OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education: Bulgaria
Over the past three decades, Bulgaria has carried out important structural reforms which have helped the country reach higher levels of socio-economic development. However, long-standing social disparities and income inequalities remain and Bulgaria’s overall productivity gains have not fully translated into sustainable and inclusive growth. In this context, the country holds education as key to improve the nation’s future economic potential and increase the quality of life of its population. For example, the national development strategy, Bulgaria 2030, sets out an ambitious reform plan that identifies the importance of raising learning outcomes and addressing inequities in order to sustain socioeconomic growth. This review provides recommendations on how evaluation and assessment in Bulgaria’s education system can support the country in reaching its goals.
Supporting school improvement through evaluation
Bulgaria has a longstanding culture of elite schools that reinforce educational inequalities. To address this issue, the country recently introduced a new school evaluation system that includes several features commonly found in OECD education systems, such as new school quality standards and a new National Inspectorate of Education, which has an inspection cycle that targets low-performing schools. This chapter examines how Bulgaria can fully implement its new school evaluation framework to build a better understanding of what school quality means and direct stakeholders towards the common goal of increasing the equity and quality of the education system can help strengthen the school evaluation process and ensure that Bulgaria’s new Inspectorate, REDs and schools themselves all work.
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