The specialist conference is of particular importance for educational work in schools. The specialist conferences discuss matters relating to the individual teaching subject. Suggestions for the introduction and selection of new learning materials (including school books) are developed here. It deals with the scope and level of difficulty of prescribed written work and advises on ensuring uniform performance assessment.
It also serves to coordinate the work plans for the relevant teaching subject.
The parent representatives therefore see the specialist conference as an important participatory body that will become even more important in the future and in which parents should definitely get involved.
Here is the excerpt from the school law:
Specialist conference, educational program conference
(1) Members of the specialist conference are teachers who are qualified to teach the relevant subject or who teach in it. The specialist conference elects one person from among its members to serve as chairman. Two representatives each of parents and students, and at vocational colleges an additional two representatives each of trainers and trainees, can participate as members with an advisory vote. The school conference can decide on a higher number of parent representatives.
(2) In vocational colleges, specialist conferences can be set up for departments or educational programs instead of for individual subjects (educational program conference).
(3) The specialist conference discusses all matters relating to the subject or discipline, including cooperation with other subjects. She is responsible for the school’s internal quality assurance and development of professional work and advises on goals, work plans, evaluation measures and results and accountability.
(4) The specialist conference decides in particular about in its subject
1.Principles of subject-didactic and subject-methodological work,
2.Principles for performance evaluation,
3.Suggestions to the teachers’ conference for the introduction of learning materials.
(5) In primary schools and special needs schools, the establishment of specialist conferences can be dispensed with by resolution of the school conference. In this case, the teachers’ conference takes over the tasks of the specialist conferences.
