This work outlines the historical background and implications for deaf-blind psychology of the so-called Zagorsk Experiment, which was conducted in the USSR in the early-to-mid-1970s. Pioneered by the Department of Psychology at Moscow State University, the experiment involved conducting extensive fundamental research and deploying a comprehensive…

Since the break up of the USSR, its former republics have seen the emergence and rapid expansion of an examinations industry that was, to all intents and purposes, unknown in Soviet times. New national assessment agencies have been established and been charged with, amongst other things, developing high-stakes exams to replace the diverse and…

Soviet children enter elementary school at age 6 or 7. After 4 years of elementary school with the same teacher, they enter secondary school, and after 4 years there, Soviet children earn what might be called a partial secondary certificate. They may then leave school at age 14 or 15. If a student chooses to attend a vocational school or…