The article describes the principal theoretical approaches to the problem of education equality. The author shows that discussions about equality usually start with the question of ensuring equal access to education for a certain social group, but then switch to the question of equal education results. The article also systematizes the pedagogic mechanisms that increase the inequality in education.

The article analyzes the riots experienced by France in the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006. The author juxtaposes traditional «classical» expression of student unrest in Europe and the rioting of suburban thugs. Students’ manifestations are viewed as a legitimate means of expression in a free state and a way for society to influence state decisions, while immigrant riots are considered to be a consequence of serious political miscalculations in policies to immigrants, in the actions of the law enforcement authorities, and in the sphere of education. These mistakes resulted in the emergence of a new social group with their own mentality. The author compares this mentality to that of a «difficult teenager». The author reviews the measures taken by the French authorities to change the situation and compares the situation to that of Russia.

The article analyzes the situation of children with disabilities and of persons with special educational needs in Russia. The author describes the principal measures taken by the authorities in order to ensure the rights and living standards of individuals with physical or mental development problems. Particular attention is paid to the violations of the statedeclared rights to education. It is stressed that the ongoing discrimination of mentally and physically challenged individuals is unacceptable. The reader is invited to learn the author’s opinions on the problems of interaction between general and specialized education, and on the essence of inclusive (integrated) education at the current stage of development of society in general and of the education system of the Russian Federation in particular.

We are publishing chapters from the first part of Pierre Bourdieu’s book in order that our readers could be among the first to become acquainted with one of the most important works in the controversy on education inequality. For Pierre Bourdieu, an outstanding French sociologist of the 20th century, the problem of education inequality was among the most crucial. He considered this inequality not as a separate phenomenon, but rather as a manifestation of the general mechanism of social reproduction. The way this mechanism is realized in the education system is treated in his book Reproduction. Foundations of a theory of education, written with J.-C. Passeron in 1970. This work was practically unknown to Russian researchers. Currently, a Russian translation of this book is being readied for publication by the Prosveshchenie publishers together with the National Foundation for Workforce Training and the Moscow School for Social and Economic Sciences in the series «Education. World Bestsellers.

A complete overview of the controversy about education equality would necessarily include the works of Marxist educators. It turns out that quite a few researchers in Western universities who, having not been vaccinated by classes on «scientific communism», are still trying to use the Marxist approach to analyze the current difficult situation in education. The neo-Marxist strain in Western pedagogical thought is often called critical pedagogy. One of the most prominent representatives of this approach is Peter McLaren, a UCLA professor. His book Life in Schools was published in the mid 1990s. It describes the author’s difficult experiences of teaching at a school in an underprivileged neighborhood in a Canadian city. The book has become extremely popular, partly because the author presented very firmly and lucidly the principal tenents of critical pedagogy. We are publishing a fragment from this book, in order to include an important voice in the controversy on equality. The complete Russian translation of Life in Schools will appear in the series «Education. World Bestsellers» published by the Prosveschenie publishers in cooperation with the National Foundation for Workforce Training and the Moscow School for Social and Economic Sciences.

William J. Smith, Charles Lusthaus. The Nexus of Equality and Quality in Education: A Framework for Debate // Canadian Journal of Education. 1995. V. 20. N 3. PP. 378–391.

This review presents a short history of the international experience in the integration of students with development problems into the general school system. This process is considered in the context of the changes in the attitude to the rights of the people with special educational needs and to their place within society. The author presents statistical data characterizing the situation in different countries in Europe and North America and describes the particular issues of transition to an inclusive education on the example of several countries. The article lists the principal conclusions pertaining to those approaches, that are capable of ensuring the efficiency of education in integrated schools.

The article presents the experience of Samara region in forming an education system in which children with special needs can realize their rights to accessible and quality education, to the choice of an educational institution, and to the choice of the form of education. The article discusses the problems that have been encountered and how they can be overcome, and describes the first results of the new system.

The article describes the efforts of the Chelyabinsk State University (ChSU) to provide access to higher education for the physically handicapped. The university developed and impelemented an integrated education system that allows students with almost any physical disabilities to study.

