PINGUIN - Potential Identification in Elementary School for Individual Support

In the PINGUIN project (= Potential identification in elementary school for individual support), we are working in a large team to develop a screening tool for the objective and reliable assessment of the cognitive potential and learning status of pupils in the school entry phase. The computer-based measuring instrument of the PINGUIN project consists of four modules: (1) cognitive potential, (2) linguistic performance, (3) written language and (4) basic mathematical skills. For each module, the tasks are drawn at random (or depending on ability) from an extensive task database. The study is carried out in small groups at school using tablets. PINGUIN is intended to help identify children's potential at an early stage and enable fair, data-based support. The knowledge about the individual strengths and weaknesses of each child can be used by teachers to shape their lessons.

For modules 2-4 for the assessment of basic skills, it is necessary to set up an extensive task database in order to map the constructs in their entirety and to ensure a differentiated assessment of performance levels. From the end of year 1, the requirements are based on the curricula (critical comparisons). As the starting points of pupils in the school entry phase vary greatly, adaptive testing is recommended in order to make optimum use of the limited processing time of 10 minutes. Adaptive testing in turn requires extensive standardization data to estimate the difficulty of the task.

The broad coverage of content on the one hand and adaptive testing on the other require an evaluation based on item response theory (IRT), as is frequently used in educational monitoring. IRT models make it possible to locate the results on a common metric, even if different tasks were completed. This allows the performance of children in the same year group to be compared directly with each other (social comparisons). In addition, IRT modeling makes it possible to depict developmental progressions over time (temporal comparisons). Further attention is paid to the consideration of contextual factors, such as socio-economic status or migration background, in order to ensure a fair assessment of performance.

The project is funded by the HECTOR Foundation (duration: 09/2024 - 08/2027). Scientists from the universities of Tübingen (Prof. Dr. Ulrich Trautwein, Jun.Prof. Jessica Golle, Dr. Benjamin Goecke), Ulm (Prof. Dr. Oliver Wilhelm), Kassel (Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schroeders, Priscilla Achaa-Amankwaa, Jonas Walter), Würzburg (Dr. Darius Endlich) and Bonn (Dr. Johanna Hartung) as well as the DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education (Prof. Dr. Marcus Hasselhorn, Dr. Patrick Lösche).

• Schroeders, U., Achaa-Amankwaa, P., Walter, J., Endlich, D., Hasselhorn, M., Golle, J., & Goecke, B. (2025, May 29). PINGUIN – Assessing Elementary Students’ Initial Competencies. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/2xq3d_v1
• Goecke, B., Zimny, L., Hartung, J., Lösche, P., Golle, J., & Wilhelm, O. (2024). Measuring cognitive ability in children and adolescents: Development and validation of a new test battery for working memory capacity. Psychological Test Adaptation and Development, 5, 316–336. https://doi.org/10.1027/2698-1866/a000089