Teachers' placement decisions regarding the transition to upper secondary education: Consequences of the switch to a two-track secondary system in Berlin

Adeveloping trend in participation in the educational system in Germany over time has been the steady increase in the proportion of students eligible to enter higher education. Since the switch to atwo-track secondary system, this development seems to have taken on new momentum. At the same time, problems have emerged with respect to the maintenance of standards and comparability of qualifications. In aquasi-experimental design, this article uses the introduction of atwo-track secondary system in Berlin to examine the nature of teachers' placement decisions, as well as maintenance of standards when opening up access to college-level programs. The structural reforms led to ajump in the proportion of students eligible for upper secondary education, associated with adrop in the required achievement level. Teachers' placement decisions integrate various judgments: assessments of student achievement, judgements of cognitive abilities, and evaluations of students' learning motivation and social behavior. Our results show that when access to the upper secondary track was opened up, the cross-school accuracy of teacher assessments of student achievement remained stable, despite the drop in the achievement level necessary to enter upper secondary education. School-specific measures became more relevant. There was no change in the relevance of motivational characteristics. Our analysis of the extent to which teachers' placement decisions were affected by the organizational and social context of the school revealed mixed findings.