.brandenburg.de/sixcms/media.php/140/abschlussbericht_zur_evaluation_der_einfuehrung_der_lerngruppe__im_bundesland_brandenburg.pdf

Hartmann, A., Lenkeit, J., Knigge, M., Ehlert, A. & Spörer, N. (2025, September). Die temporäre Lerngruppe als Ansatz zur Förderung sozialer Kompetenzen und Partizipation von Grundschüler:innen mit emotional-sozialen Förderbedarfen. Präsentation auf der 20. Tagung der Fachgruppe Pädagogische Psychologie (PAEPS), Jena.

Hartmann, A., Lenkeit, J., Ehlert, A., Knigge, M. & Spörer, N. (2025, Januar). Die Entwicklung der sozialen Kompetenzen und Partizipation von Grundschüler:innen mit besonderen Förderbedarfen mittels temporärer Lerngruppen. Präsentation auf der 12. Tagung der Gesellschaft für Empirische Bildungsforschung, Mannheim.

Hartmann, A., Lenkeit, J., Knigge, M., Ehlert, A. & Spörer, N. (2024, September). Förderung der sozialen Partizipation von Grundschüler*innen mit besonderen Förderbedarfen mittels Lerngruppen: Eine Längsschnittstudie zu Fremd- und Selbsteinschätzungen. Vortrag auf dem 52. DGPs Kongress, Wien, Österreich.

Hartmann, A., Lenkeit, J., Knigge, M., Ehlert, A. & Spörer, N. (2024, März). Differenzierte Förderung von Schüler:innen mit Förderbedarf emotional-soziale Entwicklung und Zusammenhänge zur sozialen Partizipation. Vortrag auf der 11. Tagung der Gesellschaft für Empirische Bildungsforschung, Potsdam.

Funding from the DFG (German Research Foundation, SP 1269/7-1)

“Professional development in inclusive schools under conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic” (in cooperation with Antje Ehlert, Michel Knigge & Jenny Lenkeit)

Based on theoretical concepts and research findings on leadership styles of school headmasters and professional competence facets of teachers, the present study aims to investigate to what extent profession-related experiences, attitudes and stresses of school headmasters and pedagogical staff have changed against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is assumed that an increased cooperation orientation of school headmasters in particular leads to increased cooperative activities on the part of the teaching staff and thus causes fewer negative changes in the profession-related experiences of the teaching staff (e.g. stress) and learning-relevant characteristics of pupils (e.g. motivation).

Questionnaires will collect information on professional activities as well as the teaching and learning processes in distance learning settings from a retrospective and current perspective. Through the detailed assessment of cooperative activities and their effects on different groups of actors within the school, the study demonstrates under which conditions inclusive teaching and learning in distance learning settings can succeed. The knowledge gained will be applied in the area of teacher training and in-service training.

Funding from the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) under the “Innovative University” funding guideline

Scientific head of the sub-division “Bildungscampus”

Scientific Evaluation „Gemeinsames Lernen und Schulzentren im Bundesland Brandenburg“ (“Joint learning and school centers in the state of Brandenburg” (state funding)

The evaluation of inclusive schools and school centers in the state of Brandenburg in the school years of 2018/2019 and 2019/20 comprises three different, interacting levels: (1) the student level (analysis of individual development trajectories), (2) the class level (analysis of teaching context conditions, including the professional characteristics of teachers), and (3) the school level (analysis of characteristics of the teaching staff and school organizational characteristics). The aim is to investigate how joint teaching in primary and secondary schools affects the development of students' skills and how this relates to the professional characteristics of teachers, teaching characteristics, and contextual characteristics. The interrelationships will be examined longitudinally in different cohorts of primary and secondary school students.
The final report on the project is publicly available at Seiten des Ministeriums für Bildung, Jugend und Sport des Landes Brandenburg.

E-CIR „Measuring and supporting students’ social participation: Innovating the field with behavioral data”

In the present decade, inclusive education has gained significant attention, both in the general public and in the scientific community. While academic achievements of students in inclusive learning settings are promising, social participation of students with special educational needs (SEN) - inside and outside of the classroom - has become a more problematic issue. Finding ways to support students’ social participation is, therefore, a core challenge for inclusive education.

