EVALUATION IN SOVIET SCHOOLS
R.A. ABULKHANOV, M. F. KALPAKOV & V.M. GALUSHIN
National Council of Educational Research and training Department of Science Education New Delhi November 19, 1970
1. INTRODUCTION Comparative studies of education in various countries are now widely being used in the attempts to establish the relevance of speci- fic educational development experience in conditions characteristic of other countries.
It is, therefore, only natural that a large share of educational research in the West and elsewhere is focused on the working of the Soviet system of education.
A careful reader of such research will, however, often notice a major flaw even among the most reliable books and papers on the subject whether it is a study of the system as a whole or of a particular aspect or problem.
This flaw is the failure to view the matter in historical perspective.
To illustrate this with one example:
The Soviet Union, as is well known, has inherited a hard legacy from the former Russian Empire. On the eve of the October Revolution, over two-thirds of the country's population were illiterate. Illiteracy among the national minorities was even higher, namely 98-99 p.c. The leading capitalist powers, on the other hand, had introduced compulsory primary education as early as the 19th century and had achieved full literacy by the time when the world's first socialist state just started overcoming the cultural backwardness. However, many Western specialists in comparative education overlook this circumstance and compare educational data on different countries neglecting the specific historical conditions of their development.
Conclusions and recommendations made on the basis of such "comparisons" distort the reality, particularly when educational sys- tems of capitalist and socialist or those of capitalist and developing nations are being mechanically compared.
One, therefore, will be well-advised not to forget about this tendency and to treat such conclusions cautiously.
This warning is equally valid when more specific problems, such
2
as evaluation, are concerned. It would be wrong to judge on the merits and de-merits of a system of evaluation being used in a parti- cular country only by, say, the number of computers utilized to eva- luate students' performance or by the extent to which standardized "objective" tests are practiced. Rather, the effect of a system of evaluation should be assessed by the extent to which it meets the pre- sent day requirement of a given system of education.
II. EVALUATION IN SOVIET SCHOOLS
1. Background and Approach It is in the light of the above remarks that evaluation in Soviet schools should be viewed.
Though Soviet educators, following the traditional approach of progressive Russian pedagogues have always assigned evaluation an important role in school education, there have been times when the traditional objectives and methods of evaluation were considerably "de-emphasised."
Thus, in the first post-revolutionary years, the immense task to make education accessible to tells of millions of people temporarily diminished the importance of evaluation for placement and promotion of students. Moreover, in those days promotion of students was often decided by student note on the basis of social criteria rather than academic performance.
On the other hand, this partial departure from traditional evaluation was the result of a large-scale experimentation in pedagogics which was stimulated by the need to replace the old by the new.
It is only natural that many of the innovations-both homemade and borrowed from abroad-let alone such extremes as promotion by student vote, were short-lived.
Some were rejected as incompatible with the proclaimed goals in education or as merely unnecessary. For example, ability testing and, particularly, the "streaming" of children on the IQ basis have never been popular with Soviet educators as aimed at social selection.
We shall, therefore, confine ourselves only to the discussion of the second of the two broad categories of evaluation, namely achieve- ment evaluation.
3
2. Main forms of evaluation in Soviet Schools Among the many possible and practicable forms of achievement assessment current assessment and examinations are the most widely used. In their turn, either may be oral or written.
(a) Current assessment Current assessment of the student's performance begins actually from the very first day of his school life.
Ordinarily, the teacher calls up to the front of the class 1 to 4 students at almost each lesson to review the home assignment or past material in general. As none of the students of the class know in advance which of them will be called they all have to be prepared and alert. In practice, however, the teacher attempts to call up students more or less evenly.
The rest of the class are encouraged to volunteer their correc- tions and opinions. Those who show a deep knowledge of material or are particularly active are allotted marks though normally only those who have been answering in front of the class are supposed to be formally assessed by means of marks.
The teacher sums up the students' answers indicating the weak points and the strong points. This helps the class to realize what was the best way to interpret the material of the home assignment and avoid making similar mistakes in future. In short, current assessment in oral form plays a highly stimulating role in the instruction helping students to gradually and systematically improve their knowledge and learning skills.
It is not only the knowledge of facts which is assessed though recall of knowledge is not ignored. An important feature of current assessment is that it provides an opportunity to simultaneously deve- lop students' creative thinking, arouse interest in the subject and develop persistence in learning it.
