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Background. The development of a national system for teacher training and changes in higher education levels require an improved assessment system for students’ readiness for professional work. A demonstration exam is an effective mechanism for such assessment, enhancing the practice-oriented nature of midterm and final student of pedagogical universities assessments and aligning educational outcomes with professional expectations in preschool education.

Objective. To develop and test assessment materials to implement a procedure for independently assessing the readiness of students and graduates for professional work in preschool education, taking into account employers’ opinions.

Sample. The study participants included 170 students from five federal state pedagogical universities pursuing higher education programs in the “Pedagogical Education” majors in Preschool Education.

Methods. The study utilized a combination of theoretical and empirical methods: analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature and law regulatory documentation, comparison, generalization, modeling, a pedagogical experiment, questionnaires, and quantitative and qualitative data processing methods.

Results. Practice-oriented assessment materials for the demonstration exam were developed, taking into account the specifics of preschool teachers’ professional activities and employer opinions. These include a list of competencies (job functions, actions) to be assessed, examination assignments, assessment criteria, and indicators. The results of a pilot study of assessment materials at five pedagogical universities across the country implementing preschool teacher training programs indicate a high level of development of the required competencies among more than 70% of students in the disciplines and 60% in the internships. The survey revealed that the majority of students were satisfied with the new exam format, as well as some difficulties in preparing for it, confirming the need for psychological and pedagogical support for students in both real-life and virtual environments.

Conclusions. The developed assessment materials enable the implementation of a procedure for independently assessing the readiness of students and graduates for professional work in preschool education. The assessment materials can be used to conduct demo exams for the midterm and final assessments of future teachers, as well as to assess the developed competencies of current preschool teachers.

Introduction. The article presents the results of the analysis of the stages of the formation of the system of training teachers of preschool education at the Herzen State Pedagogical University. The purpose of the analysis is to reveal the historical stages and distinctive features of the St. Petersburg model of training teacher of preschool education from the period of existence of the Pedagogical Institute of Preschool Education to the modern stage of modernization of teacher education in Russia.

The result of the study was a description of the four stages of the formation of the St. Petersburg model for the preparation of the teacher of preschool education in the conditions of higher education, including: the stage of training in the conditions of functioning of the Pedagogical Institute of Preschool Education (1918-1925); stage of registration of preschool pedagogy and methods of preschool education as educational disciplines and content core of teacher training (1926-1992); stage of level and variable training of the teacher of preschool education (1992-2013); the stage of development of new practice-oriented models for the training of bachelors and masters in the profile of “pre-school education” (2014 – to the present-day).

Conclusion. The study allows to characterize the essential, distinctive features of the St. Petersburg model of training teacher for pre-school education, to identify promising areas of development, features of educational programs for the training of teachers of preschool education.

Methodology. The article describes the history of the creation and development of one of the oldest faculties of the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia – the Institute of Childhood, which prepares specialists for preschool and primary education. Authors describe the changes in structure, the content of the work and the organization’s characteristics of the institute.

The article purpose is description of the 100-year history of the development of the Institute of Childhood of the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, the identification of pedagogical traditions and prospects for the further development of the institute. The article is based on an analysis of documents and other sources describing the emergence and development of the Institute of Childhood.

Results. Starting from the St. Petersburg Froebel Society founded in 1871, the tradition of the training of specialists in preschool and primary education in Russia is described. The history of the appearance in 1918 and the development of the first higher educational institution in Russia is unfolded. The history of the development of the main directions of the Institute’s work – pedagogical and scientific research activity – is shown. The transformations of the departments, the contribution of the well-known researchers of preschool and primary education to the training of personnel, the current state and prospects for the development of the Institute of Childhood are described.

Conclusions. The presented article makes it possible to analyze the directions of development and ways of improving the system of training specialists in preschool and primary education, to realize the necessity of continuity of the two levels of education, not only in the implementation of the educational process, but also in the preparation of future educators of pre-school educational organizations and primary school teachers.