Mission statement

The German Institute for International Educational Research supports educational research, educational practice, educational policy and educational administration on the basis of scientific Infrastructure services as well as research and educational system evaluations.

It aims to improve conditions of successful education. As a member of the Leibniz Association, DIPF aligns fundamental research with innovative developmental work and its implementation.

DIPF functions as a central interface for knowledge on education and it contributes essentially to the quality and shape of education in Germany:

• DIPF generates knowledge on education and it provides foundations for an evidence-based design of educational research on all levels of action.
• DIPF catalogues and transfers knowledge on education, making it available to different target groups and the general public.
• DIPF archives and indexes knowledge on education from a historical perspective.

The Institute’s profile is determined by two co-operating, networked focal areas: educational information and educational research. Respective tasks are pursued in five collaborating centers.

Educational Information

The Institute provides a central information infrastructure for education in Germany, based on databases and information systems. These services can be accessed via portals, other internet services, library stocks or in the context of individually tailored work environments.

• Information Center for Education
  Research, development and provision of information services for educational research and educational knowledge
• Research Library for the History of Education
  Librarian and archival services and support for research in educational history and communication

Educational Research

By conducting research activities, DIPF contributes to aspects of educational quality at a systemic, institutional and individual level – thereby, the Institute critically reflects upon existing concepts for quality, governance and development.

• Center for Research on Educational Governance offers research and infrastructure services regarding societal, economic, legal and administrative conditions of education.
• Center for Research on Educational Quality and Evaluation
  Contributes to the development and assurance of school and instructional quality and professionalism in education by evaluation, user-oriented research and counselling
• Center for Research on Education and Human Development
  Analyses individual and differential development across the lifespan in the context of formal and non-formal educational processes

Research and infrastructure services and knowledge transfer processes are increasingly organised  across the centers,. Expert knowledge from educational research and educational information can thus be mor appropriately aligned for information and communication systems, oriented toward the reference groups.