Current research on social participation is mainly based on self-report measures about a person’s quantity of friends or about the overall quality of an individual’s interactions with significant others. Both of these measures result in easily communicable but highly aggregated and subjective data which give only little information about the actual social contacts among students with and without SEN. Therefore, basic behavioral data of social interactions such as face-to-face contacts, tracking data, and log files are needed to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying social participation.

The E-CIR aims at closing this research gap by focusing on the development of innovative technologies that allow to precisely measure the length, duration and quality of social contacts in every day’s school live. This, in turn, will lay ground for empirically testing assumptions articulated in social participation theories, such as the contact hypotheses, and for developing means to foster social participation.

The goal of our E-CIR is to answer three main questions:

1. Under which circumstances do different behavior-based measures of students’ social participation lead to reliable and valid empirical data?

2. To what extent can these measurement instruments assess both social structure and social participation processes in inclusive settings?

3. To what extent can behavior-based technologies measure the effects of classroom-based interventions aimed at fostering social participation of students?

All together, the E-CIR will not only lead to a better understanding of antecedents and consequences of social participation in heterogeneous learning groups but will also lead to concrete practical outcomes.

Participating researchers: Nadine Spörer (University of Potsdam, Germany), Alexander Minnaert (University of Groningen, The Netherlands), Carmen Zurbriggen (University of Bielefeld, Germany), Christian Huber (University of Wuppertal, Germany), Christoph Stadtfeld (ETH Zürich, Switzerland), Julia Eberle (Ruhr University Bochum, Germany), Anke de Boer (University of Groningen, The Netherlands), Katja Petry (KU Leuven, Belgium), Thorsten Henke (University of Potsdam, Germany)

Publications:

The 2018 E-CIR Group (2018, September). Conception of the E-CIR “Measuring and supporting students’ social participation”. Presentation at the EARLI SIG 15 conference, Potsdam (Germany).

Funding from the DFG (German Research Foundation, SP 1269/4-1)

Spörer, N: „Unterrichtsprozesse in inklusiven Lernsettings: Zur Bedeutung von Lehrer-Schüler- und Schüler-Schüler-Interaktionen für die fachliche, personale und soziale Kompetenzentwicklung von Grundschülern“ (Teaching processes in inclusive learning settings: The importance of teacher-student and student-student interactions for the development of academic, personal, and social skills in elementary school students)

Based on the supply-use model of teaching effectiveness (Helmke, 2010), this research project examines how inclusive teaching affects the development of skills in primary school children. The aim is to test the assumption that forms of differentiated teaching in particular have a positive effect on the development of children's skills. Differentiation methods have this effect by positively influencing the intensity and quality of teacher-student and student-student interactions (mediation hypothesis).

To test the hypotheses, a longitudinal study with three measurement points spread over two school years is being conducted. N = 10 inclusive primary school classes with approximately 250 pupils starting in the 4th grade are being studied. Within this framework, the academic (German and mathematics performance), personal (interest, self-concept), and social (class climate, sociogram) characteristics of the children will be assessed at each measurement point using standardized tests and questionnaires, and German and mathematics lessons will be observed.

The study aims to contribute to establishing models for the impact of inclusive primary school education on a methodologically sound basis. By recording teaching processes and their effects on different groups of students in a differentiated manner, the study aims to demonstrate the conditions under which inclusive education is particularly effective.

Project-related publications:

Bosse, S., Henke, T. & Spörer, N. (in Druck). Inklusion aus der Perspektive der Lernenden: Veränderungen des Sozialklimas im Verlauf der Grundschulzeit. In K. Rathmann & K. Hurrelmann (Hrsg.), Leistung und Wohlbefinden in der Schule: Herausforderung Inklusion. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa.

Henke, T., Bosse, S. & Spörer, N. (in Druck). Binnendifferenzierung im inklusiven Unterricht: Ein Vergleich der Schüler- und Beobachterperspektive. In F. Hellmich, G. Görel & M. F. Löper (Hrsg.), Inklusive Schul- und Unterrichtsentwicklung. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.

