The project dealed with the question whether the distance of school routes influences the performance of students at secondary school level. An interesting factor is the influence of social background if it is suspected, that, for example, different strategies exist for coping with the objective strain of the route to school. An answer to this question is of utmost importance for practical approaches in the field of education management or school planning, especially concerning equal opportunities for access to education.

Over the last years, decreasing numbers of students have led to the closing of schools, especially in East Germany. According to projections by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany, this trend will most likely continue in West German territorial states (as opposed to city states) until 2025. Therefore, already existing regional discrepancies in school availability will increase further. When transitioning to secondary school, the travel distance to the facilities will increase as well.

In this project, data from Starting Cohort 3 of the National Panel Study (NEPS) has been utilized assessing academic achievements of students in math and German beginning with Grade 5. Academic achievements were linked with the actual distance between home and school in order to close this relevant research gap.

Initial analyses do not indicate any significant influence of the distance to school or even of the way to school (active/passive) on school grades in the subjects German and mathematics. Furthermore, the role of social origin does not seem to be clear either. A validation of the results is still pending.

• Project lead: Dr. Michaela Sixt
• Applicant:
  • Dr. Michaela Sixt
  • Dr. Ingrid Stöhr
• Project duration: 09/2018 – 08/2020
• Funding: LIfBi, Internal research funding
• Link to this page: www.lifbi.de/SBS

Stöhr, I., Krämer, C. & Sixt, M. (2019). Das Projekt „Schulwege und ihre Bedeutung für Schulleistungen (SBS)“ – eine Skizze. LIfBi Working Paper No. 84. Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsverläufe e.V. Bamberg.

Drummer C. (2021). Schulwege und ihre Bedeutung für Schulleistungen. In: Wolbring T., Leitgöb H., Faulbaum F. (eds) Sozialwissenschaftliche Datenerhebung im digitalen Zeitalter. Schriftenreihe der ASI - Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sozialwissenschaftlicher Institute. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-34396-5_9