Students’ Subjective Well-Being as a Criterion for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Children’s Centers: Evidence from All-Russian Children’s Center “Ocean”

Abstract

There is a problem in evaluating improvements in education effectiveness that is related to the selection of appropriate, clear assessment criteria and methods for measuring the results of the educational process. This article discusses the possibility of using the students’ subjective well-being as a criterion for internal evaluation of the educational system effectiveness in a children's center. It  describes indicators of subjective well-being and methods for studying them. The process was tested at the All-Russian Children’s Center “Ocean” in 2019. Two cohorts participated in the study: ‘Parus’ (92 people aged 13 to 17 years, average age 14.7 years) and ‘Brigantine’ (74 people aged 11 to 17 years, average age 15.2 years) - a total of 168 people. To study the cognitive component of well-being, the level of satisfaction among students in "Ocean," and the opportunity to realize their needs in this children’s center were assessed. The study used a modified methodology of international index of personal well-being, a modified version of the techniques ‘Level of correlation values and accessibility in various spheres of life’ developed by E. B Fantalova. To assess the emotional component of pupils’ well-being, their prevailing emotional background was studied using a modified version of the questionnaire ‘Feelings in school’ developed by T. N. Klyuyeva). The subjective well-being indicators in specific aspects of the children's center life were analyzed, both for the center as a whole and separately for the cohorts. This analysis made it possible to assess the possibilities of fulfilling different children’s needs in the Centre, the number of areas where there was an internal conflict (due to insufficient subjective availability of value) and an internal vacuum (due to excessive presence of low-value phenomena in the child’s life). An integral indicator of misalignment was taken into account, showing the degree of internal dissatisfaction and the obstacles to basic life needs.