The Soviet Union has embarked upon a five-year plan to improve education at all levels. Some of the major aspects of the reform movement include: (1) improving the status of teachers by providing salary increases from 25 to 35 percent and trying to entice more men to enter teaching; (2) trying to increase the birthrate by emphasizing preschool education and providing paid maternity leave for two months before and after the birth of the child; (3) changing the age of entrance to the primary school from seven to six; (4) emphasizing vocational training at the secondary school level by combining a secondary education with vocational training; (5) improving textbooks by revising them every five years; and (6) increasing the quality of teaching by improving teacher education in the Pedagogical Academy. Other aspects of the USSR educational system discussed are: the middle school, special education programs, bilingual education, grading, pedagogical academics, discipline, and student motivation. (APG)