Peter Kuznetsov: About the exam in detail. Now we will give recommendations on preparing for the state exam in mathematics, finally. Many asked. On changing the structure of assignments at the basic and specialized levels. And about the criteria by which the knowledge of graduates is assessed, and so on, and so on. Therefore, parents and schoolchildren who are just now preparing, who, perhaps, took the exam last year, have some questions about last year, about the changes compared to the previous year. In general, we will find out everything. Let's go straight away. Ivan Yashchenko, Head of the Federal Commission for CMM Developers in Mathematics. Hello.
Olga Arslanova: Hello.
Peter Kuznetsov: Because we know that math has changed a lot this year. Very significant changes. Or are we wrong?
Ivan Yashchenko: No. And in fact, it seems to me that this is the most pleasant and most correct answer that teachers are waiting for, the participants of the exam themselves, the parents. Moreover, this is the answer announced on September 1st. According to the rules, as you know, all possible changes in the exam are made before September 1. This was at one time an instruction from the President of the Russian Federation, so that the guys before the school year already knew exactly what exam they would have. So, in mathematics, there are no changes at all. The exam entered a completely standard stable state, it was fully established, fully formed, divided, as you know, into 2 parts - a basic exam and a profile exam, into 2 exam levels. Everyone can choose what kind of math they need. Either he needs mathematics for life, for mass professions. Or he wants to go to a university where mathematics is one of the profile.
But all this already happened last year and the year before. There are no changes. Exactly the same demo versions, the same number of tasks. But, of course, the options themselves will be different. If you just solve the last year's version or the tasks of the demo version, and then ask "what is this on the exam, I have a different task?", And so, the tasks, of course, are different. But the number, complexity, subject matter of assignments is one-to-one, like last year.
Olga Arslanova: But still, the structure, as we understand it, is also absolutely the same? Nothing changed.
Ivan Yashchenko: Yes, absolutely the same structure. That is, once again - we have two exams. Basic and profile. Because we are still working according to the current 2004 standard, which provides for two levels of mathematics in high school - basic and specialized. According to the new standard, when the children who study according to the new standard reach high school, they will also study at an advanced level. By the way, in-depth is even a slightly terminological return to Soviet times. We had an in-depth study of mathematics.
Olga Arslanova: Of English language. Someone like.
Ivan Yashchenko: That's for sure. Who likes what. Therefore, now we have a profile level, respectively, a basic exam and a profile one. Moreover, it was necessary to choose this before February 1. That is, now everything is ... You mentioned online games, of course. That's not what mathematics is for. In general, it is better not to play any online games. Because a person who knows mathematics knows that all these games are invented for people to lose in them. Therefore, a person who knows mathematics does not play such games.
Olga Arslanova: One who knows mathematics plays with real people.
Ivan Yashchenko: So, the bets are all made. On February 1, everyone applied. The only thing is that if suddenly (we still wish those who go to the exam to pass the exam successfully) someone does not pass the exam (everything happens) and this failure is the only one of the two mandatory (mathematics and Russian), then one failure can be retaken ... And here you can select the level again. If, for example, now you went to the profile level, did not pass it, overestimate your strength, then you will be able to choose (moreover, we recommend) the basic level for retake in order to get a certificate reliably. And, by the way, with a basic level, you can also enter a university, but just for a specialty, where mathematics is not profiling. For any humanitarian specialty, for example, you can apply.
Also very important information, mathematics in this sense is the first subject we have that could do this. It's easiest for mathematicians, we have a more formal science. There is an open bank of tasks. And absolutely all the tasks of the basic level exam and the first 12 tasks of the profile-level exam (namely, all tasks with a short answer, we have no choice of answer, there is not a single such test task, there is no guessing) - all these tasks are already on the Internet. They have been on the official websites of the Federal Institute for Pedagogical Measurements for a long time already. Naturally, any teacher can use them for preparation, any student. That is, you do not need to pay money somewhere. All these tasks are there. But there are tens of thousands of them. Therefore, if at the last moment you decided to train yourself, learn all the answers, this, of course, is unrealistic - you have to learn math.
