Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

Increasing interest in indicators-based reporting

The aims of ongoing educational reporting are to improve the database for educational policy decision-making processes and increase "knowledge of the performance capability of the educational system" (TIPPELT 2009, p. 7). The OECD publication "Education at a Glance" (OECD, 2009) has been providing annual information on participation in education, educational qualifications and investments in education for more than ten years and is a significant central pillar for benchmarking processes at an international level (KRÜGER-HEMMER/SCHMIDT 2010, S, 11). During recent years, further activities for the improvement of educational reporting at a national level have followed. In 2009, Austria presented its first National Education Report (SPECHT 2009). In 2006, Switzerland published a prototype for national educational reporting (SKBF 2006). 2006 also saw the first Report "Education in Germany", laying the foundations for ongoing educational reporting with the aim of encompassing all areas of education from early year's education to continuing training for adults (KONSORTIUM BILDUNGSBERICHTERSTATTUNG 2006; AUTORENGRUPPE BILDUNGSBERICHT - ERSTATTUNG 2008). Further education reports are also appearing for individual federal states (e.g. Institute for Educational Monitoring 2009; LANDER 2009), for cities and towns and for local government authorities (e.g. Schul- und Kultusreferat der Landeshauptstadt München, Stadt Dortmund 2008.¹

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The Report on Vocational Education and Training

Although this form of reporting is seen as an innovation within the educational system as a whole, it has a long tradition in the field of vocational education and training. Since 1977, the ministry responsible (at the time the Ministry of Education and Science) has been fulfilling its statutory task in this regard and presented the first Report on Vocational Education and Training in that year².   At the time, the report was still produced on the basis of § 5 of the Act for the Promotion of the Provision of Training Places in Vocational Education and Training (APIFG) of 7 September 1976. The Report on Vocational Education and Training has been providing annual information ever since, the current foundation being § 86 of the Vocational Training Act³  (cf. § 86 Paragraph 1 BBiG). Information includes the number of newly concluded training contracts, associated developments on the training places market and the further development of vocational education and training in overall terms.

§ 86 Paragraph 1 BBiG

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research shall monitor developments in vocational training on a continuous basis and shall for this purpose present a report to the Federal Government (the Report on Vocational Education and Training) by 1 April each year. Said report shall portray the status and prospective further developments of vocational education and training.

Whereas the National Education Report features a chapter entitled "Vocational Training", which concentrates on a number of central indicators, the Report on Vocational Education and Training has "now established itself as a kind of 'main ledger' of vocational education and training (.) and provides a secure and up-to-date picture of the central data compendium" (BAETHGE/WIECK 2006, p. 171). Reports relating to vocational training remain rare at a federal state, unitary authority or local government level (cf. e.g. Thüringer Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Technologie 2009 und Koordinierungsstelle Schule - Beruf 2009).

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The Data Report accompanying the Report on Vocational Education and Training

BIBB published its first Data Report (BIBB 2009) to accompany the Report on Vocational Education and Training in conjunction with the 2009 Report on Vocational Education and Training (BMBF, 2009). The preparation of the Data Report is based on a recommendation made by the BIBB Board to restructure the Report on Vocational Education and Training and separate it into a policy section, which forms the object of consultation and resolution by the Federal Government, and a non-policy section, for which BIBB is responsible (cf. BIBB Hauptausschuss 2008, p. 2). The task of BIBB within this process is to "be involved in the preparation of the Report on Vocational Education and Training" (§ 90 BBiG). In the past, BIBB had already provided essential "information and data on vocational education and training" in Part II of the Report on Vocational Education and Training.

