The main stage of the Unified State Exams has started in Russia. It will run from May 28 to July 2.

The first were schoolchildren who need results in geography and computer science.

The Unified State Exam was introduced everywhere nine years ago, but the controversy around this form of passing the final exams at school does not stop to this day.

Who came up with the USE?

The initiator of the implementation of the Unified State Examination in Russia was Vladimir Filippov, who served as Minister of Education from 1999 to 2004. It was under him that the principles of the Unified State Exam in Russia were developed.

The direct creator of the testing system was Vladimir Khlebnikov, the namesake of the great Russian poet. It is interesting to note that it was he who became one of the first critics of this system.

As the head of the Federal Testing Center of Rosobrnadzor, Khlebnikov developed the principles of centralized testing, which was carried out purely voluntarily at the request of students and educational institutions. No budgetary funds were required for this, the results were agreed to be taken into account when screening out applicants about six hundred universities in the country.

According to Vladimir Khlebnikov, this system was in no way suitable as a final attestation after leaving school.

Nevertheless, the system suited the officials, and since 2001, experiments have been carried out to introduce unified state examinations in various regions. Since 2009, the Unified State Exam has become the only form of final exams at school and the main one for admission to universities.

Why was it necessary?

The initiators of the USE introduction were most concerned with two things: to reduce corruption, which flourished in education and was not even particularly hidden, and to create a working "educational elevator".

Filippov bluntly said that the Unified State Exam arouses sharp criticism primarily because residents of capital cities lose their "natural" advantage when entering prestigious universities, which could only be entered through tutoring or paid preparatory courses... The Unified State Exam, as conceived by the organizers, equalized the chances.

As time passed, it turned out that, in general, this was achieved, the director of the Center for Economics told the website. continuing education Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEI) RANEPA Tatiana Klyachko.

“Despite all the difficulties, the Unified State Exam has no more shortcomings than the traditional exams. And from the point of view that children from the provinces can now come and enroll in educational institutions of large cities, and we see from the results of our research that the mobility of school graduates has increased dramatically, I think this is a good undertaking, ”Tatyana Klyachko stressed.

The principal opponents of the USE admit this, too. For example, Oleg Smolin, deputy chairman of the State Duma's education committee, noted that it has become easier for children from the regions to enter the capital's universities. However, in his opinion, there is more harm from the exam.

That is, the USE is enough for admission to any university?

Not really. The most prestigious universities received the right to conduct additional tests. First of all, this is the Lomonosov Moscow State University, which retains the title of the most prestigious university country.

As the rector of Moscow State University Viktor Sadovnichy recently said, exams for admission to Moscow State University turn out to be insurmountable for every tenth of the applicants.

However, there are not very many such universities. Mainly for admission to higher education educational institution enough good results obtained on the exam.

And if the exam is poorly passed?

If the results are not so good, you can retake the exam. It is possible to do this the next year and even immediately after the failure.

“And the question of whether you can retake the Unified State Exam in the same year when you take it is being worked out. And before it was exactly the same, people did not enter the university and that's it, do the next year. Compared to traditional exams, there is no deterioration. The only thing is that there used to be several universities like Moscow State University or Leningrad state university where it was possible to take exams in July, and exams to all other universities were held in August, so those who did not enter Moscow State University could enroll in another university in August, "said the director of the Center for the Economics of Continuing Education of the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEI) RANEPA Tatiana Klyachko.

As for the psychological aspects, then, according to experts, little has changed. As the schoolchildren were nervous before the exams, they will continue to be nervous. Here comes the influence human factor the results decreased.

“At school, it was still possible to say that the student, passing the exam, was not very worried, because all the teachers were familiar to him and, in principle, he believed that he would be pulled out one way or another, although this was not always the case. And if the relationship with some teacher did not work out, then on the contrary it could lead to extremely unpleasant results. Now man is at least relieved of those troubles. And when an applicant entered a university, he was faced with a completely unfamiliar situation. Yes, at the moment when bribes were widespread, some of the people who paid money for education considered themselves more protected. But this is again to the detriment of everyone else. The situation is better now than it was 10-12 years ago, ”says Tatiana Klyachko.