Spörer, N., Bosse, S. & Henke, T. (2015, Juni). Wer macht was mit welchem Effekt? Zur Anlage des DFG-Forschungsprojekts "Unterrichtsprozesse in inklusiven Lernsettings". Posterbeitrag auf der Frühjahrstagung der Arbeitsgruppe Empirische Sonderpädagogische Forschung (AESF), Potsdam.

Funding from the DFG (German Research Foundation, SP 1269/3-1)

Spörer, N. & Nottbusch, G.: „Heterogenität und Lesekompetenz: Die Rolle der institutionellen und häuslichen Lernumwelten“ (Heterogeneity and reading literacy: The role of institutional and home learning environments)

It has been known since long before PISA that children's educational success is closely linked to their (social) background. But how does this link come about? In this research project, we are conducting a longitudinal study to investigate how children's reading skills develop and what specific contribution both the home and institutional learning environments make to this. A particular focus is placed on analyzing differential effects: Do both learning environments have the same effect on children from different backgrounds, and to the same degree? Are the effects of both learning environments additive to each other? Do children who have a less stimulating learning environment at home benefit just as much from a stimulating institutional learning environment as children who already have a stimulating learning environment at home?

Using data from the National Education Panel, a longitudinal study from kindergarten to second grade analyzes whether and to what extent differential effects of learning environments are evident for children in so-called risk groups and non-risk groups.

The project is part of the Special Priority Program “Education as a Lifelong Process” (SPP 1646) and is being carried out in collaboration with the “Heterogeneity & Inclusion” research group at the University of Potsdam.

Project-related publications:

Lambrecht, J., Koch, H., Nottbusch, G. & Spörer, N. (2016, März). Erfolg versprechende Lesevorläuferfähigkeiten wider soziale Umstände – welche Rolle spielt die häusliche Lernumgebung? Posterpräsentation auf der 4. Tagung der Gesellschaft für Empirische Bildungsforschung, Berlin.

Scientific support for the pilot project "Inklusive Grundschule" (Inclusive Primary School, PInG), state funding

With the signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, every child in Germany has the right to inclusive education and access to all educational opportunities. In an inclusive school—a school for everyone—every child should therefore be accepted and receive the best possible individual support.

In the school years 2012/13 to 2014/15, the pilot project “Inclusive Primary School” was carried out in the state of Brandenburg with 84 inclusive primary schools. Two longitudinal studies were conducted as part of the scientific monitoring of the pilot schools.

The first study focused on the development of students' skills in German and mathematics. Changes in subject-specific skills were examined in connection with characteristics of inclusive teaching and taking into account the socio-economic and socio-cultural background characteristics of the students. In addition, the study examined how the students' social skills had developed. The sample included a total of 72 classes in grades 2 and 3, which were surveyed at the beginning and end of the 2012/13 school year and at the end of the 2013/14 school year.

The second longitudinal study focused on evaluating the training and counseling provided to the pilot schools. Teachers from all pilot schools were asked to assess the quality and usefulness of the training and counseling processes via online surveys. The aim was also to track developments in the teachers' professional understanding of inclusive education.

The scientific monitoring has now been completed and a final report has been published.

General project-related publications:

Bosse, S., Lambrecht, J., Henke, T. & Spörer, N. (2018). Die Brandenburger PING-Studie: Inklusives Lernen und Lehren in der Grundschule. In: Walm, M., Häcker, T., Radisch, F. & Krüger, A. (Hrsg.), Empirisch-pädagogische Forschung in inklusiven Zeiten - Konzeptualisierung, Professionalisierung, Systementwicklung (S. 296-305). Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt.

Spörer, N., Schründer-Lenzen, A., Vock, M. & Maaz, K. (2015). Inklusives Lernen und Lehren im Land Brandenburg. Abschlussbericht zur Begleitforschung des Pilotprojekts „Inklusive Grundschule“.

Spörer, N., Schründer-Lenzen, A., Vock, M. & Maaz, K. (2015). Inklusives Lernen und Lehren im Land Brandenburg. Abschlussbericht zur Begleitforschung des Pilotprojekts „Inklusive Grundschule“. Zusammenfassung.

