NEPS-Stage 2 deals with the development of children during kindergarten and the subsequent transition to elementary school. As in NEPS-Stage 1, NEPS-Stage 2 also focuses on the importance of both the family and the institutional learning environment for children's development.

Central research questions

• What influence do the specific learning environments such as kindergarten, elementary school and family have on the development of preschool children and what is the relationship between them?
• What role do institutional settings play in the development of differences in skills and social disparities (according to social or ethnic background)?
• How are the transitions to elementary school and the associated educational decisions shaped?

To answer these and other research questions, the NEPS-Stage 2 survey program focuses in particular on recording the relevant care and educational settings as well as the skills development of preschool children. Stage 2 focuses, among other things, on recording language skills (e.g. vocabulary, grammar), early self-regulatory skills and obtaining the perspective of parents and caregivers on the development of children's prosocial behavior, for example (multi-informant perspective).

NEPS-Stage 3 deals with the development of children during primary school, which lasts four years in most federal states. After elementary school, children move on to different types of lower secondary school, which have different curricula and lead to different educational qualifications. The transition from elementary school to the structured school system is of enormous importance for the rest of a child's life.

Central research questions

• How do children's skills develop in elementary school?
• Which factors strengthen or reduce the correlation between social and ethnic background and skills achieved over time?
• To what extent are parents' educational decisions at the end of primary school the result of the child's academic performance, parental resources and educational goals as well as the institutional framework conditions? 

Accordingly, NEPS-Stage 3 focuses in particular on recording the institutional setting of elementary school, but also on the family and the development of children at primary school age up to the transition to lower secondary level. This includes, among other things, the addition of domain-specific and cross-domain competencies, the recording of out-of-school care and the addition of characteristics on the process and structure of the institutions. Stage 3 focuses in particular on the family's view of school, e.g. satisfaction with school or the assessment of requirements and support in the classroom.

Further information

• Detailed description of the concept and design of the survey program in the early phase of stage 2/3
• Current concept (stage 2/3)