Why is the Unified State Exam criticized?

The main object of criticism is the form in which the exam is conducted. From the very beginning, it was doubtful whether it was possible to correctly assess the level of knowledge of students using tests. Especially embarrassing exams in this form in the humanities. In addition, it was noted that the goal of education is precisely the successful passing of exams, and not knowledge as such. Many teachers admitted that they literally train students for testing.

The USE assignments are called control and measuring materials, and initially in many disciplines the form "select one of the answer options" was implied. The tasks were constantly improved, and as a result, this form disappeared altogether. Students must give either a short answer to the question or a detailed one. As the Minister of Education Olga Vasilyeva noted, the tasks are being improved every year.

Nevertheless, the Unified State Exam has a lot of opponents, including among education specialists, among deputies, and among parents.

Once again, the President called for the cancellation of the Unified State Exam in early April Russian Academy Sciences Alexander Sergeev, linking this problem with the "brain drain".

“For some reason we are afraid of the leakage of dollars, we count every month - how much there, how much here. For some reason, no one thinks how our intellect is leaking out of the country ... I believe that we should abandon the Unified State Exam. We must finally, after two years of talking about graduate school, return to normal graduate school, which is the first step. scientific activities", - stressed the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Scandals

Theoretically, the exam should equalize the chances Russian schools niks, wherever they live - in large cities or in some remote village. In practice, it turned out differently, and scandals broke out almost every year. For example, there was a case when schoolchildren Of the Far East after passing the exam, they posted the tasks on the network (they are the same for the whole country). Children living to the west were extremely grateful to them, officials - on the contrary.

Violations were recorded, such as opening assignments before testing, using smartphones and tablets, and even passing an exam in another region. They are fighting against violations - the chairmen of the commissions are now approved exclusively by Rosobrnadzor, its representative is included in each regional commission. Online surveillance has been introduced, schoolchildren are allowed through metal detectors. The number of options has been increased to avoid information "leakage" to the Internet.

A new data protection technology is being used for the first time this year. All discs are delivered to the point holding the exam in encrypted form, and the task and answer forms are printed directly in front of the participants. It is believed that this will help completely eliminate the influence of the human factor.

They do not seek from goodness

So far, the arguments of the opponents of the exam have not had any effect. Recently, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova announced during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that the structure of the Unified State Examination may change after analyzing the results of this year. As the site director of the Center for Economics of Continuing Education of the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEI) RANEPA noted in an interview

Tatyana Klyachko, it is unlikely that the USE will be canceled. And from her point of view, this is good.

“If any changes are made to the Unified State Exam, the procedure may be clarified, the content may change, but the exam itself, I think, will remain. And I don’t think we need to change something again now. This exam is already more or less settled, and I think they are not looking for good from good, ”she stressed.

The main stages and goals of the Unified State Exam in the country.

2. 2001-2003 Resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation:
"On the organization of an experiment on the introduction of a single state examination"Dated February 16, 2001. "On the participation of educational institutions of secondary vocational education in an experiment on the introduction of a unified state examination ”dated April 5, 2002.
In 2003, the experiment covered 47 subjects of the Russian Federation.

3. 2004-2006
The task was set: during three years to solve the main problem of the Unified State Exam - to reduce the workload on graduates due to the full combination of final and credential exams. For this, the number of universities that accepted applicants for USE results.
In 2006, about 950 thousand schoolchildren in 79 regions of Russia took the exam.

4. 2007-2009
Until 2009, the "+1" system operated, when not a single graduate was left without a certificate due to an unsuccessful passing the exam... At that time, there was still an official translation of the USE scores into grades ().
In 2007, the Federal Law “On Amendments to the Law Russian Federation"On education". Since 2009, the exam has become compulsory and uniform for all graduates of the country.

