The Small Grants Program (SGP) was developed together with the READ RAS. It was launched in 2009 and was run six times. The main goal of SGP is the development of expert capacity in the sphere of education quality assessment and educational management in the Russian Federation and CIS countries. The program is financed by the READ RAS component of the READ Program provided by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. CICED provides SPG administration, communicates with participants, selects proposals and process necessary documentation.
The target audience of the Small Grants Program are research teams of the CIS countries and the Russian Federation, implementing a joint research project in the field of education quality assessment and having the need for additional funding.
As an outcome of the SGP CICED gets an opportunity to get acquainted with regional experts and motivated specialists in the field of education quality assessment and to involve them in their own projects.
RESEARCH TOPICS FOR THE SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM:
- Review and recommendations for the use of data of student’s achievements assessment in policy decision making related to admission and graduation of pupils for different levels of education;
- Study of the experience of introduction and implementation of training programs for professional development for teachers on use of in-classroom assessment;
- The study of existing and new mechanisms and approaches to analysis, presentation and use of assessment data for the improvement and development of teaching and learning.
In 2016 the competition received 18 applications from research teams from the CIS countries and the Russian Federation. Despite the high potential of the applicants’ scientific ideas, only 11 out of 18 applications were submitted to the final stage of the competition. The decision on the competition was made by members of the International READ Expert Council.
In 2017, 18 applications from research teams from CIS countries and Russia were submitted to the competition. Eight applications passed the final examination; their teams received grants for the development of their own projects by decision of the READ International Expert Council.