The results of international studies like PISA and TIMSS show an average German score, compared to other countries. As a consequence Germany introduced national educational standards as part of a paradigm shift in education policy to increase the performance of german students. Whilst other countries - like e.g. Sweden - have a lot of experience in the area of output orientation and defining educational goals, in Germany the standards are an innovation. As a reform element it first of all sets the performance standards that students should be able to meet at graduation. Unlike other European countries, Germany introduced the standards not as minimum standards, but as general standards. This has implications for teaching methods. The didactical concept of competence orientated lessons is becoming very popular to achieve a significantly higher output. It can be described as cognitive demanding lessons with an emphasis on individualism and active learning opportunities. Our interdisciplinary project group is doing research on the process of implementing standards. In our research project, an intervention was introduced in nine schools to implement the educational standards in the states of Berlin and Brandenburg. As a control group, another eight schools were examined. Alltogehter, the sample consisted of N =1300 students (averaging 15 years of age) and 75 teachers. The aim of our study was to test a) that students in our intervention group recognized they were asked for competence orientated activities more often than students in the control group and b) that teachers of our intervention schools have different concerns towards an educational innovation like the standards than teachers of the control group.

To test these hypotheses, we developed a questionnaire for students, including all six mathematical competencies that are defined in the educational standards for mathematics: problem solving, use of arguments, modeling, communication, representations and dealing with symbolic, formal and technical elements. In addition a teacher-questionnaire was applied to ask for concerns regarding educational innovations: the so called Stages of Concern (SoC, Hall and Hord, 2006). It describes the level of ‘dealing with innovations’. Thus a progress from lowest to highest stage is seen as the optimum. All participants were asked twice, in 12 month intervals.

Our hypotheses about the significantly increased number of competence orientated activities of students, and an increased awareness of educational standards for teachers were confirmed. After one year of class development the students of our intervention group feel an increase in being offered competence orientated activities compared to the students of the control group. Furthermore it can be shown that the teachers of our intervention group are more aware about the concerns regarding educational standards than teachers of our control group. The results will be discussed in respect to a changed type of mathematical problems.