Hauptschule

The main aim of Hauptschulen is to offer young students with average grades or below, most of whom will not attend a university, an adequate general academic education.

Subjects taught at a Hauptschule also include mathematics, physics/chemistry, biology, geography, history, religion (or another elective class), music, art, politics, sport and language.

The "youth welfare office" may also cover the costs of the student attending a private Hauptschule.

Stereotypes of dysfunctional family backgrounds, absent and/or unemployed parents and domestic violence and alcohol abuse are often cited when describing what is believed to be the typical social origin of these students.

Teachers often complain about ongoing difficulties in trying to properly educate them and parents refusing to take responsibility.

Moreover, and based on these problems, in some areas it has become very hard for Hauptschule graduates to find qualified work or begin an apprenticeship, even in professions which traditionally welcomed them and in some areas have now shifted their focus to better qualified applicants, e.g. mechanics, construction or sales.

In some areas, an overwhelming majority of each graduating class is therefore forced to accept low-paying unskilled labor or live on welfare indefinitely; many choose to stay in school for another year to obtain their diploma, which slightly, but not fundamentally, improves their career prospects.

The letter stated: Baumert, Stanat and Watermann did a report on so-called "problem schools" in 2000.

The graduation certificate is the Hauptschulabschluss, which like the assignment to other types of high schools is less valuable than the Realschulabschluss or university-bound Abitur.

Nowadays, all eastern German states offer some kind of "Intermediate School" (which may be called Regelschule, Mittelschule, or Regionale Schule).

Although Marc Tucker of the NCEE designed the Certificate of Initial Mastery around the German education model, most US states expect all students to meet one high passing standard, and tests are used to ensure success for all rather than sorting between types of high schools.

High school is mandatory until the age of 17–18 in most states, but those who leave before receiving a diploma are considered to be dropouts with a dismal future.

Students who do not pass the tests will receive no diploma or alternate documents that indicate that they do not meet the state's minimum standards for graduation.