Evaluation of the Integration Courses , Date: 2024.03.20, format: project (current), area: Authority

The project entitled "Evaluation of the Integration Courses (EvIk)" analyses the impact of the integration courses, especially focusing on the attendee group of refugees.

The project as a whole examines factors of success that can be controlled or influenced by the Federal Office and which lead to the successful acquisition of both language and values through the integration course. We also ask whether the integration courses are meaningfully embedded into the integration landscape and – in general terms – which measures can help to make the courses more effective and efficient.

The integration course (consisting of a language course and an orientation course) is the central contribution towards integration made by the Federation to promote language skills for migrants (final test: German language test for immigrants), and to equip them with relevant values (final test: Life in Germany). Lately, the increased migration caused by displacement from 2015 onwards has changed the composition of the integration course attendees.

Objectives

The project entitled "Evaluation of the Integration Courses (EvIk)" therefore analyses the impact of the integration courses, taking the attendee group of refugees into consideration.

In terms of content, the project addresses four main areas of research:

• analysing pass rates and identifying the influential factors,
• analysing how individuals progress through the course, as well as evaluating exits from the course,
• analysing interfaces and transitions to other services, and
• analysing the sustainability of the knowledge gained in the course.

In order to do justice to the multifaceted nature of these issues, the project adopts a holistic approach, incorporating information from the course attendees, integration course providers and instructors, as well as other relevant details relating to the courses.

The study focuses on two types of integration courses: the general integration course and the literacy course.

Methods

First, quantitative surveys of own survey data linked with the integration business file (InGe) are carried out in the project. Within the framework of a longitudinal design, panel data has been collected since autumn 2021, i.e., the same people are interviewed several times. In this way, course participants can be observed over time and time-constant differences between integration course participants can be taken into account.

Second, qualitative interviews on selected topics will be conducted with course participants, teachers and course providers to provide more in-depth insights.

Third, existing secondary data will be used.

Longitudinal survey

• Integration course participants, teachers and providers were surveyed at the beginning and towards the end of the course, i.e. just before the examinations. The surveys were carried out by the IEA Hamburg survey institute.
• Participants who drop out of the course are interviewed again outside of the course at the same time as the course ends. Approximately one year after the end of the course, these participants and those who completed the course are surveyed again. These two surveys are carried out by the survey institute Kantar Public.
• The final dataset of the EvIk survey consists of the various survey parts and waves. The surveys were preceded by extensive pilot studies in 2019.

Qualitative studies

In addition to the quantitative surveys, qualitative interviews on selected topics provide an in-depth insight into the individual motivations, values and attitudes as well as personal experiences and assessments of course participants, teachers and course providers. Of the five planned qualitative sub-studies accompanying the project, three have already been completed: Sub-study I on initial insights into various aspects of the integration course system, Sub-study II on barriers to accessing the integration course and Sub-study III on digital teaching and learning in the integration course. Two upcoming qualitative sub-studies will focus on the topics of orientation courses (examining potential conflicts with regard to the teaching of values, among other things) and sustainability of the knowledge acquired in the integration course.

Secondary data analyses

Moreover, secondary data, e.g. the IAB-BAMF-SOEP survey of refugees or special extracts from the InGe, for example on the role of geographical distance in integration course participation, are analysed.

Publications

Continuous reporting takes place during the course of the project.

• First interim reporting: In 2019, the Research Report 33 (Interim Report I: qualitative sub-study I and quantitative secondary analyses) and in 2020, the BAMF Brief Analyses 3|2020 and 4|2020 (on problem situations of refugees and on refugee-specific factors in acquiring German, qualitative sub-study I) were published.
• Second interim reporting: The BAMF brief analysis 3|2021 on barriers in the access of refugee mothers to the integration course (qualitative sub-study II), the BAMF brief analysis 07|2021 with findings on the course progress of participants in the general integration course, and the Working Paper 91 on digital teaching and learning in the integration course (qualitative sub-study III) were published in 2021.
• A book contribution deals with factors affecting language acquisition in the institutionalized setting of the German integration course (Tissot, A., Pietrantuono, G., Rother, N., Baier, A., Croisier, J. (2021). Factors Affecting Language Acquisition in the Institutionalized Setting of the German Integration Course. In: G.S. Levine & D. Mallows (eds.), Language Learning of Adult Migrants in Europe. Theoretical, Empirical, and Pedagogical Issues (p. 119-147). Springer).
• Third interim reporting: Research Report 46 (Interim Report III), published in 2023, presents analyses and findings on course participants, course specifics, teachers and providers at the beginning of the course.

After a fourth interim reporting, the final report is planned for 2025.

The project is scheduled to run until the end of 2025.