Data Report accompanying the Report on Vocational Education and Training

Structure

- Indicators for vocational education and training (Chapter A)
- Indicators for continuing vocational training (Chapter B)
- Main topic focus: "Transition from training to employment" (Chapter C)
- Programmes and pilot initiatives (Chapter D)
- International indicators and benchmarks (Chapter E)

Frequency of publication: annual

Publication dates

- Draft version (PDF) published online in April when the Report on Vocational Education and Training has been adopted by the Federal Cabinet and published
- Printed version published in June (print run currently 5,000)
- Online version (HTML) with additional (further?) information and research opportunities published in August

Internet
www.bibb.de/datenreport2010 (German language resource)

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Indicators-based reporting

From the very outset, the design concept and alignment of the Data Report accompanying the Report on Vocational Education and Training ensured that reporting was based on suitable indicators (cf. Indicators). A pragmatic understanding of the indicators forming the foundation of the report has been adopted (cf. DÖBERT/AVENARIUS 2009, p. 310; cf. also WITTMANN).

Indicators

Indicators are values (absolute values or ratios) which enable certain facts and circumstances or current conditions in vocational training (actual values) to be made measurable (operationalised) and make it possible for developments to be represented over a period of time (cf. SCHNELL/HILL/ESSER 1995, pp 121 ff.). They constitute an important foundation for regular reporting in vocational education and training. The contrasting of values measured and existing values with normative, social ideals or stipulated policy targets (target values) illustrate requirements for (policy) action and may be used as a basis to inform the structuring of vocational education and training (policy consultancy).

The selection of indicators tends to take place implicitly and is strongly aligned to the availability of suitable data and to central educational policy issues. Alongside official and process data (e.g. VET statistics produced by the statistical offices of the Federal Government and the federal states, employment statistics from the Federal Employment Agency, BA), indicators are also drawn from the institute's own surveys (e.g. BIBB survey on newly concluded training contracts as of 30 September, cf box "BIBB survey as of 30 September"). In addition, BIBB conducts its own studies on specific topics either on a one-off basis or in certain regular intervals (including the BA/BIBB Applicant Survey, the BIBB School Leaver Survey and the BIBB Transitional Study).

Some of the indicators deployed have already been previously used in the BMBF Report on Vocational Education and Training. Others have been more sharply focused whilst new indicators have also been developed. The aim was for the name given to the report ("Data Report") clearly to reflect the fact that it is mainly based on measurement values which have been empirically determined.

The indicators used in the Data Report are usually continued year-on-year in order to be able to map developments in vocational training over longer periods of time. The Board also took the view that such long-term observation was required, and to this end recommended the development of "long series" to form an object of reporting each year (BIBB Hauptausschuss 2007, p. 2). Notwithstanding this, the inclusion of further indicators can make sense for certain facts and circumstances and issues and for shorter periods of time. Depending on future development, it is in turn conceivable that some facts and circumstances may cease to be relevant for vocational training resulting in the exclusion of indicators previously used.

Alongside the work conducted by BIBB staff, contributions from external institutions are also used to inform the Data Report accompanying the Report on Vocational Education and Training. The 2010 edition, for example, contains indicators from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the German Institute for Adult Education (DIE) and the consumer goods testing association "Stiftung Warentest". These indicators were developed in conjunction with BIBB. Expert reports provided further interesting data sources and information for the Data Report to access.

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Selected indicators for vocational training

How many young people were able to conclude a training contract, and how many were unable to fulfil their training wish? How high is the rate of company participation in training? The following section will introduce two indicators which are closely connected with the debate surrounding training place market issues: the supply and demand relation and the quota of companies offering training.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND RELATION

Since the first Report on Vocational Education and Training in 1977, reporting has taken place on an annual basis on the number of newly concluded training contracts and on the supply of and demand for training places. The main data foundations in this regard are the BIBB survey as of 30 September each year and the training market statistics produced by the Federal Employment Agency (BA).

BIBB survey as of 30 September

The BIBB survey as of 30 September is conducted on the basis of the Vocational Training Act (BBiG) each year and takes place in conjunction with the competent bodies for vocational education and training. The survey takes account of all training contracts newly concluded between 1 October of the previous year and 30 September of the present year and not prematurely dissolved.

