Definition und Messung von Bildungsstandards im Bereich Fremdsprachen

Abstract

The development, operationalisation and evaluation of educational standards has become an important task for educational scientists and linguistic researchers in any modern educational system. This article outlines the necessary steps, and attendant pitfalls, of such a process by taking the development work performed in Switzerland in the context of foreign language education as a point of reference. It argues that in order to fulfil their function, educational standards need to be backed by a well-founded theoretical model of the latent variable at stake. The next step is a rigorously controlled process of item development coupled with a representative validation study. Finally, the article shows that without rich and varied empirical data from a representative sample, discussing minimal or maximum standards is a fruitless exercise.