What are our goals?

We want to provide external, temporary, and empowering school development advisory services to more schools in high-need neighborhoods to support their change processes. The defining feature of our approach is that it focuses on equal parts teaching, HR, and organizational development. The existing access routes, qualifications, and approaches to school development advisory services in Germany vary widely. This is why we are developing an offer to professionalize these services, which essentially aims to strengthen schools in high-need neighborhoods and ties in with existing school support systems in the different German states.

How does the project work? 

In the project development phase up until the end of 2019, we are initially developing the content and formats of the professionalization and describing these in detail. We will furthermore present the prerequisites and conditions necessary to allow school development advisors to be successful at schools in high-need neighborhoods, based on an analysis of the current status of school development advisory services in selected German states. In the subsequent trial phase starting in 2020, the offer will be piloted in one or more state-run support systems or qualification programs for school development advisory services and adapted and refined in the process.

The idea is to ultimately develop a professionalization offer for school development advisory services that is geared to the particularities and requirements of schools in high-need neighborhoods. In the long run, we anticipate that the offer can be integrated into the existing qualification programs of the German states and refined within these.

Who are the target groups?

The professionalization offer is aimed at cooperation partners in the school support systems of the German states who are responsible for the qualification of school development advisory systems and would like to try out our offer. Depending on requirements, it can be further specified and developed.

Who organizes and supports the project?

The Robert Bosch Stiftung is cooperating with the German School Academy on the project. Key content is developed by school stakeholders representing the systemically relevant perspectives of school management, school supervisory boards, school development advisory services, education administration, and support systems.