Results available at http://www.bibb.de/de/14492.htm (German language resource)

The information forms the basis for the calculation of the supply and demand relation to act as an indicator for the situation on the training places market. This involves relating the number of training places available to each 100 persons in search of a training place.

• Training place supply is made up of the number of newly concluded training contracts (566,004 in 2009) and the apprenticeships made available for placement at the BA but still vacant as of 30 September (17,131 in 2009⁴).
• Training place demand is defined as the sum of newly concluded training contracts and those still seeking a training place at the BA on 30 September.

Figure 1 shows that around 595,000 training contracts were concluded in 1992 and that the second highest result following German reunification was achieved in 2007. If the usual (traditional) supply and demand relation calculation is applied to the overall figures since the beginning of VET reporting, a significant surplus of training places supply is shown still to have been in place at the beginning of the 1990's. Despite higher levels of contracts concluded around the year 2000, this surplus is very much reduced. The years 2007, 2008 and 2009 saw the (traditionally calculated) supply and demand relation rise once more.



Notwithstanding this, a significant factor for the results and their interpretation is who is deemed to form part of the persons still seeking a training place on 30 September (cf. KREKEL/ULRICH 2006 in this regard). The supply and demand relation as hitherto traditionally calculated included only "unplaced" training place applicants (9,595 in 2009). The extended definition of the supply and demand relation, however, also encompasses applicants who were in alternative provision as of 30 September (e.g. continued attendance at school, internship, introductory training) but were still seeking a training place for the current year (73,391 in 2009). This group of persons also includes around 10,000 unsuccessful applicants to authorised local government providers. This data was available for the first time in 2009⁵.

Whereas the supply and demand relation as traditionally calculated tends to indicate a balanced training market provision, the extended definition highlights the quantitative imbalance between training supply and demand (cf. Berufsbildungsbericht 2010 and Datenreport zum Berufsbildungsbericht 2010 in this regard). Notwithstanding this, both curves indicate a rising tendency from 2007 onwards.

QUOTA OF COMPANIES OFFERING TRAINING

The quota of companies offering training also acts as a central annual reporting indicator in providing information on the situation on the training places market. The quota of companies offering training is based on the company statistics of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) and states companies with trainees as a proportion of all companies in percentage terms (including companies providing training). Data relates in each case to the previous training year.

In 2008, around 490,000 or 24 percent of all companies participated in the vocational education and training of young people. This represents a slight fall in the quota of companies offering training as compared with 2007. Nevertheless, the quota of companies offering training has improved by two percent since 1999 and only failed to reach the level of 1999 in the years 2002 and 2003 (cf. Figure 2). Although the quota of companies offering training has risen, both the number of companies (not including companies providing training) and the number of companies offering training have fallen since 1999. The decrease in the number of companies providing training has not been as large in overall terms.



Although the quota of companies offering training is a central indicator of company participation in training, it neglects the fact that not all companies are entitled to provide training (cf. STEGMAIER 2010) and does not take account of the circumstance that not all companies participate in training on an ongoing basis (cf. TROLTSCH 2010).

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Forecast

The "clear separation" of the previous Report on Vocational Education and Training into a policy section forming the object of consultation and resolution by the Federal Government (cf. BIBB Hauptausschuss 2008, p. 2) and a Data Report published by BIBB to accompany the Report on Vocational Education and Training has met with a positive response from the social partners, the academic research community and VET practitioners.

The Data Report's clear indicators-based structure has already established it as a standard vocational education and training work in Germany. The aim now is to continue to develop the basis which has been created and to pursue ongoing enhancement of the indicators system, the (measuring) instruments and the analytical methods deployed. This will also involve according due consideration to existing prevailing general conditions such as the National Education Report and developments within the international context and at a European level in particular. Alongside central indicators relating to initial and continuing training, the reporting system will continue to include special topics of focus which will change each year and be equally addressed both in the Report on Vocational Education and Training and in the Data Report. As a result of the current debate centring on the modernisation of the educational system and the transitions between various educational sectors, the topic which has been stipulated for the year 2011 is "permeability".

