The article discusses how to determine the new education results that would satisfy the demands of the economy and society. The authors consider the principles needed to create new education standards. The notions of competence, key competence and professional competence are introduced. The article reviews the international practice of using key competences as education results. The authors suggest a system evaluating the education results based on the competence.

The article presents the results of a joint analysis of the labor market and the education system. It shows that the existing market structure is not appropriate for the tendencies to the innovative economy development. The authors have developed a scenario for the economics higher education in Russia. They make the following forecast: the complete saturation of the market by economists and managers will occur by 2010, then a decline of the market will follow, and the equilibrium will be achieved by 2015.

The article argues for the necessity of the development of independent socioprofessional systemic accreditation in the education sphere. The difference between such system and governmental accreditation is discussed. Its role in the education quality assessment is considered. The authors review the steps already taken in order to create the institution of independent accreditation, and formulate the remaining problems.

The article presents an analysis of work values and norms as presented in primary school textbooks. The latter function as a socialization channel in the education sphere. The author relates the specifics of work values and norms represented by textbooks to the socioeconomic and ideological situation in the society. The transformation of the education canon from the late Soviet time till present is considered. The article discusses changes in prestige of work as such and in some work values, in particular, achievement norms and motivation. The mechanisms shaping the content of textbooks are compared with the processes of canon creation in children literature.

Hanushek E.A., Woßmann L. The Role of Education Quality in Economic Growth: World Bank Policy Research WP. 2007. N 4122 (Translated from English by E. Pokatovich)

The state-supported .traditional. system of professional training cannot meet the real demands of the industry and the job market. Its alternative, the corporative training, maximally meets employers. demands and can be easily transferred closer to the workforce location. The article describes the specifics of the Russian corporative training, its perspectives and relations with state education institutions.

The article describes the author's mode of health as a sociocultural entity in the personality structure. It shows specific conceptual traits of changes in child.s perception of his or her health and psychophysiological capabilities in the course of maturing and gaining the subjective reality. According to the suggested model, the author introduces and describes the concept of .health-forming education.. The necessity to introduce health-forming elements into the general education structure is argued for.

The article describes the perspectives and directions of educational and labor force management policies that are necessary in order to develop the social partnership that would increase the quality of workers. training and introduce systematic changes in the professional training. It is shown that the development of the partnership is blocked by a number of socioeconomical, legal and sociocultural factors.

The article considers issues relating to the practical organization of education quality monitoring in the regions. The study is based on the results of the six year long monitoring of the Unified State Exam in 13 school subjects. The author shows the possibility to use the results of independent measurements of individual achievements in the education quality management. A model of education quality increasing system is described. This model was practically tested in educational institutions of Sakha Republic (Yakutia).

Christie H., Munro M. The Logic of Loans: Students’ Perseptions of the Costs and Benefits of the Student Loan // British Journal of Sociology of Education. 2003. Vol. 24. N 5.

Translated from English by A. Pinskaya

Comments by I. A. Prakhov

To the memory of A. A. Pinsky

Issues Discussed: the changes in the Russian school education during the last academic year; the tendencies discernible behind these changes; what new problems have appeared in the education; changes to be expected next year. 

The article critically analyzes the attempts to rate the regional education systems. It is shown that rating procedures can be used only in a very narrow segment of the education sphere. The authors consider the issues of the quality of raw data and data analysis techniques necessary to obtain high-quality management information. The adequacy of conclusions and of estimates based on numerical data analysis is discussed. The authors present specific suggestions on the use of rating procedures in the education sphere and in the advanced research. That would largely help to provide the necessary information for managing these spheres.

Comments by N.V. Kovaleva

On the elaboration of a rating regional system by indicators of education development. 

The article presents the results of a sociological survey conducted in 53 colleges in 19 cities of the Volga Federal District among 4th and 5th year college students. The author investigates the influence of psychological factors (e.g. motivation) and external social circumstances on the quality of study. The factors under scrutiny include whether the student has to pay the tuition, the type of college (state-owned or private), motivation for acquiring professional skills and the interest to the future profession. 

The development of regional systems of continuous education is becoming a priority of the educational policy. This is a demand of the modernization: a functionalist principle .one education for the whole life. is being replaced by the principle of .lifelong learning. that affirms the worth of independent education activities, individualization of education trajectories, and a flexible relationship between the education system and the job market. The article presents the results of study performed by the Russian Government.s Center for Monitoring of Human Resources in Spring 2006. The aim of the study was to diagnose processes of the development of regional systems of continuous education in two pilot regions: the Voronezh region and the Chuvash Republic.

The article continues to acquaint the readers with the results of a study on the regional and municipal models of education policy. The authors use the data collected in 4 regions of the Russia, namely, in the Yaroslavl, the Tver and the Samara regions, and in the Chuvash Republic. The analysis of the data showed the existence of two most common models of restructuring of school networks, namely the creation of basic schools and their branches in rural areas, and the creation of specialized schools in urban areas. The article describes three models of education policy in the regions, namely, the liberal policy, the social policy, and the centralized policy. They are characterized by different degrees of reliance on economical and administrative mechanisms. The authors show that the choice of the model is mostly affected by three factors: the model of management used on the regional level, the specifics of a settlement, and the personality of the manager.

Compiled by E.N. Penskaya

Compiled by A.N. Ryzhov.

Editorial and translated book review: 
Eagleton T. I Contain Multitudes // London Review Bookshop. 2007. Vol. 29. N 12 (пер. с англ. И. Фридмана) 
On "Mikhail Bakhtin: The Word in the World" by Graham Pechey. Routledge, 2007. 

A review of books published by the HSE Publishing House.