Scientific support of the Hector Children’s Academies

What are the Hector Children's Academies?

The Hector Children’s Academies are the only national support program for particularly gifted and highly gifted primary school children in Baden-Württemberg. They offer a voluntary, supplementary educational program that goes far beyond regular school content.

The specially designed course program deliberately focuses on intellectual and social challenges. It aims to support the children’s interests and potentials, deepen subject-specific knowledge, convey new skills, and encourage creativity. The content focus lies on the STEM subjects (Mathematics, Computer Science/ Informatics, Natural Sciences, and Technology).

Learn more about our research

Making knowledge usable

Effectiveness Research with Direct Practical Transfer

The project is scientifically supported by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Trautwein and Prof. Dr. Jessika Golle (Hector Institute for Empirical Educational Research, Tübingen), as well as by Prof. Dr. Marcus Hasselhorn (DIPF, Frankfurt). The research examines the effectiveness of the program and its individual components. The goal is to make generalizable statements about the possibilities and limitations of gifted education.

The scientific support takes place as part of a formative evaluation, so that central findings can continuously flow into the practical implementation of the Hector Children’s Academies. A key challenge is to consider site-specific conditions while simultaneously ensuring uniform, quality-assured support across all locations.