And the second part, of course, is specially compiled every year, because the last tasks in the profile exam are tasks in which you must demonstrate the ability to apply knowledge in a new or changed situation. That is, these are tasks that you have never seen. After all, if you are a real engineer, then you will have new tasks all the time. That is, the algorithms are all the same, the rules are the same - all the same. But the very formulation of the assignments is new for you. In the first tasks of the second part, it is similar. Some kind of trigonometric, logarithmic equation, exponential with selection, or stereometric construction. But there is no open bank, but it is known that bodies in stereometric school are not studied much at school: a cube, a ball, a pyramid, a prism, and so on.
When we go to the end, the most difficult tasks that are needed to score 80, 90, 100 points, these tasks are even more interesting. And, of course, they are designed so that those who really know mathematics and are able to apply it, I emphasize once again, in a new situation, get a high score. This is what you need in top universities.
Olga Arslanova: Let's talk about this just now. Once again, I remind viewers that you can send your questions via SMS. You are already doing it. Thanks. You can call us live and ask Ivan a question live. And how many people choose specialized mathematics and where is it needed?
Ivan Yashchenko: In contrast to the Russian language, which is a compulsory exam for admission to any specialty in any university of the Russian Federation, mathematics is specialized in about half of the specialties. But all the same, these are very important, prestigious, including mass specialties. These are mathematical, economic, and engineering specialties. A number of military specialties and so on. That is, wherever exact science is needed, and so on, everywhere mathematics is specialized. You can find out on the website of the respective university. All the rules have already been announced. And everyone chose the exam with this in mind.
By the way, let me remind you that you could even choose both exams, if you're worried. You can take both basic and specialized. Insure. This happens. And what is also important, and this, by the way, is very important when determining the preparation strategy - you need to see what your plans for admission are and choose a university based on your knowledge of mathematics. You understand what point you can get more quickly now. There is some potential, of course, in preparation, if now, at the final stage, something is to be done. But don't overestimate your strengths. If you are not very confident in yourself, it is better not to solve all the USE tasks and try to sort out all the tasks by 100 points, but it is better to look reliably: for my university, 75 is enough for me. And focus on those tasks that you know how. I will try to give this very unexpected advice. I am often asked: "What should I do in the last time left before the exam?" We have three months left with you before the exam. Believe it or not: the most important piece of advice is to deal more with the tasks that you get. That is, what is usually done? I did some test work, saw what was not working out - and began to eliminate the gaps in knowledge.
And then it turns out that you, of course, scored some points there, but you lost points in the very task that you were sure of, because you did not do it. After all, the most offensive mistakes and loss of points just happen in the most simple tasks. Like charging. Which, of course, is useful to do. But, unfortunately, not many of our guys do exercises. A useful thing, by the way, for the exam. Physical Education.
So, you need to solve simple USE tasks for at least 15 minutes every day. Don't laugh, the first simplest tasks that seem like "oh well, some kind of zilch." But in order not to tear my hair out later and not to cry, that exactly that point in the first problem due to an accidental error (I know how to solve it) was not enough for me. Every day for 15 minutes. Trust me.
Peter Kuznetsov: Ivan, tell me, can you name the most common mistakes at the end of 2016?
Ivan Yashchenko: This is a very important question. We just started talking about this. Unfortunately, the most common mistake is the inability to read the problem statement. It seems like he solved the problem and tried ... Excitement. Somewhere just inattention. But the answer is not the same. The answer to the wrong question. Some essential condition is missing. And that's exactly what I was talking about. When you train your hand by solving simple problems, you also train attentiveness and the ability to read the condition of the problem, and the second most important error is the simplest arithmetic error, first of all when working with negative numbers.
And I would like to advise the guys, firstly, not to do any actions in their minds. Be sure to write this on a piece of paper at the exam. Even if you are confident in yourself. Because you will indirectly check yourself and avoid that very offensive accidental mistake, even if especially with a strong child. He will make a mistake when verbally solving one time for twenty problems. But exactly this same mistake will happen on the exam, and it will be very insulting. Necessarily.
Peter Kuznetsov: What if a person solves some problem in mathematics in a non-standard way? How will it be assessed?
Ivan Yashchenko: Here. That's a very good question. Very often the guys ask us, including in letters that they write to us on the FIPI website, that “they tell us that we need to decide exactly this way; and if you decide not so, they will wrongly evaluate you”. Since 2010, all USE criteria in mathematics have been based solely on mathematical content. If you solved the problem mathematically correctly, you will receive a full mark.
