Transcript Herzlich Willkommen!

Austria‘s Lower Secondary School
Reform „Neue Mittelschule“ (NMS)
The Austrian School System:
High Level of Parent Choice
Years 9-12/13
Academic
secondary
school
Years 1-4
Academic
secondary
school
Years 5 -8
School leaving certificate
„Matura“
Federal
legislation &
administration
Technical &
vocational
colleges
Intermediate
tech/voc
school
Apprentice
schools
Prevocationa
l
Federal legislation,
state provincial
administration
Lower secondary school
Primary school
Kindergarten
Equity issues in
lower secondary
due to selection at
age 10
Terminology
 NMS-EB (Entwicklungsbegleitung) = external
consultancy team/guidance during pilot phase 20082012; continuity through know-how transfer to National
Center for Learning Schools (CLS) established in 2012.
 Lerndesigner = teacher leader/change agent,
evidence-informed qualification program focused on
equity and student achievement
2-year curriculum (equals 12 ECTS credits), feeds into a
MA program, now a joint program between CLS &
Pädagogische Hochschulen (regional level)
The NMS Story:
Goals = equity & excellence
2008
Legislation for NMS
Reform Pilot passed
in Parliament; Project
Team installed
2009
2010
NMS-EB initiates
Lerndesigner role; first
national Lernatelier in
January
Generation 3 with 76
schools joins the pilot
phase.
Generation 1 with 67
schools begins pilot
External consulting
NMS-EB initiates
first network meeting
with school leaders
NMS-Platform is
provides courses,
documentation &
networking online
Parent survey shows
high satisfaction;
Online Platform for
parents is opened
Momentum grows; 177
schools apply to participate
in Generation 2 and begin
in September. All state
provinces are now involved
in the pilot phase. Two
state provinces (Vorarlberg
& Burgenland) are near
100% participation.
NMS-House illustrates key
skills & knowledge for
curriculum & instructional
development
The NMS Story cont'd
2011
Generation 4 with 114
schools joins the pilot
phase
Political will to
reform lower
secondary grows:
“The NMS increases
chances for all youth”
First annual NMS
Symposia for
Lerndesigners
post-qualification.
External consulting NMSEB in its final year;
National Center for
Learning Schools is created
to maintain continuity &
continue development
2012
2013
Generation 5 with 264
schools begin in
September.
Generation 6 with 254
schools ready to start in
September
Coalition partners define
legislation; mandate
passes Parliament in
April. Pilot phase ends;
implementation begins.
National NMS
Congress in Vienna;
900 participants from
Generations 1 – 5 and
system partners
LerndesignerNetwork focus for
Austria’s project in
OECD ILE Phase 3
Plus of 11.38% in
qualification for
academic-track
schools among NMS
graduates 2012/13
Know-how transfer to system;
new teacher education
curriculum, Master degree
program for Lerndesigners
begins, CLS continues
development online and in faceto-face events with system
partners
From Pilot to Implementation:
Complete 2020
Ca. 200
Ca. 200
Pilot
Phase
Implementation
Phase
274
G62013/2014
G7 2014/2015
G8 2015/2016
NMS Ministry Project Structure
National Center for
Learning Schools
Christoph Hofbauer & Tanja
Westfall-Greiter
in cooperation with PH-Lower
Austria & University of Innsbruck
+
Regional Competence Teams
Pädagogische
Hochschulen
(Teacher Education)
PH NMS-Coordinators
Ministry of Education,
Arts and Culture
Dr. Claudia Schmied, Minister
NMS-Project Team, Dept. I/2
Helmut Bachmann & Andrea WernerThaler
Implementation in all
compulsory lower secondary
schools; pilot classes in
academic-track schools (opt-in)
In cooperation with:
School Boards & School Inspectorates
State-Level NMS-Coordinators
NMS Think Tank
School Principals
Teachers
Students
Parents & Guardians
External Evaluation
BIFIE
(national testing & school
effectiveness research)
Erich Svecnik, Günter Haider
Ferdinand Eder,
Angelika Petrovic, Helmut Fend
Information & Debate
Reports available in the NMS
archive (German)
www.bmukk.gv.at/nms
Brochures, DVD, information
platforms
www.neuemittelschule.at
www.nmsvernetzung.at
Gateway to web resources and platforms
http://www.neuemittelschule.at/
[4 min video]
The NMS Community & Partners:
University Colleges of Teacher Education +
State School Boards
Success Factors
 Pilot legislation § 7a  stability
 Project team at Ministry  leadership
 Pilot schools required majority among school
staff and parents to begin  momentum
 New roles for teachers  teacher leadership
 External consultancy NMS-EB  system
learning
 Strategies that worked:
» Change agents (Lerndesigners)
» National networking events
» Evidence-informed qualification
Current Challenges
 New requirements in NMS mandate
 confusion, difficult transition for pilot schools
 Teacher compensation does not accommodate new
social architecture in schools (teacher leaders) 
effectiveness depends on school
 „Pension wave“ in next 10 years (76% in NMS)
 new starts for some schools
 Attracting 8-year academic schools to opt in
 selection
 Firewalls between policy & practice
 alignment & compliance
 Response lag in teacher education
 qualification burden on continuing education /