Evaluation of Integration Courses (EvIk)

Challenges

As part of the research project “Evaluation of Integration Courses (EvIk)” conducted by the Research Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ), the effectiveness of integration courses—particularly for refugees—in Germany is being examined. The focus lies on controllable and influenceable factors that enable successful language and values education, as well as on how the course offerings can be meaningfully integrated into the existing landscape of integration measures.

To this end, the BAMF-FZ developed a complex research design that includes course participants, course providers, and instructors. Participants of general integration and literacy courses were ideally to be surveyed at three points in time: at the beginning, at the end, and approximately one year after completing the course.

Verian was responsible for conducting individual interviews with participants in their home environments—outside the course context—both at the end of the course (if an in-course survey was not possible, e.g., due to dropout or absence) and one year after course completion. The survey was conducted face-to-face by trained interviewers.

A particular challenge was the development of the survey instrument: a bilingual questionnaire was created that included all questions and answer options in German and one of twelve additional languages. Furthermore, the questionnaire included foreign-language audio files to accommodate individuals who could not read in the respective languages. In addition to language comprehension difficulties, reaching the target group posed a challenge, as the addresses were not sourced from a registry. 

Approach

The survey targeted individuals who had started a general integration or literacy course between autumn 2021 and spring 2022. It was conducted as a face-to-face oral interview (CAPI) in German as well as in one of twelve additional languages: English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Farsi, Kurmanji, Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Spanish, Somali, Tigrinya, and Turkish.

For the second measurement point, “end of the course,” Verian conducted 611 interviews between May 2022 and July 2023, with an average duration of 54 minutes (adjusted response rate: 77%). During the third measurement period, “one year after course completion” (March 2023 to May 2024), 1,699 interviews were conducted, averaging 45 minutes in length, corresponding to an adjusted response rate of 67%.

The challenges in preparation, fieldwork, and weighting were successfully managed in close coordination with BAMF-FZ.
Despite the use of a multilingual questionnaire with audio files and foreign-language interviewers—primarily Arabic-speaking—communication issues occurred in individual cases. These were particularly dependent on the type of course and the interview situation. To ensure data quality, extensive control and cleaning measures were implemented, including postal validations and content consistency checks.

Results

BAMF-FZ is currently in the evaluation phase of the overall project. Interim Report IV is scheduled for the end of 2025, and the final report is expected in 2026.

Links or publications

• BAMF project homepage
• Methodological reports by Verian:
  
  • Pupeter, M./Rysina, A./Mücke, L./Stadler, M. (2024): Evaluation der Integrationskurse (EvIk): Teilprojekt POST_Indi-Befragung; Methodenbericht, 2024, München: Verian.
  • Pupeter, M./Rysina, A./Mücke, L./Stadler, M. (2024): Evaluation der Integrationskurse (EvIk): Teilprojekt NACHhaltigkeits-Befragung; Methodenbericht, 2024, München: Verian.

• Content-related publications (selection):
  
  • Tissot, A., Pietrantuono, G., Rother, N., Baier, A., Croisier, J. (2021). Factors Affecting Language Acquisition in the Institutionalized Setting of the German Integration Course. In: G.S. Levine & D. Mallows (Hrsg.), Language Learning of Adult Migrants in Europe. Theoretical, Empirical, and Pedagogical Issues (S. 119-147). Springer
  • Kay, R., Babka von Gostomski, C., Saif, S., Homrighausen, P., Eckhard, J. & Rother, N. (2023). Zwischenbericht III zum Forschungsprojekt "Evaluation der Integrationskurse (EvIk)". Analysen und Erkenntnisse zu Kursteilnehmenden, Kursspezifika, Lehrkräften und Integrationskursträgern zu Kursbeginn (Forschungsbericht 46). Nürnberg. Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge. https://doi.org/10.48570/bamf.fz.fb.46.d.2023.evik.zb3.1.0