An essay in Russian schools: background information and current state

In the article the basic methodological problems associated with the return of the final essay to the Russian school practice have been considered. The synchronic and diachronic analysis provided in the article defines a meta-methodological character of an essay, recreating the criteria of assessment, thematic and genre transformation of an essay as the basic conditions for its success. The article contains different views of scientists on further improvement of this form of final control