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Description
Ensuring a positive learning environment is one of the key strategic measures to reduce dropping out of school. However, certain elements of the information and analytical support of the related policies are missing. The coverage mechanism is based on controls and sanctions without examining the preparedness of schools to offer the foundation for renewed engagement and retention, i.e. quality of school environment and motivated, capable and confident teachers that can work with effectively with the students who returned to school. The project aims at analysing 1) the influence of school life on the motivation and attitudes of students, their sense of connectedness and belonging to school, their emotional, behavioral and cognitive engagement and 2) the capacity of teachers to manage the classroom efficiently and work in a multicultural environment with different levels of preparedness and vulnerability of students; and offering 3) opportunities for renewed engagement and formats for retention according to the students’ needs. Analytical support will be provided to develop a set of related policies for coverage, integration and retention in school. The analyses and guidelines to the policies will raise the capacity of MES and municipalities for making science- and data-based political decisions. Conditions will be created to improve the efficiency of the coverage mechanism and for systemically important results. Measures will be supported for better participation, performance, engagement and educational achievements of the covered students.
Summary of project results
Through the implemented project for the first time the quality of school life in Bulgaria is studied in a structured way on the basis of created and validated reliable psychometric instruments (complex scales) for measurement. Two scientifically-based innovative methodologies have been created, combining the individual data of Bulgarian students and teachers from the international surveys PISA, PIRLS and TALIS, on the basis of which two surveys have been prepared in Bulgaria (and in the EU). The factors that influence the processes of disengagement and dropping out of school have been studied in depth. Profiling of students at risk of dropping out has been proposed. The connections between the quality of school life, the motivation and the academic results of the students are studied .During the implementation of the project, active cooperation and regular communication was carried out with the Minister of Education, directors of directorates in the Ministry of Education and Science, directors of schools and non-governmental organizations working in the field of education. This provided an opportunity to impact and receive feedback at different stages of the project implementation, as well as to broaden the initially envisaged context related to the operation of the Scope Mechanism in view of the additional risks of disengagement and dropping out during the Covid-19 pandemic.