Integration of Recently Arrived Underage Refugees: Research Potential of the Study ReGES—Refugees in the German Educational System

Abstract

With the strong immigration of refugees at the end of the last decade, many minors came to Germany. Their integration into the German educational system will be one of the central tasks of German society and is important for the medium- and long-term integration of incoming young refugees in various areas of society. Data from the ReGES panel study enable analyses of the early integration process of refugees into the German educational system. The study focuses on two cohorts: 2,405 children of preschool age who are about to start school and 2,415 adolescents in lower secondary education who were followed during the transition into vocational training or upper secondary education. Each cohort was interviewed seven times over three school years from 2018 to 2020, with sampling procedures starting in 2017. This article provides an overview of the study design, contents, and research potential of ReGES. The large number of measures of individual characteristics, including objective competence test data (German language and basic cognitive skills) and information on the learning and living contexts of refugees provided by parents, teachers, and administrative staff, allow us to address many research questions.