Study on the efficiency of schools by different criteria (unified state examination results and functional literacy of school leavers)

The main goal of the article is to describe the social efficiency of St. Petersburg schools using such criteria as subject effectiveness and functional literacy. The marker of social efficiency in the empirical studies carried out by the authors of the article is the frequency of school students turning to tutoring services. The methodological basis of the study is the use of the method of secondary data analysis, which was obtained from a series of surveys among schoolchildren, parents, teachers and St. Petersburg school leavers. In addition to the empirical data obtained, the Unified State Exam ratings of the schools that took part in the surveys were collected. The concepts of the effective school are presented. The generalized “portraits” of the effective (according to the Unified State Examination criterion) and socially effective in terms of the frequency of accessing the services of tutors are given. Authors also provide the characteristics of the functional literacy concept and highlight the signs of school effectiveness by the criterion of functional literacy. Characteristics that were most distinct for effective and inefficient schools by the criterion of functional literacy were visualized. The information obtained as the result of the study can be used by school principals and teachers to improve the quality of the educational institutions’ activities and their social efficiency.