And, moreover, if you look at the criteria, and by the way, the USE is one of the most open exams in the world. We even have a guide for training experts published on the FIPI website. That is, each child or teacher can look at what recommendations are given to experts in order to understand how they will check your work.
All a plus. We do not lower the math scores for any shortcomings, but we say: for this progress in the problem you will receive a point, for this - two points, for this - three, and for this full point. And all this is announced. And where it is not tied to any specific algorithm. Therefore, any rules, any information that is in at least one textbook, recommended or approved by the Ministry of Education and Science, can be used.
It doesn't matter if this tutorial was now or a couple of years ago, or something else. Any method that you like, that you are comfortable with, that you are confident in. Take your pick. Even if this method is suboptimal. You know, sometimes they say: "But you have chosen not the shortest path. We will lower your grade." It may be that the teacher trains you on the test. On the exam, any correct decision will, of course, be credited to you.
Olga Arslanova: A question from a viewer can be from the Tver region: “The granddaughter signed up for 2 exams.
Ivan Yashchenko: The answer is that, on the one hand, in order to get a certificate and then enter, for example, a humanitarian profile, you need to have at least one of the two passed exams in mathematics. Accordingly, if you signed up for two, you passed the basic one well, you don't have to go to the profile one. But, on the other hand, it was a formal answer. Still, I would like to advise the viewer: if your forces are now distributed normally, you do not feel any excitement before the exam, maybe it makes sense to go to specialized mathematics. After all, the exam is now valid for 4 years. And who knows, maybe the girl in question in a couple of years will want to switch to, say, an accounting or economics profession. And there you need an exam. It is clear that now, probably, she will write the Unified State Exam better than after two years of study at a humanitarian university. Suddenly it happened.
Therefore, if there is no excitement before the exam, there is no fear, there is confidence that you will write it by 60 points - why not go? After all, a deuce for the profile and the baseline passed does not affect the certificate. That is, if you didn’t go to the profile or went, but didn’t get the threshold, it’s okay.
Peter Kuznetsov:"Is there a difference in assignments by region?" Question from the Moscow region.
Ivan Yashchenko: The answer is the following, very important. And it is, as it were, in two parts. The first answer is as follows. Remember, when the Unified State Exam began, everyone was discussing that, late at night, the guys go online and look for options from the Far East that come there.
Olga Arslanova: It was?
Ivan Yashchenko: Of course. They solved it. Because back then, even in the early years, there were few options, the tasks were the same. But that was a long time ago. Even before the USE passed into the basic level. Remember, there was a very unpleasant year when there were some plums. Now in each time zone, plus the country is divided into many parts, there are different options. Therefore, it is absolutely pointless to try to find out what they wrote there, already call on the phone, what problem you had.
But at the same time, all these tasks undergo a multi-stage examination and calibration. Therefore, as the statistics confirm to us every year, all tasks, all options in total are absolutely the same. Children are on an equal footing. I emphasize again, this is confirmed by the examination before and the statistics of implementation after.
Although, of course, everyone who came from the exam, who did not solve the geometry problem there, will see what problem was in another region and will solve it on the couch in the evening and say: "Oh, there was a simple one there." And we are constantly in discussion: "Well, we had such a difficult one, yours is simple." And they say: "On the contrary, it was simple for you." Therefore, all options are balanced, all options are the same in complexity, but different in content.
Olga Arslanova: Question. You will understand the details here. I didn't quite understand: "Why 30 primary points are 100 test points, and 31 are also 100 test points?"
Ivan Yashchenko: Good question. This is a very important question indeed. Indeed, it concerns the recalculation of the primary points that are given to you for the task. We have, in different subjects, a different number of tasks, a different number of points. In some subjects more, in others less. But everyone gets the final score on a single one-hundred-point scale. And there is a recalculation of the so-called primary points in the final hundred-point. And in mathematics, as it was 6 years ago, when the Association of Mathematics Teachers and the Academy of Sciences were discussing where to move the mathematics exam, a very important proposal was put forward, which was implemented 2 years ago. Which is the same as in Soviet times. If anyone remembers whether he entered universities or who passed examinations at school, the five was put for 9 problems out of 10. One was, as it were ...
