A Hauptschule (German: general school) is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification of Education. Any student who went to a German elementary school can go to a Hauptschule or Gesamtschule afterwards, whereas students who want to attend a Realschule or Gymnasium need to have good marks in order to do so. The students spend five to six years at the Hauptschule, from 5th to 9th (or 10th) grade. They finish at about age 15-16.
Hauptschulen were first introduced in West Germany in 1950 and are now a part of secondary education in Germany, the other schools being the Gymnasium for the university-bound and the Realschule for the future technicians.
The main aim of Hauptschulen is to offer young students with average grades or below, most of whom will not attend a university, an adequate general academic education. (However some of the graduates will attend a University later in life, see below.) They largely teach the same subjects as a Realschule or Gymnasium, but at a slower pace. Subjects that are taught at Gymnasien, but not at Hauptschulen, include Latin and Ancient Greek, while "introduction to the world of work" (Arbeitslehre) is taught at Hauptschulen, but not at Gymnasien.
Subjects taught at a Hauptschule also include mathematics, physics/chemistry, biology, geography, history, religion (or a substitute subject), music, art, politics, sport and language. From the first year of Hauptschule, all children learn English. Once students have obtained their leaving certificate at the age of 15/16, they can go into practical vocational training, start work in the public service at basic or secretarial level, or attend a Berufsfachschule (full-time vocational school). The jobs for which they apply consequently require practical skills rather than academic knowledge. They may also qualify for further education in a Realschule or Gymnasium if their marks are good enough.
Most Hauptschulen are state-run and thus do not cost any money to attend; however some private Hauptschulen do exist. Such Hauptschulen have comparatively low tuition fees and/or offer stipends. The "youth welfare office" may also cover the costs of the student attending a private Hauptschule.
The German state spends more money on students attending public Hauptschulen than it spends on students attending public Realschulen or Gymnasien, and Hauptschulen have a more favourable student-teacher-ratio than those other types of school. Hauptschulen often have a very diverse student body in terms of ethnic groups, languages spoken at home, religions, social classes, and students' abilities. The schools face many challenges, because they sometimes have to educate students of average abilities alongside with students that have learning difficulties or need special attention. In some German states, such as Bavaria, Hauptschulen offer different classes to their students. They offer the so called M-classes for it advanced students, regular classes and the so called P-classes for students who are struggling.
Percentage of jobholders holding Hauptschulabschluss, Realschulabschluss or Abitur in Germany:
| 1970 | 1982 | 1991 | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hauptschulabschluss | 87.7% | 79.3% | 66.5% | 54.9% |
| Realschulabschluss | 10.9% | 17.7% | 27% | 34.1% |
| Abitur | 1.4% | 3% | 6.5% | 11% |
Historically, a vast majority in Germany went to Hauptschule; in 2000 54.5% of jobholders had an Hauptschulabschluss, indicating they graduated from one. However, in the 1970s an educational expansion started and parents started sending their children to better schools. Thus younger jobholders are less likely to hold a Hauptschulabschluss than older ones.
The percentage of children attending a Hauptschule differs very much by region (it may be as high as 60% or as low as 4%). Most Hauptschulen reside in conservative areas (like Bavaria), because conservative parties want to strengthen the Hauptschule, while the SPD closed Hauptschulen, replacing them with comprehensive schools. In these areas, in many cases, the Hauptschule is not a school of first choice for a student and is attended by students, of whom is believed that they for a number of reasons may not profit from the more competitive environment of other schools.
In some areas, where few students attend the Hauptschule, and those who do often suffer from learning disabilities, Hauptschule students have come to be increasingly stigmatized over the last years, the opinion of the general public often being that Hauptschulen only harbor the bottom end of society. Stereotypes of dysfunctional family backgrounds, absent and/or unemployed parents and domestic violence and alcohol abuse are often cited when describing what is believed to be the typical social origin of these students. Teachers often complain about ongoing difficulties in trying to properly educate them and parents refusing to take responsibility. Moreover, and based on these problems, in some areas it has become very hard for Hauptschule graduates to find qualified work or begin an apprenticeship, even in professions which traditionally welcomed them and in some areas have now shifted their focus to better qualified applicants, e.g. mechanics, construction or sales. In some areas, an overwhelming majority of each graduating class is therefore forced to accept low-paying unskilled labor or live on welfare indefinitely; many choose to stay in school for another year to obtain their diploma, which slightly, but not fundamentally, improves their career prospects. In 2006 a debate about violence at German Hauptschulen was sparked after teachers of the infamous Rütli School wrote a letter to the senate office demanding the school to be closed down. The letter stated:
Baumert, Stanat and Watermann did a report on so called "problem schools" in 2000. "Problem schools" according to the scientist were:
The number of "problem schools" that could be identified varied greatly by State of Germany. In Bavaria no "problem school" could be found. In Baden-Württemberg only 4,8 percent of Hauptschulen and in Rheinland-Pfalz 8,7 percent of Hauptschulen must be called "problem schools". In contrast 60 percent of all Hauptschulen in Berlin, 68,8 percent of Hauptschulen in Hamburg and 95,7 percent of all Hauptschulen that existed in Bremen must be called "problem schools". (Berlin and Hamburg have abolished the Hauptschule since then.)
