Establishing the Institute of Independent Evaluation of Higher Education in the Russian Federation V. A. Bolotov, G. N. Motova, V. G. Navodnov Vysshee Obrazovanie V Rossii, 2024 The paper presents the results of the search, systematization and analysis of independent higher education evaluation systems that have been developed in the country in the recent decade. The research has been carried out using standardised evaluation mechanisms that adhere to the criteria of mass scale, openness, and stability. The analysis of the independent evaluation of higher education’s present situation revealed certain inconsistencies between the legislative and regulatory framework and real practice. It should be emphasised that, while different processes have now been developed for this type of evaluation, they still require enhancement. The assessment mechanisms themselves need to undergo an external, independent evaluation to ensure their reliability, integrity, and trustworthy evidence. It has been indicated that independent evaluation procedures have jointly developed into a system: the institution of independent evaluation. This system is characterised by integrity, orderliness, and definite linkages. One may consider the aggregating technology of the aforementioned evalu-ations to be the synergistic outcome of the system’s establishment. In order to achieve a synergistic effect on the evaluation of all higher education institutions and educational programmes in the country, the authors suggest a method for aggregating the outcomes of the described evaluation procedures. The obtained research outcomes prove their applicability to the internal and external evaluation of a higher education institution’s performance and to the strategic planning of the development of both the institution and the higher education system.
Global aggregated ranking of HEIs: Russian footprint V. A. Bolotov, G. N. Motova, V. G. Navodnov Vysshee Obrazovanie V Rossii, 2021 The paper suggests a new approach to performance evaluation of universities in Russia and worldwide based on aggregation of the results of ten global rankings and the Database of External Quality Assurance Results (DEQAR). The method of league analysis (MetALeague) allows the authors to integrate the diverse results of ranking and evaluation regardless of considerable variations in ranking methodology and indicators. As a result of MetALeague integration, the Global Aggregated Ranking of higher education institutions has been made. The paper analyses the global rankings and the position of Russian HEIs in these rankings. The authors have also analyzed the positions of countries based on the number of HEIs included in the Global Aggregated Ranking. The due consideration of research results, according to the authors, can propel the leading Russian universities to higher positions in the global educational environment.
New requirements for accreditation agencies on education quality assurance G. N. Motova Vysshee Obrazovanie V Rossii, 2020 New amendments to the US law on higher education are considered, in particular, regulation of cooperation between the Department of Education and accreditation agencies. The article also examines grounds of different approaches (Russian and American) to the development of the national education quality assurance system as well as specific features of the recognition procedure of independent accreditation agencies by the government. The author suggests specific principles for the development of national «architecture» of HEIs accreditation based on the analysis of the American and European models of «accreditors’ accreditation». They may be relevant for establishing a new regulation for evaluating the quality of education during the “regulatory guillotine”.
How to design a national aggregated ranking? V. A. Bolotov, G. N. Motova, V. G. Navodnov, O. E. Ryzhakova Vysshee Obrazovanie V Rossii, 2020 The article presents a new method of designing a national ranking of higher education institutions on the basis of aggregating all existing public national rankings. The new aggregating method MetALeague (Method of Analysis of Leagues) can help to do away with monopoly in evaluation, thus, providing room for independent evaluation of HEIs. The analysis of the current state of procedures and methods of independent evaluation of Russian HEIs in the form of rankings and databases was carried out. The suggested MetALeague method is based on the mathematical tool of the voting theory in small groups and helps to combine different independent evaluations in a single format. A possible approach to creating such a unified national ranking in the form of 10 leagues is considered and the calculation results are presented. The developed ranking methods and the obtained results can be useful for self-diagnosis and promotion of research, organizational and methodological activities of HEIs, and also when introducing a risk-oriented approach in oversight activities.
The method of league analysis and its application in comparing global university rankings and Russia's University performance monitoring Vladimir Navodnov, Galina Motova, Olga Ryzhakova Voprosy Obrazovaniya Educational Studies Moscow, 2019 A new technique called Method of Analysis of Leagues (MethALeague) is proposed for comparing performance of higher education institutions measured by different assessment methods. The MethALeague uses the convolution operations from the theory of small-group decision making to create aggregate charts of university leagues based on the performance indicators obtained with different assessment techniques. Specifically, researchers are given the opportunity to bring widely divergent university performance indicators into unified assessment charts and carry out comparative analysis of different assessment approaches. The MethALeague was applied successfully to compare the performance indicators of the Project 5–100 universities reflected in three major global rankings, Academic Ranking of World Universities, QS World University Rankings, and Times Higher Education World University Rankings. A formalized concept of “world ranking” proposed in the article makes it possible to visualize the performance dynamics of Russia’s top universities and compare it to that of the top universities in other countries (United States, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, and China). Suggestions are made on using a modified version of the MethALeague at the national level to analyze the results of university performance monitoring and compare them to the universities’ global ranking positions. The method described in the article could be applied by educational authorities, researchers and higher education institutions to determine the frameworks of strategic development, both for specific universities and for Russia’s higher education system as a whole.
Doubled Standards of the Quality assurance: Russia in the Bologna Process Galina N. Motova Vysshee Obrazovanie V Rossii, 2018 The article focuses on the role and the position of the Russian system of higher education in the Bologna process. The author dwells on the documents prepared for ministerial conferences including the Ministerial Conference in Paris held on May 24–25, 2018 and analyzes them from the position of inconsistency between the national educational policy in Russia and the Bologna process. Russia jointed the Bologna process fifteen years ago and made a commitment to provide integration in European higher education area. The results of this process may be treated differently, but such factors as magnitude, irreversibility, and incompleteness are evident. The report 2015 shows that Russia hasn’t implement the national qualifications framework, the implemented ECTS system is not entirely adequate to ECTS Users’ Guide, the problem of providing graduates with Diploma Supplement hasn’t yet been solved. The specifics of Russia’s approach to the problem of quality assurance are that there are both state accreditation and independent public procedures on academic recognition (accreditation agencies – ENQA members). The paper addresses quality assurance as a key tool of the integrating process.
From institutional accreditation to monitoring of effectiveness Vysshee Obrazovanie V Rossii, 2018
The Bologna Process: 15 Years Later G.N. Motova Russian Education and Society, 2016 The article gives an analysis of the main documents adopted by the Ministers of Education of the EHEA at the meeting in Yerevan (the Republic of Armenia). It highlights the problems and challenges that national systems of higher education are facing; it also defines the priorities and commitments of the Bologna-countries in promoting cooperation and integration as part of the EHEA. Special focus is made on the statistical data analysis and the national reports on the implementation of the principles lying within the European agreements for the current decade. A key factor in ensuring mutual trust and establishing the EHEA is the availability of a multi-level quality assurance system: institutional, national, European. The author reinforces the need for reviewing and approving the revised Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA (ESG).
Russian Higher Education and European Standards of Quality Assurance Galina Motova, Ritta Pykkö European Journal of Education, 2012 This article considers the relevance and implementation of European approaches to quality assurance in the context of the Russian educational system. It covers the issues of transformation of the higher education system during the post‐Soviet period, specific features of the state accreditation system, the impact of the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG) (http://www.enqa.eu/files/ESG_3edition%20(2).pdf)on Russian Quality Assurance system and trends in quality assurance of higher education.
