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International Laboratory for Evaluation of Practices and Innovations in Education

 

Promoting an evidence-based approach to the use of EdTech in education and researching the digital divide

 

Projects 2016

Project with the Department of Education of Moscow city "Identifying Potential Ways to Improve PISA Results Based on International and Russian Experience"

Head: A.B. Zakharov

Goal: identifying potential mechanisms to improve the results of PISA (international monitoring of the quality of education) of 15-year-old students.

Direction 1. Determination of the specific general cognitive and subject deficits of Moscow PUPils that reduce their success in PISA.
We described the skills that PISA assignments are aimed at assessing. The general cognitive and substantive deficiencies of Moscow pupils in math have been identified and described, and a list of skills has been formed that require special support from methodologists and teachers to successfully solve PISA problems. According to the data obtained in a series of experimental studies, the main difficulties that Moscow schoolchildren experience when solving PISA tasks is that the context of everyday life is not perceived by students as suitable for applying mathematical knowledge. General recommendations are given to methodologists, authors of textbooks, teachers, regarding the strategy of building educational activities with modeling.
Direction 2. Analysis of video recordings of maths lessons in grades 9 and analysis of interviews with mathematics teachers to describe the existing practice of using word problems in PISA format in the classroom
The analysis of videos of 25 lessons of algebra and geometry in grades 8 and 9 was carried out. The analysis was carried out according to the following parameters: the topic of lessons, the structure of lessons and rationality of the time used; used equipment and information support; types and forms of student activities in the classroom; place, content, and applied nature of the tasks being solved. The results show that in math lessons in secondary school, teachers in most cases use pseudo-applied tasks: text, plot tasks, the condition of which has already been actually translated into mathematical language. In addition, the formulations of most of the applied tasks were standard and familiar for students, and also assumed the use of a familiar solution algorithm. In addition, an analysis of the attitudes of math teachers was carried out on the empirical material of 28 interviews. According to the interviews, in the minds of math teachers, applied problems play a secondary and auxiliary role in relation to the main theoretical material in mathematics.
Direction 3. Analysis of interviews with principals and head teachers of schools in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia), which significantly strengthened their positions in the PISA test from 2006 to 2012, studying the experience of reorganizing the areas of work of Russian-language schools in these two countries
The analysis of a series of in-depth interviews with principals and head teachers of Russian-language schools in Estonia (seven schools) and Latvia (six schools) was carried out. Based on the analysis of the interviews, a description of the experience of reorganizing the areas of work of the school was prepared, which, according to the interviewed informants, make it possible to improve the results in the PISA test. First, it is the inclusion of a significant number of "PISA style" problems and more non-textual information in textbooks and classroom work, including various graphs and tables. Secondly, the intensification of the development of functional reading skills. Thirdly, the transition to the increasing use of the practice of formative assessment and individualization of learning, taking into account the interests and abilities of students. Fourth, conducting lessons on certain topics outside of school - attending thematic classes in museums, parks, industrial facilities, on excursions. Finally, the use of active learning approaches, group work within individual lessons and participation in interdisciplinary projects.
Direction 4. Description of teaching methods that will contribute to the further transfer of the studied material and acquired subject knowledge into a new context, including the context of real life
Based on the analysis of the results of foreign and Russian studies (more than 60), the concepts of modeling and transferring are compared, explaining the application of the studied in new situations. The psychological processes involved in the application of knowledge in a new situation are described. The methodological teaching methods that help students apply the studied mathematical concepts in new contexts are analyzed. Research review has shown that the analysis of the structure of the problem, and the comparison of problem models, data in different "representation" systems, are considered as key actions for the successful application of knowledge.
Direction 5. Comparative analysis of the results of PISA 2012 and Unified State Exam 2014 of Moscow and Russian students based on the data of the longitudinal study "Trajectories in education and profession"
The analysis was carried out taking into account the characteristics of the economic (level of material well-being) and cultural capital of the family (the level of education of the mother, the frequency of communication at home in Russian, the number of books at home). It was revealed that the advantage of Moscow students in educational results in mathematics is largely due to differences in the above characteristics of students.
Direction 6. Comparative analysis of the characteristics of the educational process and teachers in schools in Moscow and the Russian Federation - participants in the longitudinal study "Trajectories in education and profession"
On the basis of the data of the longitudinal study "Trajectories in education and profession", the characteristics of the educational process and teachers in schools in Moscow and the Russian Federation are compared. The characteristics of teachers and the educational process are described, which differ significantly in schools in Moscow and other large cities of the Russian Federation. Students in Moscow schools are more likely to report that their teachers are good class managers and less likely to be student-oriented. Also, teachers in Moscow schools devote less time in the classroom to tasks not related to the State Final Exam, more often have the highest category and differ from teachers in non-Moscow schools in their specialty. These characteristics are significantly related to the student's math score. Some characteristics showed a fairly strong relationship with student performance but did not show statistically significant differences between schools in Moscow and other large cities of the Russian Federation. These include the frequency of organizing work with the whole class and the cultural capital of a teacher. The analysis did not show that the differences in the results of students in schools in Moscow and other cities of the Russian Federation are due to differences in the characteristics of the educational process or teachers.
Direction 7. Conducting a seminar with teachers of maths and staff of methodological associations
The seminar "Practices of teaching maths that contribute to the improvement of PISA results" was held in the framework of the international conference "20 years of Russia's participation in international studies of the quality of general education." The seminar was attended by teachers of mathematics and methodologists.