The graduation certificate is the Hauptschulabschluss, which like the assignment to other types high schools is less valuable than the Realschulabschluss or university-bound Abitur. Furthermore, persons holding a Hauptschulabschluss may go to night school in order to earn their Realschulabschluss or Abitur. However in some States of Germany students that do well enough in Hauptschule receive the Mittlere Reife. Students holding a Mittlere Reife are allowed to participate in classes at the Gymnasium. They can get their Abitur there.
Some States of Germany do not have a Hauptschule. In most Eastern German States, Hauptschulen never existed and still do not exist. In the German Democratic Republic most students attended a polytechnical school, and only a select few attended a specialist school. Nowadays, all Eastern German States offer some kind of "Intermediate School" (which may be called Regelschule, Mittelschule, or Regionale Schule). It has to be pointed out that while those schools are called "intermediate schools", there are actually no "intermediate schools", because no school called "lower school" exists. Intermediate schools do not select students on aptitude. All States of Eastern Germany also offer Gymnasien, while all but Saxonia also offer comprehensive schools.
In the German state of Saarland, the Hauptschule has been abolished, and Hauptschulen have been merged with Realschulen to form "Erweiterte Realschulen", however those "Erweiterte Realschulen" still do stream by ability after 7th grade. They offer a fast and a slow track. The state of Schleswig-Holstein also abolished the Hauptschule and mainstreamed students into the Regionalschule.
The state of Rhineland-Palatinate has merged Hauptschulen and Realschulen to form a new type of school called "Realschule plus", which offers general education classes (that resemble classes held at the normal Realschule) as well as remedial classes.
Starting in 2010/2011 Hauptschulen were formally abolished in the German States Berlin and Hamburg. They were merged with Realschulen and Gesamtschulen to form a new type of comprehensive school called Stadtteilschule in Hamburg and Sekundarschule in Berlin (see: Education in Berlin, Education in Hamburg).
In the United States, most schools are comprehensive high schools which educate students of all ability ranges as the concept of tracking by test score was largely abandoned there by the 21st century. However, some school districts such as the Renton School District maintain separate schools for students who do not succeed in the comprehensive school, usually students who get the lowest test score results. Although most US students get uniform diplomas, some states are adopting high school graduation examinations with very high standards. Although Marc Tucker of the NCEE designed the Certificate of Initial Mastery around the German education model, most US states expect all students to meet one high passing standard, and tests are used to insure success for all rather than sorting between types of high schools. High school is mandatory to age 17-18 in most states, but those who leave before receiving a diploma are considered to be dropouts with a dismal future. All students must graduate with skills necessary to succeed in college even if not college bound. It is thought that the incentive of losing a diploma will provide enough incentive to make this a reality, though some critics doubt that this was ever a practical idea. Students who do not pass these tests either will receive no diploma, or alternate documents indicating that they did not meet minimal state standards for graduation.
