Online Questionnaire

The Stop Dropout online questionnaire is filled out by the pupils themselves (preferably at the beginning of the school or training year) in order to be able to offer help in good time. It is standardised for the 9th grade and is completed by the whole class. Depending on the type of school, it consists of 23-25 blocks of questions and measures up to 14 risk factors, which are considered indicators of early school leaving.

The Stop Dropout Questionnaire evaluates individual strengths and weaknesses as well as the living environment of the interviewed pupils and thus measures both the degree of risk and existing resources of the pupils. The results of the Stop Dropout Questionnaire also provide crucial information on what can be done to help pupils at risk.

The information about possible hazards comes first hand with this approach. In this way, the Stop Dropout approach differs from other approaches in which, in order to identify potentially endangered pupils, they are not asked themselves, but representatives of the educational staff are asked to identify young people at risk. Participation is voluntary.

In order to ensure anonymity, all pupils receive a personal pin code to access the online questionnaire. The youth coaches working at the school have access to the questionnaire and the results and can log into the system using their own access key.

The results of the Stop Dropout questionnaire are generated by the system after sending the questionnaire and are immediately available on the computer for the youth coaches. Written feedback is available for all students who do not have a dropout risk according to the questionnaire. All pupils identified as at risk are invited to an initial interview by their youth coach. 

For youth coaches, the Stop Dropout approach means that they already have structured information at their disposal at the beginning of their counselling process, which makes it possible for them to intervene in good time and offer suitable assistance.

Since 2012, Stop Dropout questionnaires have been developed and standardised for the school types PTS/FMS, AHS, ORG, BMS and BHS as well as for counselling services in the ÜBA and PWS.

Advantages of the Stop Dropout Questionnaire

• Possible hazards are already visible at the beginning of the semester.
• The information about the pupils is first hand
• The procedure is very time-efficient, as counsellors can start directly from the information provided by the online questionnaire and thus usually save several counselling sessions.
• The questionnaire is highly accepted by pupils.
• It is a door opener for demand-oriented counselling, as pupils are usually very interested in their results.
• It is scientifically proven because it is based on the areas of influence of subject-specific research and is calculated on the basis of test theory.
• 8 out of 10 young people at risk are recognised in good time! 
• The class and school results of the Stop Dropout Questionnaire make visible where fields of action lie in pedagogical and parental work and can be used for school development.