Or on Mehmat when I passed the exams, 5 out of 6 were also given a full mark. That is, in mathematics, it has always been believed that a person should have the right to make a mistake. Although it seems to be the most strict, the most accurate subject. And therefore, in the USE in mathematics for two years now, 100 points, that is, a full test score, is also given for the full primary (all solved problems), and 1 or 2 primary points are also allowed, some small defect is allowed. And this is very important. Because a person focuses precisely on solving problems and does not worry that he accidentally made one small defect somewhere. This comes from the tradition of our mathematical education.
Peter Kuznetsov: Tell me, do you have any standard problem so that Olya and I now try to solve it?
Olga Arslanova: Hey, what are you? We'll be disgraced.
Ivan Yashchenko: How is it? Remember the problem about the electricity meter? That the reading of the electric meter in January is 32768 kilowatt-hours.
Peter Kuznetsov: Our heading "Real numbers" is on air.
Ivan Yashchenko: And on February 1, 32,868 kilowatt-hours. A kilowatt-hour costs 3 rubles 50 kopecks. How much do you need to pay for electricity in January? The real problem is, of course, one of the first tasks of the exam.
Olga Arslanova: Yeah. So. So that our broadcast does not get up now, we will take a pause, we will count.
Ivan Yashchenko: You know, when this problem first appeared, about 15,000 exam participants multiplied the January readings by the price, and got, it's scary to think, more than 100,000 rubles. Someone has already started multiplying.
Because the tasks that we have come from real life, all contain real numbers, just like in life. Real algorithms. Let me remind you that you need to subtract the January readings from the February readings.
Olga Arslanova: 350 rubles.
Ivan Yashchenko: After that, multiply 50 kopecks by 3 rubles. And do not forget, the last tip, in all real problems compare the answer with your common sense. If you received 100,000 rubles a month, you have to pay for electricity.
Peter Kuznetsov: This is reality. Ask the region.
Ivan Yashchenko: Listen, you have a big apartment - 100,000 rubles a month. Maybe a TV presenter's country house?
Peter Kuznetsov: It's not about the apartment here.
Olga Arslanova: Why did I count 350 rubles? Because every month I take my meter readings. I had a hint.
Ivan Yashchenko: Therefore, friends, at what height can a plane fly? Can it fly at an altitude of 300 km? Of course it cannot.
Olga Arslanova: That is, they will not be absurd.
Ivan Yashchenko: There can be no absurd answers. All numbers are real.
Olga Arslanova: Anything has happened before.
Ivan Yashchenko: Of course, sometimes it happens: the trot runs at such and such a speed. How long will it take to run from Moscow to St. Petersburg? Yes, for no reason will not run. She will die on the way.
Olga Arslanova: Don't think about it. You decide.
Ivan Yashchenko: All numbers are real. Common sense will definitely help you.
Peter Kuznetsov: My favorite lesson is mathematics. For me it is the easiest one. Here in this rating is the complexity of the mathematician. And there are some statistics on demand?
Olga Arslanova: This is from the Republic of Dagestan.
Ivan Yashchenko: You know, as you understand, mathematics is a required exam. Everyone passes math, at least one of the two exams. The profile exam is chosen by a lot, more than three quarters of the exam participants.
Peter Kuznetsov: By profile?
Ivan Yashchenko: Of course. Because many specialties have it. And the guys choose. And what we really like is that more and more of our children are taking the exam for sufficiently high scores that our universities need, because there is such a great demand for future engineers. And, you know, there are various other support systems for the president's grants. Our leading companies. The country needs engineers. These are not the 1990s, where you remember how you treated the profession of an engineer, and, by the way, the profession of a teacher. Now our country really needs the guys. Learn mathematics, enter good specialized universities, and then work for the good of our homeland.
Olga Arslanova: And if possible, then briefly answer one more question: "Why is the text of the Unified State Exam not published the next day? This complicates the appeal."
Ivan Yashchenko: I would like to say that our USE exam, also when conferences are held where world exams are discussed with representatives of other countries, the USE is one of the most open exams. For example, in the vast majority of our regions you cannot come not only to an appeal, but even a scan of your work is published. You can, for example, in Moscow through the State Services portal and in a number of other regions through different services just see a scan of your work. And see, prepare with a teacher, a parent. See what points in your work and what you wrote there. And without remembering it from memory and only on appeal he feverishly realizes where you have something wrong. That is, you can even prepare for such a scan.
