Starting around Grade 3, written texts are increasingly used to teach subjects courses. Good reading comprehension is thus imperative for all students’ academic achievement.

Initial findings show that newly arrived students in Germany perform significantly worse in reading than mainstream students, and are thus in a particularly precarious situation (Marx/Gill/Brosowski 2021; Caspari/Marx, submitted). They thus often lack the necessary reading skills in the language of schooling (German) to be able to process subject content appropriately for their age and grade.

The project investigates newly arrived students’ reading skills (reading fluency and comprehension). Using a standardized and normed test procedure – the LGVT 5-12+, newly arrived and mainstream students from participating secondary schools will be tested on reading fluency and reading comprehension. The aim of the explorative project is to pilot assessment procedures and instruments and determine which procedures are particularly appropriate for the population. The survey will feed into a larger-scale project.