In Germany the transition from elementary to secondary school is well-known as central gateway for social disparities in educational attainment (cf. Maaz & Nagy 2009). The process of separating pupils into different educational pathways is mainly based on children’s academic performance, but also influenced by criteria which favor children from more educated families over children from families with a lower socioeconomic status (cf. Pietsch & Stubbe 2007).

Comparatively little is known on how these initial social disparities develop within subsequent pathways through secondary school. The German school system generally allows for transitions between the different secondary school types. This so-called “openness” of school tracks is supposed to enable later correction of misallocated pupils and thereby especially support children’s late increase in academic performance. Both transition directions are feasible: downward movements from upper to lower secondary school types as well as upward movements from lower to upper secondary school types. Nonetheless, empirically downward transitions occur considerably more often than upward transitions (cf. Autorengruppe Bildungsberichterstattung 2008). This circumstance is often regarded as indicator for an adverse balance. We argue that the decision to change a higher educational track for a lower is not necessarily a loss in terms of a lower school leaving certificate and/or reduced chances on the labor market. Instead, the transition to a lower school type comes along with an improvement of the individual position relative to the new reference group: the higher average achievement level of the initial school type is replaced by a relative lower average achievement level at the new school type. Therefore also downward mobility comes along with advantageous outcomes in terms of avoiding class repetition and improved chances for a school leaving certificate above average.

Concretely, this examination focusses on the development of pupils’ educational trajectories within and between secondary schools in Germany. The multilayered structure of the educational system requires a systematization of possible educational pathways. Based on a classification of trajectory types we seek to determine the extent of the various transitions and identify key factors that influence individual education careers.

Autorengruppe Bildungsberichterstattung (Hg.) (2008): Bildung in Deutschland 2008. Ein indikatorengestützter Bericht mit einer Analyse zu Übergängen im Anschluss an den Sekundarbereich I [Education in Germany 2008. An indicator-based report with an analysis on transitions following after secondary schooling]. Bielefeld: W. Bertelsmann Verlag. Blossfeld, H.-P., Roßbach, H.-G., & von Maurice, J. (Eds.). (2011). Education as a lifelong process: The German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) [Special Issue]. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 14. Maaz, Kai; Nagy, Gabriel (2009): Der Übergang von der Grundschule in die weiterführenden Schulen des Sekundarschulsystems: Definition, Spezifikation und Quantifizierung primärer und sekundärer Herkunftseffekte [The Transition from Elementary to Secondary Education in Germany: Definition, Specification, and Quantification of the Primary and Secondary Effects of Social Background]. In: Jürgen Baumert, Kai Maaz und Ulrich Trautwein (Hg.): Bildungsentscheidungen [Educational Decisions]. ZfE-Sonderheft 12/2009. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, S. 153–182. Pietsch, Marcus; Stubbe, Tobias C. (2007): Inequality in the Transition from Primary to Secondary School. school choices and educational disparities in Germany. In: European Educational Research Journal 6 (4), S. 424–445.