Olga Arslanova: It's clear. Thanks. Ivan Yashchenko, head of the Federal Commission for Developers of Test and Measurement Materials in Mathematics, was in our studio. Thanks. And thanks for the example too.
Peter Kuznetsov: Thanks.
How to Choose the Right Math Exam Level
The fact that there are so many metropolitan schools in both the Top 500 and the profile ratings means that our other schools can also adopt the best practices, that these practices are available to our teachers, our students through the system of additional education, which is now actively developing. The overwhelming number of schools included in the rating have open systems of additional education; through the portal of public services, each of our students can enroll in a circle at one of the leading schools. Of course, we are sure that those schools that have not yet entered the rating have every chance of entering it in the near future, since many of our schools, including those not included in the rating, have excellent results, they have winners and awardees. Olympiads, just the competition at the federal level is especially high.
Along with the rating, the website of the MIA "Russia Today" published statistics on the percentage of graduates of basic schools who graduated from schools included in the Top 500 in terms of regions. If for two years Moscow was losing on this important indicator and was in second place after the Tambov region, having the first place in the absolute number of schools, then this year Moscow is ahead with a two-fold margin in relation to the region following it. This means that a huge number of our children graduate from schools that are included in the federal and Moscow tops, now every Moscow school, due to the fact that it has equal and very high resources, can successfully compete at the federal level.
The Moscow schools that were included in the rating are not schools in which the resources of the entire region are concentrated. We understand that the second place in the Top 25 of the Mordovian school is the result of the concentration of all gifted children in one school, it is very good that the Republic of Mordovia was able to help its children achieve success at the Olympiads. In Moscow, this is an equal competition between the best.
Metropolitan schools included in the federal rating were also in the lead in Moscow. At a press conference in MIA "Russia Segodnya" I was asked whether the indicators of the Moscow rating could be used in the federal one. I will say that there is a big difference between the regional rating, where all schools are in the same conditions and compete on equal terms, and the federal rating, whose task is to identify the best practices of schools that are very often in incomparable situations. Therefore, not everything can be transferred from the regional ratings to the federal one. But one of the indicators that I want to note in the Moscow ranking is the assessment of the school's work with children with special health capabilities. Moscow and some other regions have powerful information systems, with the help of which we make a rating of schools in the capital. But in order to be able to take this indicator into account in the federal rating, it is necessary that all regions have such information systems, then it will be possible to introduce such an indicator. This is a matter for the future.
We are pleased that our approaches to the formation of the rating have found support from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and, most importantly, public recognition. First of all, I would like to emphasize that the rating of the best schools in Russia is a rating of results, for example, we did not take into account the conditions of the school, we took into account only educational results, high-quality mass education was assessed according to the results achieved by ninth graders. This is the development of the talents of schoolchildren, the regional and final stages of the All-Russian Olympiad. It is very important that the rating methodology stimulates every school to work in the interests of children, every child. The growth of indicators cannot be achieved through anti-pedagogical actions. For example, if we took into account, say, the average USE score in physics, then the easiest way to increase this indicator could be achieved by doing this: by all means to dissuade children who are not very confident in themselves from taking this exam. For our rating, it is best to stimulate the guys, persuade them to take as many exams as possible.
It is known that starting next year in the ninth grade two elective exams will be compulsory, therefore our rating is an additional signal to the school that it is not necessary to limit itself to compulsory exams. It is necessary that each child try himself in different exams, especially since even on the exam (except for the Russian language and mathematics) failure does not mean anything for a child, he can try himself.
Of course, it is very important that the Russian rating was made by the Moscow Center for Continuing Mathematical Education and this is purely mathematics, there were no expert assessments, no applications for the rating, no data collection, no beautiful presentations of schools. There was no need to spend neither effort nor time on it. We all took from the objective independent data of information systems external to the school. Therefore, there is no risk that someone is biased towards the school, all the results are the results of the school's work, and the specific numerical values are a rather complex mathematical modeling. The normalization of results in relation to the number of students was as follows: the first 25 results with a coefficient of 1, the next 25 with a coefficient of 0.75, the next 25 with a coefficient of 0.5, the rest with a coefficient of 0.25. We took into account the results of small and large schools: even if the school had only 25 children in its graduation, but they showed good results, then a small school, a rural school can compete with large schools-complexes of large cities. Today there are mathematical formulas that allow you to make a rating. That is why the rating is made by our math center, we do not have experts, we substitute values in the formulas and calculate: in fact, the rating is a kind of mathematical formula. Can each school calculate its own points using this formula and determine its place in the ranking? Maybe if it will determine its place in comparison with schools that are in absolutely the same conditions as it, for example, each Moscow school receives a detailed printout-analysis of its work. In a federal situation, the rating shows leadership practices, and analyzing the activities of a particular school, regardless of the region, is a super difficult task.