Unlike oral assessment, assignments to be done in written form, the so-called "control work" usually cover more material and are given monthly and bi-monthly. These, as well as papers covering a term, a semester, or a whole year, are prepared by the respective teachers and assessed by them.
In science and mathematics "objective" type questions are coming into use while essay-type tests are predominant in social sciences, languages and literature,
4
Though the results of these tests do not essentially affect the student's final mark in a subject, they are considered important "watersheds" and are closely analysed by teachers, school management and education boards. A lesson or two are devoted to a thorough discussion of the results with the students.
Written tests enable the teacher to obtain a more or less true picture of his students' achievements. The results of such tests show to what portions of material more attention should have been given, and make it possible to correct the initial plans of work.
On the other hand, a detailed analysis of the work helps the students to realize their mistakes and concentrate on the sections of the course which might have been studied insufficiently.
Marking
The system of marking the student's performance is rather simple. It is a five-mark system, the mark "one" being the lowest while the "five" being the highest. The lowest mark is however, used very seldom. The "3", roughly corresponding to "fair", is the pass mark.
At the end of a term (or semester in classes 9 and 10) integrated marks are alloted on the basis of marks for current work and written tests.
In turn, these terminal (or semestral) integrated marks are used- in classes 1 to 7 and 9-for the allotment of one final integrated mark for the student's work during the whole academic year.
All students with marks above "two" are promoted. Students with 1 to 2 integrated final marks below pass are also promoted but on condition that they show better results when they have another chance. Ordinarily, such students get assignments for the summer months and what they have done is checked up on the eve of the new school year. However, it is not that the school completely estranges itself from assisting such students: summer consultations are organized and, usually teachers guide them in their review of the course.
In short, every facility is created to help such students to catch up with their class-mates.
One would perhaps argue that all this means an additional burden laid upon the teacher. It is, however, necessary to bear in mind
5
that current assessment enables both the teacher (and his students) to forsee, to a large extent, the possible pitfalls for the weaker student.
In this way, the possible number of failures is greatly reduced. This is not to say that this system of Current Assessment is practicable in all cases. In an educational system built on the principle of streaming it will, indeed, be an additional headache. But in a system such as the Soviet system of education which, fundamentally, is against streaming at the general school stage such practices seem to be useful. In any case the persistence and encouragement on the part of the teachers and school as a whole and the cooperation of the parents ensure that most of the students do study well and acquire a sound basic knowledge and develop necessary skills. It will be perhaps appropriate to emphasise here the one central difference between the educational systems in the Soviet Union and the West. The former attempts to provide to all school children a high-standard education irrespective of their future plans, the latter, despite the advantages it may have, inevitably tends to leave a large part of school students without a sound knowledge of either the exact sciences or the arts.
On the other hand, one would hardly claim that a hundred p.c. success could be achieved even with the most competent teachers and the most cooperating students. This means that though, given the rising standards of living, the number of drop-outs for reason unrela- ted to academic performance is at present practically nil, the number of "repeaters" is still rather high, viz., 3 to 5 p.c. of the total enrolment.
In this category, students with three or more "bad" final marks for the year account for about 80 p.c., students left in the same class for health reasons for about 15 and others for about 5 p.c.
(b) Examinations An important form of evaluation of students' achievement remains the examination. *1
At present examinations are held only twice-at the end of the 8th and 10th years of schooling.
1. Few, perhaps, know that in the first years after the 1917 revolution, there were no examinations in Soviet schools at all: they were abolished by a government decree. In later years, on the other hand, students were to take examinations in almost each subject they studied.
6
Both the inter-stage exam-in class 8-and the exam for the G.C.E. are important events in Soviet school life though the system is not examination-oriented as it may be the case in other countries.
The subjects in which examinations are held (in oral and written form) are given in the following table.
TABLE
Examinations in Soviet Schools*
Subject class 8 class 10 Total
Oral Written Oral Written number
Mathematics + + - - 2
Algebra and Tri-
gonometry - - - + 1
Geometry - - + - 1
Physics - - + - 1
Chemistry - - + - 1
Russian language + + - - 2
Russian language
and literature - - - + 1
History & Social
Science - - + - 1
Foreign language - - + - 1
Total 2 2 5 2 11
* In national republics where there are also schools with local languages as the medium of instruction students are also examined in the mother tongue and literature.
