Standardization of teacher education in the USA and Russia: a comparative study

The research presents a comparative analysis of the standardization of teacher education in the USA and Russia as the main reform tool for the education system. The study determines the place of such elements as licensing, certification, accreditation, and assessment in the structure of standardization. It identifies the common features and fundamental differences of accreditation and assessment in the United States and the Russian Federation. The paper substantiates the thesis that more standardized training and teaching activities demonstrate the trend towards the professionalization of teachers and raise their status. The traditional centralized state regulation of Russian education in the modern context is an advantage that has a positive effect on the quality of education while the United States recognize the need to create the national accreditation system for educational programs. The author concludes that a focus of Russian universities on education sciences, as opposed to the emphasis of American teacher education on major subjects, corresponds to contemporary approaches to training teachers.