It is very important that we analyzed the schools' websites - in accordance with the current regulatory framework, there are parameters that the school must publish on its website. If the school does not have a competitive admission, if the school takes everyone, it received an additional 20 points, and this is very important. If a school brings together all children from different districts in a metropolis, this evens out its chances of being seen in the ranking, because the main purpose of the ranking is to identify the best practices. Our ranking includes 81 regions, which means that some Russian school can find a school for itself that is in similar conditions, in a settlement of a similar size, in a region with similar conditions, in order to find out why that school is doing well, and see what the experience of that school can be applied to yourself. I am sure that the growth in the number of regions in the ranking is an important message to the fact that soon all schools in our country will be the best, because for every parent the best school is the school in which his child studies. Our rating is not a signal to rush and transfer a child to another school, it is a signal to make your school better. It is known that now equal economic conditions have been created in schools, that teachers' salaries are growing, which means that each school can compete both at the regional and federal levels. We are already seeing the spread of experience and material incentives (by the way, in some regions, including Moscow, there is an exemption for the best schools from inspections - why additionally monitor those schools that have shown objective independent results? there is a problem!).
A whole range of top-lists of schools that have achieved high results in various subject areas have already been announced. If a school wants to do, for example, a good chemistry and biological direction, it can take the rating of schools that have shown good results in this area, choose a school that is interesting to it, exchange experience with this school, learn from it. These are all best practices at the federal level. Let me emphasize: our task is to encourage schools, therefore, apart from the 25 schools that became the best at the federal level, as well as the 10 best in each direction, all other schools without places in the regions are alphabetically placed in the top lists, get into the Top 500 - this is an encouragement. Comparing the 450th or 340th place, when schools are in completely different conditions, is simply and scientifically incorrect, and psychologically unjustified.
There are wonderful schools in the top three of our rating. In general, in 2015, the number of regions whose schools were included in the Top 500 increased:
- in 2014 there were 74 regions, in 2015 - 81 regions. The leaders in terms of the percentage of primary school graduates who graduated from school from the Top 500 are Moscow (32.7%), Kaliningrad Region (14.7%), Republic of Khakassia (14%), Tambov Region (13.6%), Lipetsk region (8.7%). In these regions, the process of modernization of education is going on very powerfully. The assessment of the rating, although the USE was replaced by the OGE, is still an assessment of mass school education. This year we were able to analyze the results of one million hundred thousand children, including the results of those who, after the ninth grade, went to secondary vocational education, in this sense, the rating has become more qualitative. As for the Top 25, no matter how you measure these schools, they will still be the best.
Director of the Moscow Center for Continuous Mathematical Education. Director of the Center for Pedagogical Excellence in Moscow.
Education:
1990 Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, Moscow State University.
1994 candidate of physical and mathematical sciences (Moscow State University). The topic of the thesis is "The space Cp (X) and some questions of the theory of continuous mappings".
Positions held:
Since 1986 he has been conducting math circles for schoolchildren.
Since 1991 he has been working at the 57th school in Moscow.
1995 - present time. Head of the Moscow Center for Continuous Mathematical Education (MCNME).
Since 2004 he has been dealing with the assessment of school performance, participated in the development of systems for independent public assessment of school performance. One of the authors of the Moscow school rating system, which has been used since 2011.
2002 invited speaker at the World Congress of Mathematics (Beijing).
Since 2010, the head of the federal commission of the USE developers in mathematics.
2012 headed the Center for Pedagogical Excellence in Moscow.
More than 20 publications in the field of mathematics, more than 100 in the field of teaching it.
Awards and titles:
Laureate of the Prize of the Government of Russia in the field of education in 2012 (for the work "Educational and methodological support of the system for the development of mathematical giftedness in schoolchildren").
He is married with four children.
