At present, modernization of contemporary education is impossible without a comprehensive assessment of education quality. It should be noted that the priority of the educational policy of the Russian Federation is to involve the public in the assessment and control in in education. That is why the study of existing practices and prospects for such assessment is relevant. The purpose for the research is to study the opportunities of sociological tools for improving the educational process. To achieve the goal, the author studies theoretical and methodological approaches to the concept of “education quality”, considers the tools for assessing educational activities, identifies the subjects of such assessment, and studies the international experience of assessing education quality. In order to gauge people’s perception on the quality of educational services, a survey was conducted interviewing parents of students at the Research-and-Education Center of the Vologda Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Vologda). Analysis of the obtained data indicates that parents give a positive assessment of the Center’s activities related to the organization of the educational process. The survey has identified a number of issues which require further research. The prospects for the study are the analysis of the existing methods and construction of a comprehensive system of education quality assessment taking into accounts the views of all participants of the educational process (students, parents, teachers, etc.). This system can be tested at the Research-and-Educational Center. Materials presented in the article can be useful for teachers of educational institutions, principals and deputy principals of educational organizations, students attending pedagogical higher education institutions, employees and educational coordinators at scientific and educational centers and organizations
Keywords
education quality, research-and-education center, education quality assessment