Natural-sciences education in secondary school in the USSR and Russia: History, trends, and challenges of modernization

Changes in teaching natural sciences (physics, chemistry, and biology) and mathematics in secondary school in the USSR at different times and in post-Soviet era were analyzed. The trends of these changes were discussed and analyzed. The results of passing the Unified State Examination in these classroom disciplines in recent years, as well as the results shown by Russian secondary school learners in the Program for International Student Assessment in 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009 were discussed. A conclusion was made that teaching natural sciences is deteriorating year after year. The causes of this phenomenon were analyzed, and measures to improve the training of secondary school learners on these subjects were proposed.