Studying the functional literacy of schoolchildren based on the use of educational content about Russia and Ethiopia: results of testing diagnostic tools

Introduction. In the context of developing cooperation between Russia and Ethiopia, projects are being implemented that provide Ethiopian teachers and students with access to modern educational resources that improve the standard of living of the population. One of such projects, related to the study of the functional literacy of African schoolchildren, is being implemented by the Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University named after I.N. Ulyanov. Within the framework of the project, an original methodology for assessing the formation of functional literacy of students has been developed, which requires testing. The purpose of the article is to test a diagnostic tool for studying the functional literacy of schoolchildren, developed on the basis of educational content about Russia and Ethiopia on a Russian sample. Materials and methods. To form the educational content and tasks of the methodology, an analysis of texts reflecting current information about Russia and Ethiopia was used. The methodology was tested in the format of pedagogical testing, in which 59 10th-grade students of comprehensive schools in Ulyanovsk took part. The primary data were summarized using mathematical processing methods. KEYWORDS Results. It was found that the values of the development indicators (the average score for students completing assignments) of different types of literacy are close to each other. At the same time, for reading literacy they correspond to an advanced level of development (19.35 points out of 30 possible), and for mathematical literacy (17.86 points) and natural science literacy (16.93 points) – to the average. An insufficient level of development in all types of literacy was shown by an insignificant number of respondents (1.7% for reading and mathematical literacy, and 3.4% for natural science literacy). Together with schoolchildren who showed a low level of reading and mathematical literacy, their share (20.3% and 17.0%) is significantly inferior to the total share of students with an advanced and high level (33.9% each). In terms of scientific literacy, 25.4% of high school students have insufficient and low levels of development, 22.1% have increased and high levels. Most respondents have an average level of development in all types of functional literacy: 45.8% in reading, 49.1% in mathematics, and 52.5% in natural science. A comprehensive assessment of the developed functional literacy of schoolchildren was carried out by summing up the average scores for completing assignments for each type of literacy. The final score was 54.14 points, which allows us to conclude that the level of functional literacy development was average. Conclusion. The study yielded data close to the normal distribution of the sample of respondents with a tendency for the median indicators to shift toward an increased level of functional literacy development. This confirms the diagnostic capabilities of the author's methodology and provides grounds for its use in assessing and developing the functional literacy of Russian and Ethiopian schoolchildren.