The official goals of the exam:

eliminate corruption in schools and universities and ensure effective testing of graduates' knowledge.
In addition, the state exam was supposed to make higher education truly accessible to children from the regions.

Arguments in favor of the exam:

1. The Unified State Exam helps to avoid corruption and criminality when entering universities.
2. The Unified State Exam assesses a student's knowledge and abilities more objectively than traditional types of examinations.
3. The Unified State Exam stimulates the preparation of students for the exam, including independent.
4. The Unified State Exam allows you to compare the quality of education in different schools and regions.
5. The Unified State Exam allows graduates to enter universities located at a considerable distance from their place of residence, without spending money on the road, but only by sending information about passing the Unified State Exam by mail. Submission of documents to several universities at once is facilitated, without the need to take exams in each of them.
6. The Unified State Exam allows you to identify worthy applicants in the provinces who previously did not have the opportunity to take entrance exams in large cities.
7. Verification of the result is partially computerized, which saves time and money, since there is no need to spend on the services of hired verifiers.
8. Raising the requirements for the exam, it is said, leads to an increase in the quality of education, teacher qualifications and the quality of educational literature.
9. The USE is similar to the final exam systems in developed countries (USA, Israel and others), which over time may lead to the recognition of Russian school certificates in other countries.
10. The USE is assessed on a wider scale of points (100) than standard exams (actually 4), which makes it possible to identify the best of the best.
11. Statements about the "suffering of logical and thinking skills in general, as well as the creative and rational principle" have no basis at all, since all objects have part C, which (in the cases of Russian, history, social science, some other subjects) requires exactly reasoned proof of your position

Arguments against the exam:

1. As a result of the transition from a full-fledged exam to tests, the development of the ability to prove and form the correct answer is excluded, logical and thinking skills in general, as well as creative and rational beginning, suffer.
2. Control and measurement materials are unusual for the Russian education system.
3. The Unified State Exam in Social Studies contains incorrectly set tasks and controversial answer options.
4. The Unified State Exam does not help to completely avoid corruption.
5. It is impossible to qualitatively check the level of preparedness of poorly and well-trained school graduates with just control and measuring material.
6. The specialization of the school is not taken into account: students of both schools with a humanitarian and natural science bias pass the same version of the compulsory final exam.
7. The Unified State Exam leads to a new type of tutoring associated with increasing the level of knowledge in the Unified State Exam specifications.
8. With the computerized verification of parts A and B, errors in the recognition of the student's answers are possible, which are counted as incorrect answers.
9. The Unified State Exam in non-linguistic subjects cannot be taken in the languages ​​of the peoples of the Russian Federation except Russian.

“The Unified State Exam is a mirror reflecting the level of training of applicants. You can, of course, chop him up, because you haven't shaved in the morning and your face is swollen. But it is better to go to shave, and the attitude to the mirror will be much better.

The root cause of public rejection of the USE is not in the methodology, but in its social effect. The interests of significant groups - namely, the population of the country's largest cities - were infringed upon. Residents of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod after the collapse of the USSR for 15 years had the opportunity to almost exclusively use an important social benefit - free higher education for their children in the best universities... They just happened to be closer to them and had an average income that allowed them to pay for university exam preparation courses. Inhabitants of other regions, small towns, villages found themselves out of the system of preparation for the best universities - both in terms of their place of residence and in terms of their income, which is 2-3 times lower than that of those living in megalopolises.

