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Fight for the future: Student sues controversial Compass 4 test!
A student in Baden-Württemberg sued against the Compass 4 test, which influences primary school recommendations, with a remarkable turnaround in court.
Fight for the future: Student sues controversial Compass 4 test!
The Compass 4 test is causing a stir in the Baden-Württemberg education system. A student from the Ravensburg district filed a lawsuit against the performance test before the Sigmaringen administrative court and was partially successful. The reason for this is that the court considered the decision to consider the test mandatory to be legally questionable. The state must give the student the opportunity to take the test again by the end of October, as there was a legal requirement that introduced the test only from February 2025. However, the test itself took place in November 2024, which made the legal situation unclear, reported the Tagesschau.
But what exactly is behind the Compass 4 test? This was introduced in all primary schools in the country this year to help teachers make recommendations for secondary schools. The fourth graders passed an examination in the subjects of German and mathematics, but it was met with massive criticism. In maths, only 6% of students achieved a high school recommended level, leaving parents and teachers concerned. These facts were examined in detail by SWR.
Excited parents and teachers in prospect
The management of the Simonswald elementary school explained that many children performed poorly on the math test. While the results were better in German, worrying trends are also emerging here. The teachers' patience is at an end because a GEW survey showed that over 80% of those surveyed did not consider the test to be helpful. Critics fear that such tests lead to children being put under pressure, which significantly affects the learning atmosphere.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Susanne Schopper, on the other hand, sees the test as a necessary measure to reduce the pressure on high schools and to gain an overview of the students' performance. Nevertheless, it is clear that the Ministry of Culture plans to improve the test in order to offer students fair opportunities, according to reporting by SWR.
Confusion about the primary school recommendation
The new primary school recommendation in Baden-Württemberg is based on a model made up of three components: teacher recommendation, the Compass 4 test and the wishes of the parents. If two of the three factors agree, this determines the recommendation. But here too things go haywire. Parents whose children still want to go to high school have to take an additional potential test, which causes a lot of unrest.
The same applies to the planned change in education reform, which will come into force in the coming school year 2025/2026. Here, students can expect a uniform introduction of compulsory elective subjects through schools, which can now set their own regulations. This could give the education system a breath of fresh air and shake up the school landscape in Baden-Württemberg, as the Ministry of Culture explains on its website.
What is certain is that the general public continues to discuss the sensible handling of performance tests. It is clear that the pressure on the students is not decreasing, and it remains to be hoped that the Compass 4 test can bring more positives than negatives for the school landscape in Baden-Württemberg in the near future.