23. - 27.11.2026
Mia Sommerfeld
Correlations Between Teachers’ Performance Assessments and Their Interaction Behavior in Primary School Classrooms
This study builds on research on teacher expectations and differential teacher behavior by examining instructional quality at the level of individual teacher student interactions. It analyzes interactional features as well as teachers’ instructional and emotional support provided to students perceived as high or low achieving in mathematics and spelling lessons. Using video data from the INTERFACH study, the project develops an observation instrument to capture differential teacher behavior in dyadic interactions. The study aims to make differences in instructional opportunities for individual students visible and thereby contribute to research on instructional quality and educational inequality.
Studies and degrees
since 02/2025: Doctoral Researcher in the DFG Graduate School “Subject-Specific Learning and Interaction in Elementary School” (INTERFACH)
since 10/2024: Master’s programme in Empirical Educational Research at the University of Kassel
10/2019 – 09/2024: Studies in Elementary School Teaching (subjects: Mathematics, German, Music) at the University of Kassel, First State Examination in October 2024
Professional Experience
10/2020: Substitute Teacher at a Primary School in Kassel (VSS – “Reliable School” programme)
03/2024 – 01/2025: Student Assistant in the Research Project “Watchin’ Dance – How young people receive dance” at the University of Kassel
12/2024 – 01/2025: Student Assistant in the DFG Graduate School “Subject-Specific Learning and Interaction in Elementary School” (INTERFACH), University of Kassel
02/2024 – 11/2024: Student Assistant in the International Office of the University of Kassel
02/2022 – 07/2023: Staff member in All-day Care at a Primary School
10/2022 – 07/2023: Teacher for Remedial Teaching in Mathematics at a Primary School
07/2022 – 10/2022: Caregiver as part of the “Corona break for families” programme at Jugendburg Ludwigstein in Witzenhausen