Ratings in education: from one-time Practices to Cultural Solutions

To all those who are interested in the way ratings are compiled in education in the Russian Federation, we would like to draw your attention to the recently published collection titled “Ratings in Education: from One-time Practices to Cultural Solutions”, which was published under the auspices of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. The collection can be downloaded from the following link: https://disk.yandex.ru/i/fSINtGfELvL87w.

Among the various articles included in the collection, we would particularly recommend the section titled “Principles of Rating in Education in the Russian Federation.” This section contains guidelines for the preparation and use of ratings, which were developed based on expert discussions and international best practices.

Some of these guidelines include:

• Ratings should be one of several approaches to assessing the performance of educational institutions and systems.
• The focus should be on the interests of a specific target audience and objectives, as well as the clear definition of the group of entities (subjects) that will be ranked.
• It is essential to ensure the transparency of information sources used for ranking and the indicators derived from these sources.

Ratings are typically used for the following purposes:

• Ensuring accountability to society by informing consumers of educational services to enable an informed choice of educational institutions.
• Establishing priorities in the operations of educational institutions and systems.
• Motivating improvement towards meaningful outcomes.
• Identifying leaders (to share their experience and support them).
• Identifying the weakest institutions and systems to provide assistance and address issues.

However, there are some instances where the use of ratings may not be practical.

It is essential to remember that when assessing the performance of educational institutions, it is necessary to abandon the traditional linear approach and instead adopt a cluster-based comparison of outcomes, as well as a comprehensive analysis of the underlying factors that contribute to low performance indicators.