At oral examinations, students choose one from 25 to 35 so-called examination tickets which contain three or two questions. The questions are constructed by the Union Ministry of Education *2 and are circulated among schools about two months before the examinations are due. *3
Both examinations are internal examinations though officials of Education Boards, students committees and representatives of public
2. Except for tickets on the mother tongue and literature which are constructed by Education Ministries of Union or autonomous re- publics. 3. For the reader's easy reference samples of examination tickets in various subjects for the G.C.E. in the 1969/70 school year are given in Appendix (translated into English).
7
organizations such as the Young Communist League etc., are often present at the examinations.
However, the assessment is done either solely by the class tea- cher, who is normally the examiner, or by a committee of two teachers of the same subject. The latter case is a common practice in assessment in examinations for the G.C.E.
As one might have already guessed, current assessment as viewed in Soviet Schools ensures that examinations alone do not play the decisive role in the total assessment of the student's performance in school. Therefore, no sudden failure (or display of brightness for that matter) is usually expected.
The examiner is entitled to allow, in contradictory cases, Me candidate to have another go, or to mark the answer taking into ac- count Iris past record.
Students, thus, are not unnecessarily fearful of examinations. At the same time, examinations retain their role as a powerful means by which consolidation of student knowledge is achieved. Again, students themselves are interested in better marks as the weightage informally allotted to examination results is roughly about 30 to 40 p.c. of the final mark entered in the 8-year school certificate and the G.C.E. For the top student each "4" or "5" carried by him in final examinations is of particular significance: gold (or silver) medals *4 are awarded only if he managed to get "5s" or "4s" in all the exams he has taken and provided his final marks are not lower.
(c) New Trends Though, within the scope for which it was intended, the system of evaluation practised in Soviet schools has been adequate, there have in recent years emerged factors calling for a diversification of the system.
Some educators in the U.S.S.R. regard it as overnegligent of the possibilities, particularly in raising the objectivity level, provided by quantitative methods in the form of knowledge testing devices and carefully developed "objective" type questions.
Against, evaluation by impression, in the conditions of an in- creased competition for admission to Universities and other institutes
4. The awardees, other factors being equal, have an edge over other candidates at University admission examinations,
8
of higher learning, is lacking in hard evidence to support the marks given.
Current research in the U.S.S.R. on problems of evaluation con- centrates therefore on attempts to work out best methods of evaluation drawing on world experience and the experience accumulated at home.
In the past 2 to 3 years, the need for an optimal system combin- ing the advantages of various methods of evaluation has increased in view of the currently implemented wide range reform of school educa- tion.
To sum up, it is perhaps appropriate to complete the discussion by quoting what A.I. Markushevich *5 says in a recent article in the journal "Soviet Pedagogics" (September 1970 issue). "The necessity to develop objective criteria is dictated not only by the tasks of today and immediate future but also by what school and pedagogical science will need in a more distant perspective. It is necessary to accumu- late data on assimilation (by pupils) of each subject in the curricu- lum and of various sections in each subject and data on the formation of cognitive abilities of the student, in order to be adequately prepared for the next improvement of the content of secondary education."
NOTE Excerpts from "Guidelines on the tickets for Matriculation Examinations for the G.C.E." and sample tickets (1969-70 school year)
1. Oral examinations for the course of the secondary school in the 1969-70 school year are held in Byelo-Russian literature,* History of the U.S.S.R. and social science, geometry, physics, chemistry and foreign language.
Tickets on Byelo-Russian literature are aimed at checking the
5. A. I. Markushevich, Vice-President, USSR Academy of Peda- gogical Sciences, has been in charge of We high-level committee on whose proposals the decision on the reform was taken.
* Questions are prepared by the Ministry of Education of the Byelo-Russian Republic.
9
knowledge and understanding of questions related to the history of development of Byelo-Russian literature; the knowledge of basic facts of the life and creative work of writers; the knowledge of the literary works which have been studied; the ability to analyse and independent judgement; the ability to express ideas logically, correctly and clearly; to draw conclusions and generalizations; to understand main questions of theory of literature; the ability to see the link between literature and life.