BiSS-Transfer is a joint initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and Germany’s federal states to promote the transfer of language education, reading and writing support in schools and nurseries. It is closely linked to its predecessor, the initiative Education through Language and Literacy (BiSS).

BiSS-Transfer (2020 to 2025) focuses on the topics of language education, reading and writing support, integrated strategies in academic language instruction such as Content and Language Integrated Learning or sheltered instruction, and German as a second language as part of school and classroom development. An essential component of the initiative is the qualification of multipliers, teachers and educators in early childhood education.

BiSS-Transfer consists of two parts. First, the federal states are participating in the initiative with up to 90 local networks of schools and nurseries. Each network works on its own topic, such as a successful concept for reading support, and how to transfer this concept to other schools. At the same time, a network of researchers, in collaboration with the federal states, investigates the conditions for the successful and broad-ranging transfer of effective concepts of language education (Forschungsnetzwerk BiSS-Transfer).

In implementing the transfer projects, the federal states are supported by a consortium of scientific institutes, which includes the Mercator Institute for Literacy and Language Education, the DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education and the Institute for Quality Development in Education (IQB) in cooperation with the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The consortium provides various services aimed at teachers, educators and other stakeholders from ministries, state institutes and institutions of continuing education:

• training in blended learning for multipliers, teachers, and educators
• a tool database in which more than 100 tools for diagnostics, language support and professionalization in the field of language education are documented according to scientific criteria
• free handouts and brochures presenting tools and concepts for language education
• networking opportunities via annual conferences and thematic expert groups in the form of a nationwide network of researchers and practitioners on the topic of language education

Together with experts from other universities, the consortium forms a research network (“Forschungsnetzwerk BiSS-Transfer”) to study the conditions for successful transfer. The research network pursues a multidisciplinary approach and works on the basis of various areas of thematic focus, including reading and writing, language learning in subject-matter contexts and the use of VERA 8 results in the classroom. The research network coordinates two large studies in primary and secondary education. It examines the course of implementation from the further training of teachers by multipliers to the interventions in language education by the participating schools and teachers to the effects on the participating students. 

The BMBF is funding the initiative with a total of 13.2 million euros (consortium and research network); the federal states are responsible for the coordination and implementation of the transfer projects.