But the leading universities at one time were built for the whole country, and under Soviet rule, 75% of Moscow students were from other cities. In the early 2000s, when the USE was just conceived, only 25% of students from other regions remained in Moscow, and a third in St. Petersburg. Now at HSE, for example, there are already almost 60% of them. For example, if earlier it was possible to enter the HSE or Moscow State University on the budget with 70-75 points (our exams, "recounted" in the Unified State Exam), today - from 80-85. Five years ago, a Muscovite could enter a good Moscow university if he had a “four” (according to the Unified State Exam it is 55-70 points) in a specialized subject, today the border of the entrance has shifted upwards - it is not less than 62-65 points. The situation has changed, and the interests of people who cannot pay for the education of their children in the best universities, but can spend money on, say, university tutors, turned out to be against the Unified State Exam. For 15 years they have been building the happiness of their children on a detachment from the opportunity to develop for the rest of the country's population. It was not the Muscovites who arranged it, but they are accustomed to these circumstances, and the restoration of justice does not arouse their support. "

Everything last years school graduates traditionally take exams in two compulsory subjects: Russian and mathematics. Exams in other subjects for eleventh graders are voluntary. In order to obtain a high school diploma, results in other subjects are not important. But they are extremely necessary for admission to universities. The fact that the list of compulsory exams in Russia will be replenished with the USE in history has been said for several years. From what year the USE in history will nevertheless become a mandatory exam for all eleventh graders - the latest news from the Ministry of Education.

From what year the exam in history may become mandatory

Much was said about the imminent introduction of the compulsory USE in history in Russia in May 2017. Then the Minister of Education and Science Olga Vasilyeva announced that in 2020 history as a school discipline will acquire the status of one of the most important school subjects, and graduates will begin to take the USE in history without fail.

There is very little left until 2020. In fact, if Vasilyeva's words became reality, today's tenth graders would have to prepare for the obligatory history exam.

However, the other day, on October 29, 2018, the same Olga Vasilyeva, whose position is now called the Minister of Education, spoke about the postponement of raising the status of the USE in history.

According to the minister, the USE in history will become a mandatory exam for eleventh grade graduates "after 2022."

The fact is that in 2022 the exam in foreign languages ​​will definitely become a mandatory exam. Introducing two compulsory exams at once in addition to the Russian language and mathematics is to shock both graduates and their parents and teachers. Until 2022, the status of history as school subject do not have time to raise, so the decision is delayed.

From the words of Minister Vasilyeva, it follows that the USE in history will become (if it becomes at all) a mandatory exam no earlier than 2023-2024. Only the parents of today's fifth and sixth graders need to worry about this.

USE in history as a mandatory exam: pros and cons

Graduates of Russian schools know history poorly. This is a fact that everyone, more or less close to this topic, is talking about. Even applicants from specialized history faculties sometimes amaze university professors with the level of their knowledge in a bad sense.

Minister Vasilyeva says the same thing - about poor knowledge of history and that without knowledge of this subject "it is impossible to move on."

FIPI recently confirmed that schoolchildren passing the exam in history are mediocrely familiar with historical figures, poorly versed in the history of culture and are often confused in the events of the twentieth century. And these are the graduates who were preparing for the USE in history.

Nevertheless, many are confident that there will be no benefit from giving the USE in history the status of a compulsory exam. Or, at the very least, there will be more harm from this decision.

Thus, school teacher Alikhan Dinaev from Grozny discusses on the pages of the educational portal mel.fm and gives the following arguments against such an innovation:

• Minister Vasilieva speaks like a former history teacher. Of course, for any teacher his subject is the main one. However, the minister should think more globally. If tomorrow the position of the head of the Ministry of Education will be taken by a geography teacher, the country, according to this logic, needs to prepare for the introduction of the compulsory USE in geography.
• The workload of school graduates in Russia is already excessive. Almost all eleventh graders who are seriously preparing to enter a university devote all their extracurricular time to additional activities. It will hardly be beneficial for the psyche and health of adolescents to increase this load.

It is the load, of course, that is the main argument against innovation. Back in 2015, it was decided that starting in 2022, the list compulsory exam will be expanded with an exam in foreign languages. This means that after three and a half years, the compulsory exam will be not two, but three. Thus, the load on schoolchildren will noticeably increase. The Ministry of Education should still feel the limit and stop at some point.

Introduction of the exam

Assignments for each subject are divided into three parts ( block): A, B, C.

