The article analyzes the implementation of the main directions of the Bologna process in Russia. It evaluates the correspondence between the points awarded by the Monitoring Group for the Russian National Reports in 2007 and 2009, on the one hand, and the level of achievements according to the specific indicators of the Special Federal Program of Education Development in 2006–2010, on the other hand. The author provides data that shed light on the dynamics of participation of Russian universities in the Bologna process, and considers measures taken by other participating countries to implement the postulates of the Bologna declaration and of consequent communiques. For each of the directions, an attempt is made to determine the key obstacles to the introduction of the Bologna process tools in Russia.

The article analyzes the effects of introducing the institute of ranking into the higher education system. The function of ratings is to remedy market failures, to create incentives for competition, and for the efficient choice of education institution by customers. However, the research of the last decade dealing with the influence of ratings on the behavior of universities shows that ratings gained symbolic power in the education service market, by which they provide advantages to certain institutions to the detriment of others. That has created a lack of trusts to ratings and even their boycott by a number of institutions. The consideration of university rankings as a social comparison practice can elucidate the mechanism of influence of ratings on the behavior of universities.

The question in the title of the article is answered on the basis of an analysis of minimal units of substantial interaction of a student and a teacher within two different educational traditions. It is shown that the education system of D.B. Elkonin and V.V. Davydov supports the searching tendencies of students decreasing their motivation to imitate provided examples, while the traditional schooling supports the imitative strategy while diminishing the child’s motivation for independent problem solving activity. That is to say, any education system both enhances and creates obstacles to the psychological development of a child.

Schleicher A. PIAAC: A new strategy for assessing adult competencies // International Review of Education. 2008. Vol. 54. No 5. P. 627–650. 
Перевод любезно предоставлен Московским представительством Всемирного банка. 

An integrated system of quality management at a university includes the modules of strategic management and of management of process quality based on the ISO 9001:2008 standard. That includes the education process, which is decomposed into components having to deal with the planning of graduates’ competences, the development and implementation of the basic curriculum of the university, and the management of the education process on the basis of the European ESG standards, and their external assessment according to international accreditation criteria. As an example, the authors use the integrated system of quality management at the Tomsk polytechnic university.

Investments, in the traditional meaning of this term, can be made only in the sphere of paid education services. The most promising field for them is the market of supplementary professional education. Investments in education by businessmen currently do not constitute a significant source of education funding. That has mainly to do with the legislative regulation of the education sphere. The article analyzes shortcomings of the present legislation and shows why investments are illegal under present Russian conditions, as well as describes desirable changes in particular laws. The author suggests that the new form of autonomous institution could be used to carry out private investments in education provided some minimal legislative support is extended. As a specific tool, the author suggest to use obligations issued by an education institution (for non-governmental education institutions those would be certificates of participation in providing paid education services). Keywords: Private Investments, Non-governmental Education Bodies, Autonomous Institution, paid education services.

The empirical basis of this work is data on school students of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District – Yugra. The author arrive at certain conclusions concerning the influence of the socioeconomic situation of students’ families on education results.

Round Table at HSE, October 6, 2009.

Curricula and syllabi are the basic documents regulating the “correct” functioning of the education process. They assume that a certain amount of material has to be acquired by students in a specific amount of time. The author compares the requirements imposed by these standards on students and teachers, with real conditions under which they should be implemented. The author’s conclusion is that the syllabi, curricula and the corresponding education standard do not correspond to the actual situation in higher education and thus not only do they not serve as working tools but create a system of incentives for breaking existing rules.

On the basis of mostly memoir sources, the article describes the principal stages of home education in families of the Russian nobility, and analyzes curricula and education literature, pedagogical techniques and the system of punishments, the composition of home teacher staff, the role of parents in education, and differences in the education of girls and boys.

The role of community activism in prevention of juvenile delinquency is very significant. It is demonstrated, in particular, by archive materials from late 19th — early 20th. The article describes the principal directions of activity of private citizens working with juvenile delinquents, analyzes the work of congresses of representatives of correctional education institutions, and considers the experience of the Rukavishnikov asylum in Moscow.

Delbanco А. Dreams of better schools // New York Review of Books. 2009. Vol. 56. No 18. November 19 (пер. с англ. М. Янушкевич) http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23377 Reprinted with permission from The New York Review of Books. Copyright © 2009 NYREV, Inc.

The article analyzes the emergence of the market of school literature textbooks in Russia starting from 1990s. In particular, analyzed is the role of competitions of education literature as a means of introducing innovations in humanities education. Their efficiency in various aspects is evaluated. Discussed are results of education publishing reform and the resulting circle of publishing houses and authors producing school literature textbooks.

The article considers the specifics of the gymnasium and lyceum education. The emergence of first gymnasiums in this country about twenty years ago signified the relinquishing of the uniform schooling principle and the creation of a diversified education space. Building on an idea of several levels of learning material acquisition: the nonspecialized, the basic, the specialized, and the more profound, the author presents a concept of gymnasium education. Determined are stages in the development of gymnasiums. The future of the gymnasium is discussed in the connection with the necessity to implement the education variability principle and to turn secondary education institutions into an element of the continuous education system. Keywords: gymnasiums, lyceums, variability of education, social demand, specialized education, universal education, more profound classes, curricula.