Projects 2018

Center of Fundamental Studies project "Characteristics of schools and teachers, educational outcomes of students and choice of educational trajectories in the context of social inequality"

Heads: Zakharov A., Carnoy M.

Direction 1. Analysis of potential mechanisms for the reproduction of social inequality in the education system

One of the key tasks of educational policy in developed countries in recent years is to reduce the inequality of educational opportunities for students from different social groups. Social inequality in education can be reproduced, first of all, through the non-random distribution of students along educational trajectories. Educational trajectories, in turn, are associated with differences in access to educational resources and largely determine both the educational outcomes of children in school and further life chances and opportunities for social mobility.

Tasks: to describe the mechanisms that mediate the relationship between social background and academic achievement of students in school; to analyze the factors of high academic performance and choice of educational trajectories of students with low social origin; to describe regional differences in student performance and the relationship between regional characteristics and educational outcomes of students; to identify the mechanisms that mediate the relationship between the socio-economic status of the family and the results of individuals in adult life.

Direction 2. Analysis of the peculiarities of teachers' use of the practice of teaching mathematics as a factor in differentiating the educational results of students

According to the available data, the distribution of students among teachers with different experiences and teaching styles is not accidental but related to the socio-economic situation of families. As a result, teachers can use different teaching practices and, to varying degrees, involve students in the learning process in classes that differ in the social composition of children. A situation of inequality of opportunities for cognitive growth of students can be created due to the consolidation of patterns of communication strategies. All this may indicate the reproduction of social inequality through teaching practices.

Tasks: to analyze the teacher's propensity for routine and its relationship to professional characteristics, used teaching practices and educational results of students; to determine the added value (value-added) of teaching mathematics on the basis of the results of international studies TIMSS, PISA and USE scores; to identify and to describe the practice of involving students in the learning process as a factor in the reproduction of inequality of opportunities for cognitive growth.

Center of Fundamental Studies project "Monetary and non-monetary inequalities in modern societies: the objective state and subjective perception of the population"

Heads: Ovcharova L., Gimpelson V., Shishkin S., Froumin I.

The project describes the inequality of educational opportunities of students, their choice of certain educational trajectories, as well as describes the mechanisms and practices of state policy to reduce inequality in education. Many countries view equality of educational opportunity as an important aspect of the quality of education. However, this has become a topic of discussion in Russia only in the past few years. The data obtained during this time is still quite fragmentary, affects individual levels, and does not describe the entire “map” of educational inequality in the country. The study of inequality in the choice of educational trajectories and the analysis of successful mechanisms of state policy to equalize educational inequality contributes to the development of effective measures aimed at increasing access to quality education for representatives of different social groups.
Within the framework of the project, the Laboratory performed the following tasks: assessment of manifestations of social inequality at different levels of education; comparison of the horizontal differentiation of the higher education system with the differentiation of the social status of different groups of students; analysis of the subjective perception by teachers and school administrators of social differences among students.

Predicting the success of children's education in the primary education system (Grant of the Russian Science Foundation No. 16-18-10401)

Head: Kardanova E.

The academic achievements of students are an important indicator of the effectiveness of schooling, but this is a complex construct that depends on a set of factors of different nature. These factors can be conditionally divided into individual and environmental factors. Individual factors include the student's cognitive abilities, learning skills, motivation, social and personal development. Environmental factors include the characteristics of the family (education level of parents, etc., parenting practices, involvement), and schools (attitudes and pedagogical practices of teachers, school resources, class composition, etc.). Identifying the role of each of these factors separately and their interaction for the success of learning is especially important at the "critical" moments of school education, one of which is the period of education in primary school.
The goal of this project is to predict the success of learning in order to provide schoolchildren and teachers with the necessary support in time, thereby increasing their achievements.
Within the framework of the project, the Laboratory performs the following tasks: analysis of differences in the involvement of parents with different levels of cultural capital in teaching children to read and the relationship of students' reading literacy with the cultural capital of the family and parental involvement in teaching reading; assessment of the relationship of school factors (characteristics of teachers and teaching practices) with the reading literacy of children from families with different cultural capital.