This article presents an exploratory study of educational quality in Bulgarian kindergartens at a time the educational system undergoes significant transformations in aligning with the principles shared by the majority of European countries. The focus is on the structural and process characteristics of quality, as measured by ECERS-3 on a…

This study focuses on the state and effectiveness of national funding systems of Higher Education to support the European Universities Initiative. Its focus lies on the mechanisms employed by Member States for the core funding of higher education institutions, in particular the mechanisms that include performance elements. More specifically, the…

The Bulgarian Government has made a commitment to inclusive early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). High-quality ECEC settings are more inclusive and responsive to children's individual learning needs. In partnership with UNICEF, the Ministry for Education established a…

In at least 55 countries worldwide, from, India to Canada, Russia to New Zealand, and Egypt to South Africa, Community, Schools are being developed. The International Centre of Excellence for Community Schools (ICECS) is a new non-government organization (NGO) established with funding from C. S. Mott Foundation, which is developing actual and…

The present paper tracks the attitudes of the Bulgarian students towards online education provided by the universities during the quarantine period due to the pandemic situation caused by COVID-19. The study presents data and analysis of results from an empirical survey conducted in April 2020 among students in different stages of their tertiary…

A high-quality pre-school education will improve the well-being of all children, especially those with special needs for support, will enhance their development, with respect of diversity and dignity. The article presents the results of an exploratory study on those aspects of the quality of pre-school education that are important for implementing…

In many countries, out-of-school tutoring in academic subjects has become a widespread phenomenon that affects high proportions of students. Scholarly literature has considered various determinants of participation in such tutoring, but school quality has as yet been rather neglected. The aim of the study is to explore the relationship between the…

Concise, clear and comprehensive snapshots of vocational education and training systems in EU, Iceland and Norway: this is what the Cedefop Spotlight on VET series offers. Building on individual country Spotlights, this publication provides an overview of VET systems with their distinctive qualities, such as main accession and progression routes…

This Report Card offers an assessment of child well-being in the context of sustainable development across 41 countries of the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Specifically, this report seeks to bring the SDG [Sustainable Development Goal] targets for children in high-income countries into…

In recent years, the enhancement of learning and teaching has become a priority, not only for higher education institutions, but also for national governments, the European Union and the Bologna Process. This report aims to map the learning and teaching landscape in 28 higher education systems and to provide insight into how teaching enhancement…

According to globalisation theories, the importance of international organisations such as UNESCO and EU regarding processes of policy-making is increasing and it is no longer the nation state alone that is regulating policy. Focusing on equity and social justice as central topics of the global discourse, the article raises the question of how…

In this article, we present the results of an international comparative study on the concept of Community School across nine eastern European and Eurasian countries. The study sample consists of two schools considered to be Community Schools from each country (N = 451 teachers); a teacher survey was conducted and the implementation of the…

The aim of this article is to highlight the concept "quality" with a special focus on preschool teachers' understanding and compare what preschool teachers in Austria, Bulgaria and Sweden regard as quality. Although quality is at high degree a subjective concept, some aspects are regarded decisive for good quality. A questionnaire was…

While professional development has been emphasised in many countries, few comparative studies have examined the degree of teachers' participation in professional development and its effect on teachers. Using the TIMSS 2007 data, this study analyses to what extent teachers participated in professional development in 50 TIMSS countries and examines…

"Research Highlights in Education and Science" is published annually from the selected papers invited by the editors. This edition includes 3 section and 12 papers from the fields of Education. All submissions are reviewed by at least two international reviewers. The purpose of the book is to provide the readers with the opportunity of a…