Project with the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science "In-depth analysis of the results of Russia in international studies of the quality of general education to improve the content, technologies and organizational forms of general education"

Head: A.B. Zakharov

Goal: conducting an in-depth analysis of the results of the Russian Federation in international surveys of the quality of school education

As a result of work (a), the types of mathematical tasks that are the most difficult and easiest for Russian students were identified, (b) the territorial and social inequality of student results in TIMSS and PISA was analyzed in international comparison in dynamics for the 2000s, (c) the content was correlated Russian work programs in algebra and geometry for grades 8 and 9 with the content of the TIMSS and PISA tests, (d) the differences in the content and form of tasks in the TIMSS grades 8, PISA and OGE tests in mathematics are described, (e) the characteristics and practices of teachers are analyzed, related to the results of Russian students in TIMSS and PISA, (f) based on the analysis and review of relevant literature, a program was developed for further in-depth and additional analysis of the results of international studies of the quality of general education to improve the content, technologies and organizational forms of general education.

Center of Fundamental Studies project "Factors of education quality, educational outcomes and social inequality"

Heads: M. Karnoy, I. D. Froumin

Goals: detailed in-depth analysis of the life of a Russian general education school; to identify the main similarities and differences in the characteristics of teachers of general education disciplines used by them in educational practices in general education and professional educational organizations; to expand understanding of how inequality in education is reproduced / not reproduced at the intersection of social positions and educational practices; to evaluate the peculiarities of the choice of an educational institution and specialty by students with different levels of development of mathematical constructs (interest, self-esteem, anxiety) and the peculiarities of the development of these constructs in high school and during their studies at a university

Direction 1. Analysis of the life of the Russian general education school. Characteristics of teachers of general education disciplines used by them in educational practices in general education and professional educational organizations
The factors associated with the positioning of schools are highlighted and described, among which are the characteristics that largely depend on the school administration (ideals of the principal and the style of his leadership, the hierarchy of relations in the school, the specifics of managing the educational process, the distribution of roles and responsibilities between the principal and the head teachers, school traditions ), as well as features of the environment (school size, sociocultural characteristics of the contingent). The main educational metaphors used by the school administration and defining positioning are analyzed: market (school as a service provider), functional (school as part of the educational system), institutionalist (school as a social institution). Based on the orientation towards various goals, resources and actors, four types of positioning are identified and described: competitive schools, conformal schools, good (friendly, atmospheric) schools, socio-cultural centers. In addition, the content and types of interaction between the school and the family are described. The areas of the most common interaction (sponsorship and economic assistance, organization of events, assistance in monitoring children) and the most rare interaction (participation of parents in the distribution of incentive payments to teachers, drawing up a curriculum, drawing up a school development plan) are highlighted.
The features of the use of teaching practices in mathematics lessons in high school are analyzed. The most common format for demonstrating the connection between mathematics and life is highlighted - word problems borrowed from the control and measuring materials of the Compulsory State Exam and the Unified State Exam. The features of building interdisciplinary connections in mathematics lessons are described (predominant focus on physics, construction and design; the predominance of speculative structures and connections, the absence of reference to the personal life experience of students).
The difference between the characteristics of teachers and the characteristics of the educational process in professional educational institutions and general education schools is analyzed. It is shown that a student, in comparison with a student of a secondary school, is more likely to learn mathematics from a teacher who is more experienced, with a large cultural capital, who more often uses constructivist practices than a student of a secondary school. Students more often describe the events of everyday life in mathematical language, apply mathematical rules to solve life problems, and more often work with USE tasks, while college students are more likely to train to solve standard problems. In colleges, students are more often divided into groups depending on their level of training, they are more likely to do project work. It was revealed that unequal access of students to educational resources in schools is more pronounced than in professional institutions.
Direction 2. Inequality in education at the intersection of social positions and educational practices
The relationship between income and attitudes towards work with educational practices and educational outcomes has been analyzed. It is shown that educational results in the form of the level of completed formal education, as well as participation in additional education programs and intensive search for information on the Internet for self-development tasks as a socio-cultural practice are positively associated with subsequent wages and overall job satisfaction. The level of education received and the Internet activity to search for information are also associated with satisfaction with working conditions. It was revealed that the nature of the detected connection is heterogeneous and depends on the material security of the respondents.
The types of general education institutions working with students from families with low socioeconomic status (resilient schools, nests of resilience and non-resilient schools) are described. The factors associated with resilience - increased academic performance of students from families with low SEP were analyzed. On an individual level, this is an attitude towards the school and the subject. Among the school factors, the teacher's expectations in the student's opinion, the peer effect, and the increased status of the school are highlighted. The relationship of these factors with the academic achievements of students is assessed.
On the basis of Russian data, the primary (indirect, through students' academic achievements) and secondary (direct) effects of cultural capital on the choice of educational trajectory by students after the 9th grade were assessed. Differences in the mechanisms of inequality of access to grade 10 operating in regular and selective schools were revealed. Gender inequality is described.
Direction 3. Features of the choice of an educational institution and specialty by students with different levels of development of mathematical constructs (interest, self-esteem, anxiety)
As a result of the analysis, the model of interaction between mathematical achievement, interest, anxiety and self-esteem was refined. It was revealed that by the end of secondary school girls have lower indicators in understanding the importance and necessity of studying in mathematics and mathematical self-assessment. Moreover, these differences between boys and girls increase from 8th to 9th grade. Instrumental motivation has a significant negative effect on further mathematical achievement in the control of self-esteem and motivation only for girls, which may be associated with an increase in mathematical anxiety. On the other hand, it is possible that instrumental motivation has an indirect effect on mathematical achievement. The unexpected results also include the fact that mathematical interest is not associated with mathematical achievements. It is possible that mathematical interest may not have a direct effect, but an indirect effect.
Analysis of motivation in choosing various specialties showed that girls, for whom interest is important when choosing a specialty, do not choose engineering specialties. Also, girls studying in these specialties rate their learning experience lower than boys and than girls studying in other specialties.