Block A contains test tasks, in each of which you must choose one answer from the four proposed.

For each block task B a short answer must be given, consisting of one or more words, letters or numbers. Answers to block assignments A and B are entered into a special form and checked by a computer.

Block C consists of one or more tasks with a detailed answer (for example, you need to solve a problem, write an essay on a proposed topic, or reasonably answer a certain question). The answers to the tasks of block C are assessed by experts of the regional examination committee, the tasks of the KIM part C contain the assessment criteria for experts.

CMMs for individual subjects may have their own characteristics. For example, KIMs for literature do not contain multiple choice questions. In KIMs for foreign languages ​​there is a section in which the student needs to listen to an audio recording of a text in a foreign language and answer questions about the content of the text.

The table shows the codes, duration, number of assignments and the maximum primary score on the 2009 USE. Also included is the minimum number of points (the lower limit of a satisfactory grade), which is determined in test points.

Unified State Exam Forms

• Registration form used to register participants for the exam
• V answer form number 1 the answers to the tasks of blocks A and B are entered
• For expanded answers to the tasks of block C, use answer form number 2 and additional answer form No. 2

All USE forms are 210 mm × 305 mm:

In addition to the main side, examinees can use the reverse side:

Filling in all the USE forms must be carried out strictly according to the established rules, otherwise the data may be incorrectly recognized, which is counted as an incorrect answer.

Grading for the exam

Each completed task of the exam is estimated at 1 or more points. The sum of these points is primary score the subject. Quantity primary points differs in different subjects, for example, the minimum number of primary points in 2009 contains the USE in mathematics (37 primary points), and the maximum - the USE in biology (69 primary points) and foreign languages ​​(80 primary points).

Further, a correspondence is established between the primary and test points (with the maximum test score is always 100). The scale for transferring primary points to test points depends on the complexity of the tasks and the statistical analysis of the USE results for all exam participants and is calculated using a special computer program... This scale is not linear, for example, in the Russian language exam in 2008, 30 primary points out of 60 were translated into 52 test points, and in the mathematics exam, 18 primary points out of 37 were translated into 58 test points... Another feature of the conversion scale is that a small change in the primary score at the edges of the scale (that is, when the primary score is close to zero or to the maximum value) leads to a significant change test score(for example, 1 primary score corresponds to 6 test scores in all subjects except foreign languages), while in the middle of the scale, a change in the primary score by 1 results in a change in the test score by 1 or 2.

Statistical data on the USE results are available.

USE results

During the USE, as an experiment, information about the exam results could be obtained on the website by entering the participant's passport data.

Appeals on the results of the exam

After receiving the USE results, the USE participant can appeal to the conflict commission of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation to revise the results of the work test. At the same time, the formal filing of the appeal is the only opportunity for the exam participant to get acquainted with their work after it has been checked.

An appeal can only be made in two cases:

1. In case of disagreement of the exam participant with the recognition of answers in the tasks of parts A and B, that is, those tasks for which a computer check is carried out. The exam participant receives a form of his work and a printout of how the answers were recognized by the computer. In case of incorrect recognition of the answer, it can be corrected by the decision of the conflict commission.
2. If the exam participant disagrees with the results of checking part C by experts. In this case, the assessment may be revised (including towards a decrease in the number of points) after an additional check of the work by the conflict commission.

The decision of the conflict commission of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation can be revised by the Federal Conflict Commission.

USE as a final exam at school

Since 2009, school graduates have taken two compulsory final exams: in Russian and in mathematics. Graduates are admitted to exams if they do not have unsatisfactory annual marks in all subjects.

The graduate must receive an assessment on these exams that is not lower than the mark established by Rosobrnadzor. If a student receives a grade below the minimum established in one subject, then he can retake this exam in the same year. If a student receives an unsatisfactory mark in both the Russian language and mathematics, then he can retake the exam only the next year. Graduates who receive a satisfactory grade (or receive one unsatisfactory grade, and then retake it) receive a certificate of complete secondary education.