As the Data Report continues to develop however, it is important not to lose sight of the overall size of the work. It currently comprises some 400 pages, and this is a level which should not be exceeded. In order to address further topics, the individual articles will in future need to concentrate on the most important indicators. In addition to this, more use is being made of the information which has already been stored on the BIBB Internet portal. Such an approach ensures that all the main information on the development of vocational education and training provided by the Data Report accompanying the Report on Vocational Education and Training can be made available.

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Literature

• AUTORENGRUPPE BILDUNGSBERICHTERSTATTUNG (Hrsg.): Bildung in Deutschland. Ein indikatorengestützter Bericht mit einer Analyse zu Übergängen im Anschluss an den Sekundarbereich I. Bielefeld 2008
• BAETHGE, M.; WIECK, M.: Berufliche Bildung in der Bildungsberichterstattung. In: Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft 9 (2006) Beiheft 6, pp. 163-185
  BIBB (Hrsg.): Datenreport zum Berufsbildungsbericht 2009. Informationen und Analysen zur Entwicklung der beruflichen Bildung. Bielefeld 2009 - URL: www.bibb.de/datenreport2009 (Stand 30. 4. 2010)
• BIBB (Hrsg.): Datenreport zum Berufsbildungsbericht 2010. Informationen und Analysen zur Entwicklung der beruflichen Bildung.
  Bielefeld 2010 - URL: www.bibb.de/datenreport2010 (Stand 30. 4. 2010)
• BIBB-Hauptausschuss: Neustrukturierung des Berufsbildungsberichts.
  Empfehlung des Hauptausschusses des Bundesinstituts für Berufsbildung vom 13.12. 2007. In: BWP 37 (2008) Beilage Heft 1 - URL: www.bibb.de/dokumente/pdf/a1_bwp_01_2008_Beilage_HA_1.pdf.pdf (Stand 30. 4. 2010)
• BMBF (Hrsg.): Berufsbildungsbericht 2009. Bonn/Berlin 2009
• BMBF (Hrsg.): Berufsbildungsbericht 2010. Bonn/Berlin 2010 - URL: www.bmbf.de/pub/bbb_2010.pdf (Stand 30. 4. 2010)
• DÖBERT, H.; AVENARIUS, H.: Konzeptionelle Grundlagen der Bildungsberichterstattung in Deutschland. In: Buer, J. van; Wagner, C.: Qualität von Schule. Ein kritisches Handbuch. 2. durchgesehene Auflage. Frankfurt a. M. 2009, pp. 297-314
• KRÜGER-HEMMER, Ch.; SCHMIDT, N.: OECD-Indikatoren zur beruflichen Bildung. In: BWP 39 (2010) 3, pp. 11-15
• INSTITUT FÜR BILDUNGSMONITORING (Hrsg.): Bildungsbericht Hamburg 2009. Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg, Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung. Hamburg 2009
• KONSORTIUM BILDUNGSBERICHTERSTATTUNG (Hrsg.): Bildung in Deutschland. Ein indikatorengestützter Bericht mit einer Analyse zu Bildung und Migration. Bielefeld 2006
• KOORDINIERUNGSSTELLE SCHULE - BERUF 2009 (Hrsg.): Berufsbildungsbericht 2009 Kreis Lippe. Detmold 2009 - URL: www.lippe-schub.de/uploads/media/Berufsbildungsbericht_Kreis_Lippe_2009-klein.pdf  (Stand: 07. 04. 2010)
• KREKEL, E. M.; ULRICH, J. G.: Bessere Daten - bessere Bildungspolitik?! In: Krekel, E. M.; Uhly, A.; Ulrich, J. G. (Hrsg.): Forschung im Spannungsfeld konkurrierender Interessen. Die Ausbildungsstatistik und ihr Beitrag für Praxis, Politik und Wissenschaft. Forschung Spezial - Heft 11, Bielefeld 2006
