School transition is an important issue in a selective education system like Austria’s that traditionally has two main school types in secondary I: the academic secondary school (leading to matriculation) and the lower secondary school (leading to vocational or higher vocational education). In 2012, the lower secondary was replaced by the “New Middle School”, which aims at broadening the educational bases and education expectations of all students. The Department of Education at the University of Vienna was charged by the Lower-Austrian education authority to evaluate the New Middle School in Lower Austria, employing a unique evaluation concept with a pioneering approach to education research and school development for Austria and beyond.

Benchmarking measurements had been officially implemented for the transfer rate of this new school type, but there is nothing on long-term success parameters like aspirations, self-concepts and the learning motivation of students.

This paper focuses on student well-being perceptions of 9^th graders (students having finished New Middle School, lower or secondary school) to investigate relevant learning aspects such as academic aspirations, self-concept and learning motivation before and after school transition. Furthermore, it examines how New-Middle-School students perceive educational expectations and their relationship to school reform expectations for broadening education aspirations of all students.

Education aspirations of students and their confidence in managing challenges at a new school constitute a long-term developmental process in which normative expectations of “significant others” (parents, teachers, classmates) and students’ perceptions of their own achievements are important. Besides a supportive class environment, interaction with teachers and classmates, a dynamic learning and aspiration climate in class, the socio-cultural family background, parental involvement and a supportive out-of-school environment can influence students’ education aspirations (Geppert, 2015; Geppert, Kilian & Katschnig, 2013; Kurz & Paulus, 2008; Leithwood, 2010). Students’ academic self-concepts represent an important resource during school transitions where the reference group changes (Garcia 2011, Guay, Larose, & Boivin 2004). Rindermann & Heller (2005) state: “(…) high self-concept itself is (…) a valuable aim and (…) has consequences for educational aspirations, interests, learning, etc.”

Well-being at school is an indicator for a learning environment that enables students to achieve their goals and relates to school attendance, active participation in class, formation of social contacts in school (Katschnig & Kilian 2012, Reynolds et al. 2011, Sweeting & Hunt 2014). According to Hascher, positive attitudes, happiness and recognition at school, positive academic self-concepts, no school worries, physical complaints or social problems at school all influence the well-being of students  (Hascher, 2004a, 2004b, 2007). In a longitudinal study of students aged 15 to 18 years, Kriesi & Buchmann (2012) found a strong correlation at the age of 15 between the goal of academic success and well-being at school. Further findings suggest the higher the school satisfaction, the better the attitudes towards learning, and the greater the success at school, the higher the subjective perception of school competence and the lower the burden on the school. Teacher-student relationships, good relationships with classmates and the possibility of participating in the learning process all influence academic well-being (Mitterbauer, 2007).

This paper therefore addresses three questions:

(1) How do students in schools of different types perceive class climate in grade 9?

(2) How do student perceptions of class climate differ per school type after finishing secondary I?

(3) Do student self-concepts and aspirations in grade 9 differ from those of their prior school lives?

Hypothesis 1: The school type students attend shapes their education aspirations and self-concepts. Student perceptions in academic secondary I differ from those in New Middle Schools.

Hypothesis 2: Students from New Middle Schools have higher aspirations than students from lower secondary schools.

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