HOT DESIGNS ▪ Premium designs ▪ Designs by country ▪ Designs by U.S. state ▪ Most popular designs ▪ Newest, last added designs ▪ Unique designs ▪ Cheap, budget designs ▪ Design super sale DESIGNS BY THEME ▪ Accounting, audit designs ▪ Adult, sex designs ▪ African designs ▪ American, U.S. designs ▪ Animals, birds, pets designs ▪ Agricultural, farming designs ▪ Architecture, building designs ▪ Army, navy, military designs ▪ Audio & video designs ▪ Automobiles, car designs ▪ Books, e-book designs ▪ Beauty salon, SPA designs ▪ Black, dark designs ▪ Business, corporate designs ▪ Charity, donation designs ▪ Cinema, movie, film designs ▪ Computer, hardware designs ▪ Celebrity, star fan designs ▪ Children, family designs ▪ Christmas, New Year's designs ▪ Green, St. Patrick designs ▪ Dating, matchmaking designs ▪ Design studio, creative designs ▪ Educational, student designs ▪ Electronics designs ▪ Entertainment, fun designs ▪ Fashion, wear designs ▪ Finance, financial designs ▪ Fishing & hunting designs ▪ Flowers, floral shop designs ▪ Food, nutrition designs ▪ Football, soccer designs ▪ Gambling, casino designs ▪ Games, gaming designs ▪ Gifts, gift designs ▪ Halloween, carnival designs ▪ Hotel, resort designs ▪ Industry, industrial designs ▪ Insurance, insurer designs ▪ Interior, furniture designs ▪ International designs ▪ Internet technology designs ▪ Jewelry, jewellery designs ▪ Job & employment designs ▪ Landscaping, garden designs ▪ Law, juridical, legal designs ▪ Love, romantic designs ▪ Marketing designs ▪ Media, radio, TV designs ▪ Medicine, health care designs ▪ Mortgage, loan designs ▪ Music, musical designs ▪ Night club, dancing designs ▪ Photography, photo designs ▪ Personal, individual designs ▪ Politics, political designs ▪ Real estate, realty designs ▪ Religious, church designs ▪ Restaurant, cafe designs ▪ Retirement, pension designs ▪ Science, scientific designs ▪ Sea, ocean, river designs ▪ Security, protection designs ▪ Social, cultural designs ▪ Spirit, meditational designs ▪ Software designs ▪ Sports, sporting designs ▪ Telecommunication designs ▪ Travel, vacation designs ▪ Transport, logistic designs ▪ Web hosting designs ▪ Wedding, marriage designs ▪ White, light designs E-COMMERCE DESIGNS ▪ Magento store designs ▪ OpenCart store designs ▪ PrestaShop store designs ▪ CRE Loaded store designs ▪ Jigoshop store designs ▪ VirtueMart store designs ▪ osCommerce store designs ▪ Zen Cart store designs CMS DESIGNS ▪ Flash CMS designs ▪ Joomla CMS designs ▪ Mambo CMS designs ▪ Drupal CMS designs ▪ WordPress blog designs ▪ Forum designs ▪ phpBB forum designs ▪ PHP-Nuke portal designs ANIMATED WEBSITE DESIGNS ▪ Flash CMS designs ▪ Silverlight animated designs ▪ Silverlight intro designs ▪ Flash animated designs ▪ Flash intro designs ▪ XML Flash designs ▪ Flash 8 animated designs ▪ Dynamic Flash designs ▪ Flash animated photo albums ▪ Dynamic Swish designs ▪ Swish animated designs ▪ jQuery animated designs WEBSITE DESIGNS ▪ WebMatrix Razor designs ▪ HTML 5 designs ▪ Web 2.0 designs ▪ 3-color variation designs ▪ 3D, three-dimensional designs ▪ Artwork, illustrated designs ▪ Clean, simple designs ▪ CSS based website designs ▪ Full design packages ▪ Full ready websites ▪ Portal designs ▪ Stretched, full screen designs ▪ Universal, neutral designs CORPORATE ID DESIGNS ▪ Corporate identity sets ▪ Logo layouts, logo designs ▪ Logotype sets, logo packs ▪ PowerPoint, PTT designs ▪ Facebook themes VIDEO, SOUND & MUSIC ▪ Video e-cards ▪ After Effects video intros ▪ Special video effects ▪ Music tracks, music loops ▪ Stock music bank GRAPHICS & CLIPART ▪ Pro clipart & illustrations, $19/year ▪ 5,000+ icons by subscription ▪ Icons, pictograms |
| Super Offers |
| Super Offers |
| Custom Logo Design $149 ▪ Web Programming ▪ ID Card Printing ▪ Best Web Hosting ▪ eCommerce Software ▪ Add Your Link |
| © 1996-2013 MAGIA Internet Studio ▪ About ▪ Portfolio ▪ Photo on Demand ▪ Hosting ▪ Advertise ▪ Sitemap ▪ Privacy ▪ Maria Online
|