Ivan Yashchenko was born on December 12, 1968 in the city of Lvov, Ukraine. He graduated from the mathematical class of the Moscow secondary school No. 91, then, from 1985 to 1990, he studied at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of the Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov. Later he received the degree of candidate of physical and mathematical sciences.
Yashchenko's career began in 1990 as a mathematics teacher at the Moscow secondary school №57. Among his students there are many winners and prize-winners of mathematical Olympiads of various levels, many of them have already become successful scientists. He also later headed the evening department of the Small Mechanics and Mathematics Faculty of Moscow State University.
Since 1994 he has been the Deputy Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Moscow Mathematical Olympiad. The following year, he took part in the creation and headed the Moscow Center for Continuous Mathematical Education, MCNMO. In co-authorship, he created a system of educational and methodological support for the development of mathematical talent of schoolchildren, a network of circles, olympiads, and Internet resources is developing. The team of the system was awarded the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of education.
Since 1998, Ivan Valerievich has been in charge of the Department of Mathematics at the Moscow Institute of Open Education, and from 2006 to 2012 he was the vice-rector of the university.
He has been the head of the federal group of USE developers in mathematics since 2010. One of the authors of the USE concept in mathematics, combining the requirements of objectivity and independence with the best world experience, with Russian traditions and national priorities in the field of educational content.
Yashchenko has served as Director of the Center for Pedagogical Excellence, MTC since 2012, applying developments in the development of students' mathematical talent to other subject areas. Professor at the Faculty of Mathematics, National Research University Higher School of Economics. He taught courses and conducted scientific work at universities in Italy, Mexico, and the United States. Member of the coordination group for the implementation of the Concept of Mathematical Education in the Russian Federation.
The professor is the author and co-author of original teaching materials. He has published over 100 papers on mathematics and teaching methods. Two books of the mathematician have been translated into English and published by the American Mathematical Society. One of the leaders of the research team working on the development of statistical methods for the analysis of educational systems; developer of methodology for rating schools. Founder of the Talent and Success Foundation, organized on the basis of the Sirius Educational Center.
Ivan Valerievich is a supporter of the maximum possible openness in the conduct of exams, one of the developers of scientific and methodological approaches to the creation and use of open banks of assignments in school subjects. One of the team leaders of the National Research on the Quality of Mathematical Education in Mathematics. Scientific interests were: general topology, set theory, methods of teaching mathematics, development of student talent, mathematical statistics, pedagogical measurements.
According to forecasts, by 2020, among the employed, almost every second person will have a university diploma, although only recently there were 25% of them.
And this means, sociologists predict, that there will be more incorrect diagnoses and more missiles that have flown away "in the wrong place". Recently, Isaak Kalina, head of the Moscow Department of Education, proposed to put a barrier in front of hopeless C-grade students: when entering the capital's universities, an applicant must score at least 200 points in three subjects on the Unified State Exam. Is this a real figure? The "RG" correspondent talked about this with Ivan Yashchenko, head of the Moscow Center for Continuous Mathematical Education, Vice-Rector of the Moscow Institute of Open Education.
Ivan Valerievich, recently an interesting story was shown on television. Philology students to the question: "With whom did Pushkin fight in a duel?" named Dantes. But they could not answer the same question about Lermontov ... Do many students know their main subject for "three with a minus"?
Ivan Yashchenko: Alas, set a common 6th grade arithmetic problem to future engineers, mathematicians, or physicists - and the results will not please. The Federal Institute for Pedagogical Measurements recently conducted a survey of universities, what is the minimum USE score a child must have in order to successfully continue education in a particular specialty at a university. It turned out that, for example, in mathematics it is 63 points. In terms of the set of tasks that need to be solved in order to gain so much, this is a very weak level of the exam of the Soviet institute. But only 17% of the children passed it last year. And they scored significantly more for engineering specialties. Yes, there are no "weaklings" in good universities. But most universities cling to any students, frantically fighting for self-preservation. We are at the bottom of a demographic hole: there are even more budget-funded places than graduates. Losing students, teachers lose workload and salaries. May be cut. Therefore, they try to teach those who cannot be taught. From "weaklings" only talented guys who were simply not taught at school become strong specialists. But there are very few of them. As a result, we get an army of specialists who are dangerous to be allowed to work.
