Translational Research: Effective Support in Everyday Classrooms

Many interventions are well supported by controlled studies but reach everyday school practice only partially or in altered form. We investigate how teachers implement effective approaches in regular lessons, under which conditions this succeeds, and why identical materials can lead to different outcomes in different classes. In doing so, we link intervention research with implementation research.

Current project: Reading comprehension in Grade 3

In a study with a waitlist control group at two primary schools in Cologne participating in the Startchancen programme, teachers implement a reading strategy (RAP: Read – Ask – Put) together with a story map for narrative texts in their own lessons. In addition to learning gains, we use classroom observations and interviews to examine how teachers shape the intervention. The study runs in two intervention phases during the 2026/27 school year with five measurement points. Master's students support the study scientifically.

Status: ongoing (2026–2027)
Project lead: Dr. Susanne Hoff

Prior work

In a pilot study at a comprehensive school in North Rhine-Westphalia, we tested the same strategy in peer tutoring in two Grade 5 classes. Despite identical materials and the same support, learning gains differed considerably. The decisive factor appeared to be how teachers enacted the intervention in class. The current project takes up this question.

• Hoff, S., Grünke, M., & Barwasser, A. (2026). When identical instructional materials lead to different outcomes: A comparative classroom case study of instructional enactment in Grade 5 reading comprehension. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 24(1), 1–27.