Education

Integrated Support for Education

A pilot initiative to build and strengthen multidisciplinary collaboration at the school level

Zwei Personen stehen in einem Büro neben einem Drucker und einer Pinnwand mit ausgehängten Dokumenten. Eine Person in einem gestreiften ärmellosen Oberteil zeigt auf die Pinnwand, während die andere Person mit Brille und rosafarbener Bluse danebensteht. Im Hintergrund sind Fenster mit gelben Jalousien zu sehen. Die Szene vermittelt eine Arbeitssituation in einer Schule.

About the Project

Every child has the right to the best possible education and full participation in society. In reality, however, opportunities for children and young people who need additional support depend on many factors, including administrative processes. While students experience their school day as a unified whole, the legal, financial, and organizational responsibility for supporting them is divided among different systems, such as schools, youth services, and disability support services. As a result, support measures are often applied for and delivered separately.

In practice, this leads to fragmented responsibilities, a significant administrative burden for families, and substantial organizational challenges for schools.

The pilot initiative Education Under One Roof in Schleswig-Holstein addresses these challenges by breaking down these system barriers. Together with the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of General and Vocational Education, Science, Research and Culture, the Ministry of Social Affairs, Youth, Family, Seniors, Integration and Equality, and the municipal umbrella organizations, municipalities across Schleswig-Holstein are testing new approaches to collaboration. The aim is to bring support systems, particularly school-based assistance and individual support services, together directly at the school level and, in doing so, strengthen multidisciplinary teams in a sustainable way.

There is broad consensus among policymakers and experts that the education system faces major challenges and must evolve to ensure equitable access to education and participation for all children and young people over the long term. Schools, youth services, and disability support services need to be structured more consistently around the needs of children. Achieving this requires closer collaboration across existing system boundaries and a willingness to overcome historically entrenched divisions of responsibility.

However, there is still little clarity on how such cross-sector collaboration can be successfully implemented in practice. This is where Education Under One Roof comes in. Rather than discussing reforms in theory alone, the State of Schleswig-Holstein and three municipalities are testing concrete and innovative approaches to better integrate education and participation at school, making support systems more responsive to students’ needs and improving overall quality.

The Robert Bosch Stiftung and Deutsche Telekom Stiftung are supporting the initiative over a three-year period, from 2026 to 2029. Their support includes assistance with the design and implementation of the pilot projects, funding for academic evaluation, and the transfer of lessons learned to other municipalities and federal states across Germany.

The goal of the initiative is to strengthen systemic support structures and foster cross-sector collaboration directly at schools. By doing so, it seeks to improve cooperation within multidisciplinary teams.To achieve this, the pilot projects bring together the management and responsibility for different professional groups within new governance models. This includes developing systemic solutions for school-based assistance and individual support services. The result is integrated learning and living environments in which education, care, and support are closely connected.

At the same time, schools are given greater autonomy so they can respond more flexibly and effectively to individual needs. Insights gained from both practical implementation and academic evaluation will also help inform a broader rollout across the state.

The pilot initiative is being implemented in the districts of Dithmarschen and Pinneberg, as well as in the state capital of Kiel. Within their respective areas of responsibility, the participating municipalities are developing and implementing innovative approaches based on a shared framework developed by the state government and the municipal umbrella organizations.

Implementation will begin in the 2026/27 school year and will be expanded gradually. Each model will be tested over the course of two full school years. An ongoing formative evaluation will provide participating stakeholders with feedback and insights throughout the implementation process. The final evaluation report is scheduled for publication in 2029