Ivan Yashchenko: Averages are a big danger. It's like the average temperature in a hospital. In other universities, students with high scores come to prestigious specialties, and to specialized ones - with a baggage of 40-50 points in various subjects. There may be 30% of such in a university or more. And the professors are forced to pay more attention to them to the detriment of the Lomonosovs. Thus, huge government money is wasted. Not the average score of applicants, but the number of students who have not overcome the threshold required for education should be among the main indicators by which the effectiveness of the university's work is judged.
Ivan Yashchenko: We calculated - each, provided that the child wants to learn. This year, 21,700 graduates from the capital, or almost half, scored 200 points. Every year there are more and more of them. And in the country as a whole, out of more than 800 thousand students who entered universities, more than 91 thousand graduates scored 220 points and above, up to 200 points - 174 thousand, up to 180 - 295 thousand.
In my opinion, for the first time it would be possible to set a minimum level of 190 points. But at the same time, introduce a rule: an applicant, for example, entering the Faculty of Mathematics and having, say, 70 points in a specialized subject, can be admitted, although, for example, he scored significantly less in the Russian language. That is, a student on whom public money is spent must demonstrate either his general high level, gaining a certain number of points, or strong knowledge in a specialized subject.
Is it right to comb all universities with the same brush? Is it possible to present the same requirements to the students of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics and the Shchepkinsky School?
Ivan Yashchenko: The passing score should be different depending on the category of the university. For example, at a national research university it can be higher than 200. It is absolutely obvious that a person entering Moscow State University, even to study mechanics and mathematics, must know Russian. It would be fair to set a passing score for the language there, say, at least 60 points. A MSU diploma is evidence not only that you are a good physicist, mathematician, or, say, a biologist, but also a highly cultured person, the flower of the intelligentsia.
- And for non-state universities, too, do you propose to establish a threshold of 200 points?
Ivan Yashchenko: The threshold, the level of which can be discussed, should be set for all universities with state accreditation. It is impossible to prepare a lawyer from a person who barely scored 40 points in Russian, which corresponds to the school "three". After six months of study, he will not pass the first session. Unless, of course, a genius, but there are no more than 5% of them. Geniuses, however, also need to be "run" through preparatory courses, including free ones, which can be opened in the regions for talented children who have graduated from weak schools. Why do some have to plow, achieving a diploma, while others seem to fall into their own hands - just, dad, pay? It's time to stop the profanation of higher education.
For the second year already, the Moscow Department of Education has been announcing the rating of Moscow schools. There is an effect - almost all schools in the capital have entered the struggle for the opportunity to get into the top 300 students in terms of the quality of their knowledge. Is there a point in such rankings for higher education? Recently, a list of ineffective universities appeared - and immediately became scandalous ...
Ivan Yashchenko: Some of the indicators for which it was compiled are not suitable for universities that provide mass education. For example, it is important to consider the citation of scientific works of teachers only for top universities, and for agricultural universities, where ordinary agronomists are trained, this is not so relevant. It is important who they accepted and whether the specialists they graduated are in demand. Taking into account the indicator by the number of those who crossed the minimum threshold in the rating will help to identify many problems that are still hidden. First, it will become clear which of the universities is working ineffectively, and then there will be no need to spend public funds on them. Secondly, it will help to identify unpopular specialties, because it is on them that they often hire those who do not care which faculty to enter - just to get a crust. Here it is necessary to carefully look at why this specialty "sags". If you really do not need it, close it. And if a specialist is needed in rocketry or at nuclear power plants? Then let's increase the prestige.
Don't you think the bandwidth threshold of 200 points is too high? Is every school in the capital able to provide its graduates with such a level of knowledge?
Ivan Yashchenko: We calculated - each, provided that the child wants to learn. This year, 200 points were scored by 21.7 thousand metropolitan graduates, or almost half. Every year there are more and more of them. And in the country as a whole, from even Moscow pedagogical universities they often recruited children with indecent 45-50 points. But the teachers' salaries were increased, a corresponding PR campaign was carried out - and now the holders of 70 points are already fighting for a place. Competition 2 people per place. This is a work for the future.
The rating of regional universities, in turn, will help to identify schools in which students do not reach the required level. The state will understand where to invest in order to change the situation. Increasing teachers' salaries, attracting the best personnel, organizing online courses ... Teachers who are interested in keeping their university open will also begin to think about how to help teachers so that they prepare schoolchildren better.