• LANDER, B.: Bildungsreport Nordrhein-Westfalen 2009. Information und Technik Nordrhein-Westfalen (IT.NRW). Düsseldorf 2009
• ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (Hrsg.): Education at a Glance 2009: OECD Indicators. Paris 2009
• SCHNELL, R.; HILL, P. B.; ESSER, E.: Methoden der empirischen Sozialforschung, 5. Auflage, München/Wien/Oldenburg 1995
• SCHUL- UND KULTUSREFERAT DER LANDESHAUPTSTADT MÜNCHEN: Erster Münchner Bildungsbericht (in der Systematik des Konsortiums Bildungsberichterstattung vom Juni 2006) - Bildung zu einer Angelegenheit vor Ort machen, München 2006
• SCHWEIZERISCHE KOORDINATIONSSTELLE FÜR BILDUNGSFORSCHUNG (SKBF) (Hrsg.): Bildungsbericht Schweiz. Aarau 2006
• SPECHT, W. (Hrsg.): Nationaler Bildungsbericht Österreich 2009, Teil 1. Das Schulsystem im Spiegel von Daten und Indikatoren. Graz 2009
• STADT DORTMUND, DER OBERBÜRGERMEISTER (Hrsg.): Erster kommunaler Bildungsbericht für die Schulstadt Dortmund. Münster 2008STEGMAIER, J.: Ausbildungsberechtigung, Ausbildungsaktivität und Übernahmeverhalten von Betrieben. In: BIBB (Hrsg.): Datenreport zum Berufsbildungsbericht 2010. Kap. A 5.10.3 - URL: www.bibb.de/datenreport2010 (Stand 30. 4. 2010)
• THÜRINGER MINISTERIUM FÜR WIRTSCHAFT, ARBEIT UND TECHNOLOGIE (TMWAT): Berufliche Aus- und Weiterbildung in Thüringen. Berufsbildungsbericht 2009 mit den Ergebnissen des Jahres 2008. Erfurt 2009 -URL: www.thueringen.de/imperia/md/content/tmwta/publikationen/arbeit/berufsbildungsbericht_internet.pdf
• TIPPELT, R.: Steuerung durch Indikatoren. Methodologische und theoretische Reflexionen zur deutschen und internationalen Bildungsberichterstattung - Einleitung zur Tagung. In: Ders. (Hrsg.): Steuerung durch Indikatoren. Methodologische und theoretische Reflexionen zur deutschen und internationalen Bildungsberichterstattung. Opladen 2009, pp. 7-15
• TROLTSCH, K.: Verlauf und Nachhaltigkeit betrieblicher Ausbildungsbeteiligung zwischen 1999 und 2008. In: BIBB (Hrsg.): Datenreport zum Berufsbildungsbericht 2010. Kap. A5.10.2 - URL: www.bibb.de/datenreport2010 (Stand 30. 4. 2010)
• WITTMANN, E.: Von Unternehmensrankings zu internationalen Systemvergleichen. Die Bedeutung von Indikatoren und Benchmarks in der Berufsbildung. In: BWP 39 (2010) 3, pp. 6-10
  

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footnotes:

¹There are also various reports covering partial sectors (e.g. institutes of higher education) or partial aspects (e.g. educational spending) of the education system. For a summary, see e.g. DÖBERT/AVENARIUS, pp. 300 ff. 
²Many of the recent Reports on Vocational Education and Training are available in English by searching for "Report on Vocational Education and
Training" at http://www.bmbf.de.
³Vocational Training Act (BBiG) of 23 March 2005 last amended on 7 September 2007 by Article 9b of the Act.
⁴BA data does not include non-attributable values.
⁵Information on vacant training places at authorised local government providers is not presently available.

Last modified on: July 28, 2010