Also, graduates can take any number of additional exams in USE form, their results do not affect the receipt of the certificate. In the certificate for each subject, the arithmetic mean of the graduate's marks for the last two years of study is set, regardless of the result obtained on the exam.

Admission to universities based on the results of the Unified State Exam

To enter the university, the applicant must pass the entrance exams in the form of the Unified State Exam. The list of entrance examinations is approved by the Ministry of Education and Science and contains, as a rule, four exams for each specialty (in some cases, three). For each specialty, one of the exams is profile (the profile exam is highlighted in the list). The university can reduce the number of exams to three, the number of exams must include an exam in the Russian language and a specialized subject.

For admission to specialties that require applicants to have certain creativity, physical or psychological qualities, universities also conduct an additional exam or creative competition, in addition to the three exams conducted in the form of the Unified State Examination. The list of such specialties is approved by the Ministry of Education and Science.

Selected universities are allowed to conduct additional profile exams... The list of universities that are allowed to conduct additional entrance tests and the procedure for their conduct is determined by the Government of the Russian Federation. In 2009, 24 universities were allowed to conduct additional specialized entrance examinations in certain specialties.

Without entrance examinations winners and awardees of the final stage of the All-Russian Olympiad for schoolchildren can be admitted to the university. Winners and prize-winners of other Olympiads from among those approved by the Ministry of Education and Science can be admitted to a university without entrance examinations or without passing part of the entrance examinations. Champions of the Olympic Games are admitted to specialties related to physical education and sports without exams.

It is assumed that the introduction of the Unified State Exam will simplify admission to universities for applicants from rural areas and remote regions. The applicant will be able to submit an application to the chosen university and attach to it information about passing the Unified State Exam in absentia - by mail or via the Internet, without coming personally to the chosen university. In this case, you can apply to several universities. Universities can check information on the results of passing the exam in the Federal database of certificates on the results of the exam.

Admission to colleges based on the results of the exam

In 2009, admission to educational institutions secondary vocational education is mainly based on the results of the Unified State Exam. Applicants must pass two exams from the approved list of entrance examinations. In this case, the exam in the Russian language is mandatory, and the applicant can choose the second exam independently if the list of entrance examinations contains three or more exams. For certain specialties, suggesting that applicants have certain creative abilities, physical or psychological qualities of the secondary school, an additional exam or creative competition is also conducted.

Controversy around the Unified State Exam

Notes (edit)

1. Federal Law No. 17-ФЗ dated 09.02.2007 on the introduction of the Unified State Exam
2. Order of Rosobrnadzor No. 74 of January 19, 2009 "On the approval of the terms and the unified timetable for the USE ... in 2009"
3. 2009 CMM Specifications and Demo Versions
4. Demonstration versions of the exam for all years
5. Order of 06.06.2009 No. 1245-10 "On the establishment of the minimum number of points for the unified state exam in the Russian language, confirming the mastering by the graduate of basic general education programs of secondary (complete) general education in 2009"
6. Order of 01.06.2009 No. 1218-10 "On the establishment of the minimum number of points for the unified state examination in computer science and information and communication technologies (ICT), confirming the mastering by the graduate of basic general educational programs of secondary (complete) general education in 2009"
7. Order of 01.06.2009 No. 1219-10 "On the establishment of the minimum number of points for the unified state examination in biology, confirming the mastering by the graduate of the basic general educational programs of secondary (complete) general education in 2009"
8. Order of 06/08/2009 No. 1251-10 "On the establishment of the minimum number of points for the unified state exam in geography, confirming the mastering by a graduate of basic general education programs of secondary (complete) general education in 2009"
9. Order of 08.06.2009 No. 1252-10 "On the establishment of the minimum number of points for the unified state examination in literature, confirming the mastering by the graduate of basic general education programs of secondary (complete) general education in 2009"