(Introducing the voucher system in supplementary training of teachers in Kyrghyz Republic: a case study)
A system of supplementary training of teachers was formed in Kyrghyzstan during the Soviet period. It was designed to solve specific problems under a planned economy and an authoritarian system of administration. Modern circumstances demand new political and economical priorities from society, and make certain changes in the education policies of the state necessary. This article describes an attempt to overcome the crisis in the system of supplementary training of teachers. In was necessary to dramatically change the financing mechanism; in particular, a voucher system, which is familiar to Russia, was introduced. Currently the project is still in the experimental stage, but the material amassed since the project had been launched is sufficient to analyze the accumulated experience.

The article is based on the results of research conducted among parents of students and of prospective students of HSE in February-March 2006. Of interest were the specific features of the demand for student loans, the reasons for the refusal to take one, and the conditions of crediting preferred by potential borrowers. The article gives a short review of the issues connected with the development of the student loan system, and contains conclusions and recommendations made on the basis of this investigation.

The Concept of the Reform in the Budget Process in the Russian Federation in 2004–2006 was approved by Resolution 249 of the Government of the Russian Federation «Concerning the measures for the enhancement of the efficiency of budget expenditures» of May 22, 2004. This concept puts forward the problem of enhancing the efficiency of budget expenditures, and new result-oriented methods of budget planning are developed. The article considers two methods of financing that are already being used to a certain extent professional education in the framework of current budget financing. These two methods are providing student loans for the population and subsidizing education in those professions that the state considers especially important. The purpose of the article is to elucidate the possible difficulties in the implementation of these financing mechanisms. It should be mentioned that most of these problems are avoidable and should be considered to be risks that need to be minimized.

The upbringing and education of children with limited abilities has always been an issue that is painful and difficult to discuss. In the Soviet period, it was possible for the education system to provide reasonable education even to children who could not attend regular school. There were Russian traditions, and special education methods, speech therapists and educators who could find a common language with their students. The new time has brought new ideas. More and more is said about inclusive education for children with limited abilities. It is important not only for the children themselves, but also for their parents and classmates. This can become one of the ways of destroying barriers in Russian society. Inclusive education requires new curricula, changes in teachers’ training, new textbooks and supplementary funding. However, the old experience of successful teaching should not be discarded. These and other problems were discussed at a special meeting of the Russian Public Council for the Development of Education. This problem is not purely educational, and it should be solved not only by the education system, but by society as a whole.

Providing access to quality general education is one of the priorities of Russian educational policies. The National Foundation for Workforce Training has launched a monitoring research project to evaluate the accessibility of quality general secondary education in high schools and basic professional training institutions. This research was a part of the joint project «Reform of Education System» of the Science and Education Ministry of the Russian Federation and of the World Bank. The research was carried out by the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Science in 2004–2006. The present article describes the principal results of this research.

The article presents the principal results of research carried out by the Independent Institute of Social Policies in co-operation with the Yury Levada Analytical Center* into the process of differentiation of higher education into mass and elite components. An approach to separating universities and professions into elite and non-elite on the basis of various ratings is proposed. The data from a 2005 all-Russian representative sample survey was used to elucidate the factors that determine the availability of higher education and of elite higher education.

* Решением Минюста РФ Yury Levada Analytical Center (Левада-Центр) включён в реестр некоммерческих организаций, выполняющих функции иностранного агента.

This study deals with the problem of the professional self-determination of senior college students at the threshold of their careers. The article explores the structure of students’ ideas about the reasons for acquiring a higher education and what they expect from their future job. The research was based on the hypothesis that these ideas were in fact interconnected, and it was possible to distinguish groups of students have different «sets» of education strategies. It was also possible to associate the types of education strategies with the resources available to a given student and with his attitude to study. The study presents a new approach to the problem of the adaptation of students on the threshold of the professional career.

The article describes the phenomenon of the Russian grammar school abroad in the period between the two World Wars. It details the emergence, development and decay of grammar schools during the »first wave» of the Russian emigration.

Book review: Kenneth Fee. A Guide to Management Development Techniques: What to Use When (2002)

The Truth About the Colleges (The New York Review of Books. 2005). Translated from English by J. Friedman.