Spörer, N., Maaz, K., Vock., M., Schründer-Lenzen, A., Luka, T., Bosse, S., Jäntsch, C. & Vogel, J. (2015). Wie entwickeln sich Kinder im inklusiven Unterricht? Zur Anlage der wissenschaftlichen Begleitung des Projekts „Inklusive Grundschule“. In D. Blömer, M. Lichtblau, A.-K. Jüttner, K. Koch, M. Krüger & R. Werning (Hrsg.), Perspektiven auf inklusive Bildung. Gemeinsam anders lehren und lernen (S. 297-302). Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

Bosse, S. & Spörer, N. (2014). Die „Inklusive Grundschule“ im Land Brandenburg: Schulleistungs- und Persönlichkeitsentwicklung von Kindern im inklusiven Unterricht. Zur Anlage und Begleitung des Pilotprojektes. In N. Bernhardt, M. Hauser, F. Poppe & S. Schuppener (Hrsg.), Inklusion und Chancengleichheit - Diversity im Spiegel von Bildung und Didaktik (S. 155-161). Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt.

Project-related publications on specific issues:

Henke, T., Bogda, K., Lambrecht, J., Bosse, S., Koch, H., Maaz, K. & Spörer, N. (2017). Will you be my friend? A multilevel network analysis of friendships of students with special educational needs backgrounds in inclusive classrooms. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 20, 449-474.

Bosse, S., Jäntsch, C., Henke, T., Lambrecht, J., Koch, H. & Spörer, N. (2017). Das Zusammenspiel der Offenheit für Innovationen, der Einstellung zum inklusiven Lernen und der Selbstwirksamkeit von Lehrerinnen und Lehrern. Zeitschrift für Bildungsforschung, 7, 131-146.

Henke, T., Bosse, S., Lambrecht, J., Jäntsch, C., Jaeuthe, J. & Spörer, N. (2017). Mittendrin oder nur dabei? Zum Zusammenhang zwischen sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf und sozialer Partizipation von Grundschülerinnen und Grundschülern. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 31, 111-123.

Lambrecht, J., Bosse, S., Henke, T., Jäntsch, C. & Spörer, N. (2016). Eine inklusive Grundschule ist eine inklusive Grundschule? Wie sich inklusive Grundschulen an Hand ihres Umgangs mit Ressourcen unterscheiden lassen. Zeitschrift für Bildungsforschung, 6, 135-150.

Bosse, S. Henke, T., Jäntsch, C., Lambrecht, J., Vock, M. & Spörer, N. (2016). Die Entwicklung der Einstellung zum inklusiven Lernen und der Selbstwirksamkeit von Grundschullehrkräften. Empirische Sonderpädagogik, 8, 101-114.

Bosse, S., Henke, T., Jäntsch, C., Lambrecht, J., Maaz, K., Vock, M., Schründer-Lenzen, A. & Spörer, N. (2016). Zum Zusammenhang von Einstellung und Selbstwirksamkeit von inklusiv arbeitenden Grundschullehrkräften. In K. Liebers, B. Landwehr, S. Reinhold, S. Riegler & R. Schmidt (Hrsg.), Facetten grundschulpädagogischer und -didaktischer Forschung (S. 99-104). Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

Spörer, N., Maaz, K., Vock., M., Schründer-Lenzen, A., Luka, T., Bosse, S., Vogel, J. & Jäntsch, C. (2015). Lernen in der inklusiven Grundschule: Zusammenhänge zwischen fachlichen Kompetenzen, Sozialklima und Facetten des Selbstkonzepts. Unterrichtswissenschaft, 43, 22-35.

