Background

The publication of the various OECD-supported studies that compare student performance internationally (especially PISA, Programme for International Student Assessment) initiated calls at the government and public levels for improvements in Austria's educational system. To this end, various education reform programs were implemented with the objective of adopting PISA's framework of subject-specific competences and literacies. The over-arching concept focuses on the transition from an input-oriented educational system to an output-oriented system. These changes aim to give teachers more freedom to construct a productive learning environment at the school and classroom levels. In this manner, teachers can support individual student learning styles and needs.

This reform program comprises the introduction of mandatory, uniform educational standards for the fourth and eighth grades as well as the ensuing competence models for upper secondary school students – that is, those students who will take the centralized school-leaving examination (Zentralmatura) beginning with the academic year 2014-15. The BIFIE has been charged with the implementation and evaluation of the reforms by the Austrian Federal Education Department (bm:ukk). This research project will in turn evaluate attendant changes in educational practices and school culture.