Russia refused to internationally assess students’ knowledge

In Russia, there will no longer be an international study of the quality of teaching mathematics and science at the TIMSS school.

Having participated in the research since 1995, Moscow refused to cooperate in the project, writes Vedomosti, citing the executive director of the association – the organizer of the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement) study, Dirk Hastedt.

The association did not provide the reasons for Moscow’s refusal, advising contact with the FIOKO Institute, which is subordinate to Rosobornadzor, and serves as a center for conducting international research from Russia.

Moscow has suspended its participation in international education quality surveys conducted by the OECD and the IEA “in connection with multilateral sanctions,” said Rosobrnadzor. The Ministry noted that together with the Ministry of Education, we “worked on import substitution” and implemented the possibility of assessing the preparation of students “according to the PISA model” from 2022 without the participation of the OECD.

“Over the past three years, Russian specialists have thoroughly studied this measurement tool and can provide the opportunity to further monitor the education system with a completely similar tool,” the ministry assured.

TIMSS International Study takes place every four years. The last time the knowledge of Russian students was assessed was in 2019. The study assessed and compared the mathematics and science knowledge of 4th and 8th grade students from different countries. Students were also asked to explain their answers and apply what they learned in practice in unfamiliar conditions.

In 2019, almost 8,000 students from 49 regions of Russia took part in the study. Then the head of the Ministry of Education, Sergei Kravtsov, noted the leadership positions of Russian school education and said that basic training is preserved in Russian schools, which forms “skills of the 21st century – soft skills”.

“The study also assessed the socio-economic environment in which students learned, surveyed parents, principals, teachers and students themselves. This made it possible to identify the features of the organization of the educational process that affect the results of students, and correct them if necessary, ”explained a member of the TIMSS international group of experts. in natural sciences since 1995 Galina Kovaleva.

According to her, the rejection of TIMSS will not allow Russia to be compared with the rest of the world in terms of competitiveness of education. However, the participation of the country in this study made it possible to establish a national system for evaluating the quality of education, which is now used by Rosobrnadzor itself, Kovalova noted.

In 2022, Russia suspended participation in another international study – PISA – that assesses the educational achievements of 15-year-old students. This happened in connection with the redirection of funds to support the “national format for evaluating the quality of education,” Rosobrnadzor explained.