Transformation of the secondary school system and academic careers (TOSCA)

The project “Transformation of the secondary school system and academic careers“ (TOSCA) examines the affordances and constraints of the upper secondary school system in selected German states as well as the transition from secondary school into university and vocational training. Furthermore, TOSCA analyzes the interplay of individual, social, and institutional factors for human development in academic and non-academic domains.

TOSCA is a multi-cohort study and includes longitudinal data for some cohorts. A broad spectrum of achievement test data as well as psycho-social variables are available for all TOSCA cohorts. Analyses of TOSCA data have been incorporated into a large number of publications on different topics, including analyses of educational effectiveness, investigations of the effects of social background on educational success, analyses of the role of motivation in various settings, and selection/socialization effects with regard to personality traits.