The paper is relevant due to the need for amendments and additions to the legislation of the Russian Federation on education and educational activities regarding the development of mechanisms for public participation in managing the quality of general education. The research group of the Institute of Education Management of the Russian Academy of Education, within the framework of the state task, analyzed various aspects of the activity of education management bodies, both directly and indirectly affecting the effectiveness of the system for assessing the quality of general education, the appeals of citizens received by the Department of State Policy in the field of general education. The authors proposed events/models aimed at improving the system for quality assessment of general education. Thus, the chapter focuses on the possibility of developing a system for assessing the quality of general education through state-public participation in the implementation of priority program activities.
Top1. Introduction
The topic of assessing the quality of general (school) education is reflected in many international studies. Among Chinese scholars, the main focus is on methods for assessing the academic achievements of students and the development of forms of research projects (Jung Peng, Thomas, Yang & Li, 2006; Chi-kin Lee, Ding & Song, 2008). Furthermore, there is a focus on the quality of education from the perspective of the teacher’s performance (Maba, Perdata & Astawa, 2017; Kraft et al., 2019; DiPaola & Wagner, 2018; Malunda, Onen, Musaazi & Oonyu, 2016; Du, Yuan, Miao & Wei, 2017). In the system management sense, the quality of education at the level of an educational organization and at the level of management bodies of educational organizations is considered in several works (Elahi & Ilyas, 2019; Cruz, Gálvez & Santaolalla, 2016). Particular attention of Russian researchers is attracted by the works of foreign authors, revealing the mechanisms for incorporating civil-public opinion, feedback, and systems for managing education quality at all levels. These aspects are reflected in the works of J. Brennan, C. Junemann, S. Ball, D. Santori, and others (Brennan, 2017; Junemann, Ball & Santori, 2016).
In Russia, improving the quality of general education is currently an essential task in the education field. The activities of education management bodies are built through its prism at all levels, including federal, regional, municipal, and local. Earlier, the research group of the Institute of Education Management of the Russian Academy of Education, within the framework of the state assignment, analyzed various aspects of the activity of education management bodies, directly and indirectly affecting the increase in the system’s effectiveness for quality assessment. The research group proposed several measures/models aimed at improving it.
Some scholars (A. E. Maron, E. G. Koroleva, I. L. Chayko; M. B. Bakhtin, S. E. Dovbysh, A. A. Arinushkina) consider the quality system of education through improving the professional competencies of bodies of education management and educational organizations. The evolution of norms in the field of assessing the quality of education is presented in the works of I. L. Tchaiko, M. M. Smyslova, N. B. Fomina, S. V. Molchanova et al. (Maron, Koroleva & Chaiko, 2019; Bakhtin, Dovbysh & Arinushkina, 2019; Chaiko & Smyslova, 2019; Fomina & Chaiko, 2019; Molchanov, Kirillov & Molchanova, 2019). The experience of Russian regional practices is presented in the works of A. E. Maron, E. G. Koroleva, I. L. Chayko. Models and mechanisms for assessing the quality of education in Finland, Canada, and Hong Kong in comparative logic are described in the work of T. N. Obukhova (Maron & Koroleva, 2019; Obukhova, 2019).
The analysis of the above studies draws attention to the problem of assessing the quality of school education by both Russian and foreign researchers. These works do not comprehensively and systematically represent solutions to problems in the field of assessing the quality of school education. Studies, as a rule, are narrowly focused on a particular indicator (i.e., students’ academic achievements) that is generalized to the assessment of the quality of education or is used to describe successful practices. However, these are the practices of one educational organization. They are not sufficiently generalized and normatively described and cannot be scaled and transferred to other management levels. The authors proceed from the fact that in Russia, indicators that measure the quality of education at the level of the educational organization to the federal executive body in the field of education were defined at the federal level. However, there remains a problem of insufficient incorporation of feedback from participants in educational relations (namely, the mechanism of civic participation in assessing the quality of school education). In this study, the appeals of citizens (their content) to education management bodies at all levels are considered as feedback indicators.