The transition from primary to secondary school is an important reorientation in the educational biography of children in the German educational system. First of all, secondary school track recommendations and decisions substantially depend on the socio-economic status environment of children (inter alia Maaz, Baumert, Gresch & McElvany, 2010; Stubbe, Bos & Euen, 2012), which prevents upward mobility. Moreover, the transition can pose problems concerning the personal development of children: It can be experienced as a critical life event or a multidimensional point of rupture – as a cause of breaks in the social web, forms of learning and in expectations (Koch, 2006; van Ophuysen, 2006).

Different studies on the transition from primary to secondary school draw attention to the global dimension of the issue. They reveal a relationship between transition experience and academic achievement as well as personality features: For example, a long-term study from Scotland – which views the transition from the perspective of life course theory – detected a relationship between self-confidence and well-being and the transition in terms of social experience. According to this study, there also seems to be a relationship between how the transition is experienced and academic achievements (West, Sweeting & Young, 2010).

Because of the biographical significance for children in Germany and abroad, designing the transition becomes one of the central tasks of the educational system (Koch, 2006). Cooperation between the involved teachers or schools is recommended in this context (e.g. Beutel & von der Gathen, 2012). One approach of institutionalised cooperation in transition matters can be the establishment of regional school networks comprising primary and secondary schools (Järvinen, Otto, Sartory & Sendzik, 2012).

Many questions regarding opportunities to design new concepts and their effectiveness in improving pupils’ experiences in the process of transition from one school to another remain unanswered (Kucharz, Irion & Reinhoffer, 2011). This research gap is taken up by the project “Übergangs-Coaches” (“Transition-Coaches”). In this project, a school network develops and implements a peer-education-based concept for the transition from primary to secondary school, following the principles of Pragmatic Action Research (Mischen & Sinclair, 2009; Altrichter & Posch, 2007). The project’s conception envisages that pupils from the secondary school act as coaches before, during and after the transition. This peer-education approach is believed to be a good method for accompanying children during that period, since it has already shown its positive effects in other contexts, for example pertaining to self-concept and social competences (e.g. Ginsburg-Block, Fantuzzo & Rohrbeck, 2006).

An explorative case study with triangulation in its design is supposed to highlight the development of the concept, important aspects during the transition and the effectiveness of the measure at different levels. Main research questions relate to (a) details and processes within the development of the idea and relevant criteria or dimensions from the perspective of the network, (b) how the fourth-formers from primary school perceive and experience the transition and (c) in how far the coaches develop. The presentation describes the project design, discusses its strategy and presents first findings.

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