As it was already mentioned above monitoring is regular tracking of knowledge and skills mastering quality in educational process.

How does monitoring as diagnosing and controlling system in teaching process differs from the estimation of knowledge and skills, traditionally existing in all educational systems?

In research of V.M. Polonsky the recognition of examination and estimation of knowledge as necessary part of teaching and educational process is initial phase; in many respects its success depends on their correct statement. The author determines the basic functions of examination and estimation of knowledge: teaching, controlling and educating as with their help the knowledge which was acquired by students on each grade level, the achievements and defects in preparation of students, the work efficiency of teacher emerge. On the basis of examination and estimation of knowledge there are put down current, annual marks and readiness for the further education is determined. The way how the examination and estimation of knowledge of students are carried out, their study discipline, the attitude to the doctrine, formation of interest to a subject and also such major qualities of student as independence, initiative and diligence depends.

The examination and estimation of knowledge gives the necessary information for organization of teaching and educational process and its management. Quality of teaching, the correctness of decision of many didactic and educational problems depends on their objectivity. The author indications on subjectivity of the knowledge control emphasize the urgency of pedagogical monitoring problem once again as we consider that the objectivity of the knowledge estimation is in this case increased.

Different teachers evaluate the same answer of the student ambiguously, and the divergence in estimations reaches two and even three points. This picture is typical both for liberal and for natural disciplines. One teacher considers the same mistake as serious, other teacher - not serious, the third one - as a defect. In this case computer test programs render invaluable service and are the basic at realization of license examinations.

Analyzing features of the condition of problem of examination and estimation of knowledge, it is necessary to note, that this problem is many-sided and was considered by researchers in the most various aspects. In our country the plenty of the works concerning functions, methods, and principles of examination and estimation of knowledge, general and individual questions of estimation is published. It is possible to distinguish some basic directions in studying this problem.

The analysis of traditional methods of examination and estimation of knowledge has shown that when controlling knowledge there are no uniform, standard and equally understood purposes, which have to be achieved during teaching. The purposes of teaching are formulated very widely and suppose different interpretation by teachers: to give strong knowledge of sciences bases, to generate logic thinking, cognitive activity of students; worldview etc. It is not clear thus, what tasks, questions; exercises students should make to show availability of these characteristics.

Another factor influencing the validity of estimation is the availability of various control objects. For some teachers the object of estimation is an actual material that was acquired by students, for others - the ability to put into practice knowledge, for the third – the ability to transfer knowledge on the decision of new problems etc. Accordingly, the various sides of the answer are evaluated and the system of verifying tasks is developed.

Besides, the subjectivity of knowledge estimation is connected to a certain extent to insufficient development of knowledge system controlling methods. Quite often the estimation of a theme, a course or its parts occurs by checking of the separate, frequently secondary elements which mastering can not reflect the mastering of the all system of knowledge and skills. Quality and sequence of questions are determined by each teacher intuitively and frequently not in the best way. It is not clear how many it is necessary to set questions for examination of the whole theme and how to compare tasks on their diagnostic value.

Each of used methods and examination forms has its advantages and weaknesses, its restrictions. During the oral examination it is not possible to envisage the quality of the answer and consequently the estimation of the revealed knowledge of the student is hindered. The teacher should react fast to the answer, set, if it is necessary, additional questions, demand the complete, full answer to the basic question, to carry out direct contact to the student during check. It is very difficult to do all this during a lesson, what, naturally, affects the objectivity of the knowledge estimation at oral examination. Though written examination is more objective than oral one has also its complexities. A teacher cannot directly monitor the answer of the student and without that it is difficult to make correct judgment about his knowledge.

Besides, it is necessary to refer to the defects of existing practice of knowledge examination and estimation the spontaneity, irrational use of methods and forms, absence of didactic purposefulness, ignoring by the teacher of prominent features of the subject material and working conditions in a class, absence of a system in its realization. That has been shown even in the researches of Perovsky.

In this connection, many teachers and students subject to fair criticism the knowledge estimation system on some faculties using for these purposes differentiated test with examination of students.

The small amount of questions does not allow to check up the knowledge of the whole course objectively; the questions are not frequently the reflection of that knowledge and skills; thus each teacher has his own judgment about the knowledge of the respondent, his own methods and criteria; the number of additional questions and their complexity depend on the teacher, what also influences the general result.

All this, anyhow, influences the result of knowledge examination and estimation. Counting of estimations at various teachers has shown that students have a plenty of good marks at some teachers, at other - bad, at the third one - approximately identical amount of both. Moreover the personal qualities of the teacher are shown both in character of teaching, and during knowledge examination and estimation. Hence, as it was already emphasized above, the problem of subjectivity exclusion in the estimation and examination requires more profound research.

Other direction in research of this problem is connected to the study of educational functions of the estimation, to the analysis of psychological conditions of effect of the teacher’s estimation on the student, to the study of influence of the estimation on the formation of students self-rating, on the interest and relation of students to a subject. In these researches there are revealed conditions at which the estimation of the teacher renders the greatest and least educational effect, ways of formation of an adequate self-rating at students with various progress. We determined that the estimation of the teacher results in favorable educational effect only then, when a student internally agrees with it. Actually students conduct an estimation of their knowledge in parallel and not always in coordination with the teacher. At well-advanced students the concurrence between their own estimation and the estimation of teacher has made 42% of cases, and at weak students only 13% of cases. According to other researchers, the concurrence between teachers’ and student's estimation occurs in 50% of cases. It is clear that the educational effect of estimation will be much higher, if the demands made to students by teachers become clear to them.

In the last two decades in connection with the development of programmed teaching and wide implementation of technical means of teaching in the educational process new aspects in studying a problem have appeared. In programmed teaching the estimation acts as a necessary component of management and bears the information for correction of educational process. It increases requests to accuracy and reliability of the control, validity of its criteria.

The greatest efficiency of students knowledge estimation is determined not by the final examination of all material during carrying out of the differentiated test but by the monitoring of knowledge and skills mastering quality during all educational process, what is to the greatest degree achieved exclusively with the help of pedagogical monitoring.

Monitoring differs from the usual estimation of knowledge because it provides the teacher with operative feedback about the level of mastering by students of an obligatory teaching material.

Essential step in realization of the technological approach to teaching is the choice of standards of the teaching material mastering, submitted in the given work by the example of a separate theme «Visual functions and their age-specific dynamics, a refraction, an accommodation, an astigmatism, a presbyopia», the program of training students for the specialty.

To determine the contents, volume and depth of studying of the indicated theme we determined and fixed the eventual result of teaching. It has allowed formulating the set of the basic purposes of teaching.