Funding from the DFG (German Research Foundation, SP 1269/1-1)

Spörer, N. & Brunstein, J. C.: „Unterrichtsintegrierte Förderung der Lesekompetenz: Interventionsstudien zur Bedeutung von Lesestrategien und Selbstregulationsprozeduren für die Verbesserung des Leseverständnisses von 5.-Klässlern“ (Teaching-integrated promotion of reading skills: Intervention studies on the importance of reading strategies and self-regulation procedures for improving reading comprehension in fifth graders)

An important part of our department's research activities focuses on the development and analysis of intervention programs to promote competent reading. Specifically, we use and test peer-supported methods of reading comprehension promotion and are particularly concerned with impact analyses of the relationship between reading strategy acquisition and reading comprehension performance, as well as the implementation of the programs by teachers in the classroom.

Whether trained students actually master the reading strategies taught to them and to what extent the presumably acquired strategies are responsible for the success of the training has so far only been investigated sporadically and unsystematically. We are therefore investigating whether the promotion of competent reading has the intended effect (improved reading comprehension through strategy acquisition). These studies were able to specify the ways in which reading strategies contribute to increased reading comprehension.

In the DFG-funded project on teaching-integrated reading skills development, we investigated whether the effectiveness of peer-supported learning in regular classes can be increased through the systematic promotion of self-regulation procedures. These studies contribute to placing models for the structure and promotion of self-regulation on a methodologically sound footing. They also aim to demonstrate that such models are suitable not only for predicting but also for optimizing forms of promoting competent reading that are integrated into teaching.

Building on these results, we are currently investigating the conditions under which interdisciplinary promotion of competent reading can be successful in elementary schools.

Project-related publications:

Völlinger, V. A., Spörer, N., Lubbe, D. & Brunstein, J. C. (2018). A path analytic test of the reading strategies mediation model: Relating cognitive competences and motivational influences to individual differences in fifth graders’ reading comprehension. The Journal of Educational Research. DOI: 10.1080/00220671.2017.1412930.

Schünemann, N., Spörer, N., Völlinger, V. A. & Brunstein, J. C. (2017). Peer feedback mediates the impact of self-regulation procedures on strategy use and reading comprehension in reciprocal teaching groups. Instructional Science, 45, 395-415.

Spörer, N., Koch, H. Schünemann, N. & Völlinger, V. A. (2016). Das Lesetraining mit Käpt’n Carlo für 4. und 5. Klassen. Ein Lehrermanual mit Unterrichtsmaterialien zur Förderung des verstehenden und motivierten Lesens. Göttingen: Hogrefe.

Koch, H. & Spörer, N. (2016). Förderung der Lesekompetenz mittels reziproken Lehrens: Implementation und Wirksamkeit im Regelunterricht. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 30, 213-225.

Koch, H. & Spörer, N. (2016). Effekte des Reziproken Lehrens im Vergleich mit einer von Lehrkräften konzipierten Unterrichtseinheit zur Förderung der Lesekompetenz. In M. Philipp & E. Souvignier (Hrsg.), Implementation von Lesefördermaßnahmen. Perspektiven auf Gelingensbedingungen und Hindernisse (S. 99-122). Münster: Waxmann.

Spörer, N. & Schünemann, N. (2014). Improvements of self-regulation procedures for fifth graders’ reading competence:  Analyzing effects on reading comprehension, reading strategy performance, and motivation for reading. Learning & Instruction, 33, 147-157.

Schünemann, N., Spörer, N. & Brunstein, J. C. (2013). Integrating self-regulation in whole-class reciprocal teaching: An analysis of incremental effects on fifth graders’ reading comprehension, reading strategies and self-efficacy for reading. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 38, 289-305.

Spörer, N., Demmrich, A. & Brunstein, J. C. (2014). Förderung des Leseverständnisses durch „Reziprokes Lehren“. In G. W. Lauth, M. Grünke & J. C. Brunstein (Hrsg.), Interventionen bei Lernstörungen (2., überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage, S. 162-175). Göttingen: Hogrefe.

Koch, H. & Spörer, N. gemeinsam mit Friederike Schommler, Frank Poser und Thomas Röse/ avz, Universität Potsdam (2012). Reziprokes Lehren unter Anwendung von Selbstregulationsstrategien. Implementation eines Lesekompetenztrainings in den Regelunterricht an Grundschulen. Eine DVD zum Einsatz in Lehrerfortbildungen und in der LehrerInnenbildung. Potsdam: Universität Potsdam.