The article describes how the iPIPS instrument was used to measure the school-entry ability of first-graders and their academic progress over the course of their first year in school in the city of Sevastopol. This study provided a source of objective information for making considered policy decisions in the education sector. We present the…

This article, which is based on an analysis of historiography and historical sources, attempts to historically reconstruct the initial plan for out-of-school education in the Soviet Union that was to be carried out by the leaders of the People's Commissariat for Education. We argue that there were two independent projects: one for out-of-school…

This article characterizes the changes that occurred and are occurring in the didactics of primary school as an effect of L.S. Vygotsky's psychological ideas. It underscores the characteristic features of the step-by-step convergence of psychology and pedagogy and discloses the reasons psychological knowledge is not used sufficiently to organize…

The purpose of this article is to analyze Soviet school codes as part of a continuous tradition in Russian education and as a way of arriving at a portrait of Soviet schoolchildren. The article is divided into two parts. The first part provides a brief historical overview of the codes of conduct in prerevolutionary and Soviet school policy and…

This article explores "comparison" as a universal metasubject learning action, a key curricular element envisaged by the Russian Federal State Educational Standards. Representing the modern learner's fundamental pragmatic skill embedding such core capacities as information processing, critical thinking, robust decision-making, and…

The article explores Soviet schooling in the occupied territory of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. The author considers such issues as the reduction in the number of schools, changes in curricular content, and problems in the organization of schooling and the work of teachers. The article notes the effects of various factors on the…

We present the results of a longitudinal study of the formation of graphomotor skills in elementary school children between the ages of seven and nine (students in the first and second grades). Patterns in how the skills under investigation develop in normal children and those with learning disabilities were revealed using a computerized survey of…

D. Elkonin's thesis that thinking is much more closely related to writing than to oral speech formed the basis of our three-year formative experiment at the elementary school level. In order to test this idea, second-graders through fourth-graders were given a few assignments in which they were asked to exchange thoughts in writing with their…

This article examines key lessons learned by Russia while developing national assessment system in education. It shows that reforms are more likely to succeed backed with sustained political support, clearly defined goals or priorities, gradual introduction, and open discussion with stakeholders. [This article was translated by Lucy Gunderson.]

The present article treats changes in the learning environment of contemporary children as exacerbation of the "childhood crisis." We believe that new research in the field of developmental psychology is required in order to apply cultural-historical theory to new data. The article presents two studies: one of them considers a preschool…

Primary education in Russia has failed to adapt to the needs of post-Soviet society, and is still based on rote learning and memorization instead of learning through discovery and learning to use and apply what is learned.

Recent changes to the budgetary basis of schools in Russia has received a mixed response from parents, with a variety of views on whether the quality of education is being improved. Reductions in state support for preschool education raises questions about the ability of less affluent parents to prepare their children for first grade. Perhaps more…

Data from surveys of parents of students in Russian schools of various types in the years 2006 to 2011 show a high level of desire to invest in their children's education. There has been a high degree of stability in aspirations and investment in spite of the economic problems caused by global recession.

In presenting the basic data of the article the authors note that the topic itself, the sociology of the school grade, is determined by the overall context of timely and relevant issues that have to do with rating the success of the educational process. In the past few years the array of problems relating to educational evaluation has been studied…