The elusiveness of the common school in Austria. PISA, politics and the survival of selection in a conservative regime

This article investigates the failure of introducing comprehensive schooling in Austria, one of few ‘conservative’ outliers in the European post-war reform trend where early selection survived reform attempts in the 1970s. In particular, the focus is on the most recent attempt to postpone tracking from the age of 10–14 in the wake of Austria’s ‘PISA-shock’ in the 2000s. Based on in-depth process tracing and drawing on interviews and documentary sources this article examines the nuances of contemporary politics of comprehensive schooling reforms, assessing the interplay between PISA and long-standing reform barriers, the ambivalence of political parties in comprehensive schooling reforms and the role of policy feedback effects on broader societal support for reform.