The School Entrance Examination: Attempted Evaluation by Interviewing Parents, Pediatricians and Schools

IntroductionIn Germany, school entry examinations (SEU) are mandatory in all (federal) states, the scope and methods of investigation are laid down in state ordinances. The SEUs are performed by the pediatric services (KJGD) of the public health departments. An evaluation of the entire SEU is still pending. Therefore, in 2018, an evaluation of the SEU was carried out in the health department of the city of Frankfurt am Main by interviewing parents, schools and pediatricians. MethodWith specifically developed questionnaires, parents as well as administrators of elementary schools and pediatricians were asked about their assessment of and their experiences with the SEU. Certain sentences were to be rated on a 5-point Likert scale. For the evaluation, the positive answers (totally agree / agree) and the negative answers (disagree / strongly disagree) were summarized. ResultsA total of 2,021 parental, 46 school and 37 physician questionnaires were evaluated. The response rate of parents was 90%, that of schools and pediatricians 45% and 56%, respectively and thus significantly worse. Ninety-one percent of parents rated the SEU as useful in addition to their pediatrician check-ups, and 94% considered hearing and vision tests to be particularly important. Eighty-five percent considered the SEU as an important means of undertaking support measures before school entry. Ninety-one percent of school administrators rated the results of the SEU as helpful, 26% of them stated that key areas, including social behavior were given insufficient consideration in the SEU. Many school administrators wanted more support from the health department, e. g. inclusion issues (59%), parenting evening lectures (61%) or general health support (74%). Ninety-one percent of pediatricians also rated the SEU positively. However, misjudgments of the school doctors and uncertainty of the parents as well as rare exchanges/communication were criticized. ConclusionThe overall feedback was positive and the significance of the SEU was not questioned. However, the KJGD should try to better meet the needs of schools for more support and pediatricians' desire for better cooperation. Through a modification of the SEU, capacities could be created for other important tasks of the KJGD, for instance the examination of school newcomers from foreign countries, health promotion in schools, and medical advice to schools.