INNOVATIVE APPROACHES IN THE REGIONAL EDUCATION SYSTEM AS A DRIVER OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

This paper examines how educational innovations at the level of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation can create economic benefits: improve the quality and structure of human capital, narrow the gap between training and employer demand, strengthen the technological specialization of regions, and accelerate productivity growth. The study focuses not on a list of “fashionable practices,” but on the mechanisms of influence: which educational tools actually change the trajectory of employment and income of graduates, how the educational system supports industry renewal and the formation of regional innovation chains, and what management decisions are required to scale up effective models. A comparative analysis is used, along with the construction of an analytical framework “tool — channel of effect — outcome indicator — management condition,” applicable to various types of regions of the Russian Federation (large agglomerations, industrial territories, regions with demographic constraints). On this basis, a set of practice-oriented recommendations is developed for the formation of a regional portfolio of educational innovations and the organization of measurable monitoring of their economic effects [2–5].