Bulgaria   SABER Country Report SCHOOL AUTONOMY AND ACCOUNTABILITY 2014     100103  Policy Goals Status 1. Autonomy in Planning and Management of the School Budget Financial resources are transferred from the central authority to schools via  municipal education offices. Each school director has autonomy to plan and implement the school’s operating budget, including legal authority over the management of teaching and non-teaching staff salaries. There is no input from parents or the community. 2. Autonomy in Personnel Management  The school director has full authority to make teacher appointment and  deployment decisions and to manage non-teaching staff. The central ministry or their regional offices have the authority and responsibility for school director appointments and deployment decisions. The municipal level can play a role in the review of the school director’s performance. 3. Participation of the School Council in School Governance The Board of Trustees assists the school with fundraising activities. No School  Council exists to enable the community to participate in school operations, personnel management, or financial oversight. 4. Assessment of School and Student Performance  Bulgaria has both school assessments and student assessments. School  assessments take place infrequently and schools are not obligated to use results to make pedagogical, personnel, or operational adjustments. Standardized student assessments are conducted annually at Grades 4, 7, and 12. Results are distributed internally within the education system, and schools are not mandated to use results to improve school operations and learning environment.  5. Accountability to Stakeholders  Regulations have been implemented in order to ensure financial accountability  and compliance with school operation rules. There are no guidelines for the use of results of student assessment, nor is the Ministry required to conduct comparative analysis of student performance.        THEWORLDBANK BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  Introduction Bulgaria is home to nearly 7.4 million people, consisting of three large ethnic groups: Bulgarians (nearly 85 In2011,theWorldBankGroupcommencedamultiͲyear percent); Turks (nearly 9 percent); and Roma (about 5 programdesignedtosupportcountriesinsystematically percent) 2 . The population is projected to shrink by 18 examining and strengthening the performance of their percentbetween2000and2025,reflectingtheimpactof education systems. Part of the World Bank’s new lowfertilityandemigration. EducationSectorStrategy1, thisevidencebasedinitiative, called SABER (Systems Approach for Better Education I. EducationinBulgaria Results),isbuildingatoolkitofdiagnosticsforexamining education systems and their component policy domains Education in Bulgaria is compulsory for ages five to against global standards, best practices, and in sixteenandispresentlycharacterizedbyhighenrollment comparison with the policies and practices of countries rates (ranging from 82 percent for preͲschool education around the world. By leveraging this global knowledge, to 95 percent for primary and 82 percent for secondary the SABER tools fill a gap in the availability of data and education) (National Statistical Institute 2013). Public evidenceonwhatmattersmosttoimprovethequalityof schools serve the majority of Bulgarian students – less educationandachievementofbetterresults.Thisreport than 1 percent of students attend private schools. discusses the results of applying the SABER School Bulgaria’spublicschoolsystemconsistsof2,476schools AutonomyandAccountability(SAA)toolinBulgaria. servingchildreningradesonethroughtwelve.Duringthe 2012Ͳ2013 school year, there were 51,711 teachers and CountryOverview 746,702 students in the public school system. The average student teacher ratio in Bulgaria is 14.4:1, Bulgaria is situated in southeastern Europe, bordering varying considerably across different types of schools theBlackSea,Greece,FYRMacedonia,Romania,Serbia, and types of communities (from 11:1 in rural secondary andTurkey.Thecountryhasatotallandmassof110,970 schoolsto19:1inurbanprimaryschools)(Table2). sq. km, and is mostly mountainous with lowlands in the north and southeast. Cold, damp winters and very hot, Table1:StructureoftheBulgarianEducationSystem drysummerscharacterizetheclimate.  LevelofEducation Ages Grades Bulgaria joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization PreͲprimaryEducation 3–6 PreͲschool (NATO) in 2004 and the European Union (EU) in 2007, Preparatory/GroupClass 6 Kindergarten followingaturbulentpoliticalandeconomictransitionin PrimarySchool 7–11 1Ͳ 4 the 1990s. Bulgaria has an estimated per capita GDP of (1ststageofbasiceduc.)   USD $14,400 for the year 2013, which ranks 93rd in the LowerSecondary 11Ͳ15 5Ͳ 8 (2ndstageofbasiceduc.) world and qualifies it as an upperͲmiddle income Secondary:  economy (CIA World Factbook, 2014). In the decade x GeneralSecondary 15–19 9–12 prior to the 2008–09 global financial crisis, Bulgaria x ProfiledSecondary 14–19 8–12 enjoyed sustained economic growth, averaging more x VocationalSecondary 14–20 8–13 than five percent a year. After a sharp decline in GDP in x VocationalSchool 13–19(it 7–12(it 2009,growthhasresumed,butonlymodestly.Nearly58  varies) varies) percent of the workforce is employed in services, and  some 35 percent and 7 percent work in industry and HigherEducation  agriculture,respectively. x University 19+  x SpecializedHigher 19+   Schools    x ProfessionalColleges 16+ 2years  duration    1 The World Bank Education Sector Strategy 2020: Learning for All 2 NationalStatisticsInstitute,Census2011, (2011), which outlines an agenda for achieving “Learning for All” in http://censusresults.nsi.bg/Census/Reports/1/2/R7.aspx thedevelopingworldoverthenextdecade.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 1 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  In a bid to address the stakeholders’ capacity gap to Table2:SelectedEducationIndicators manage such significant shifts in roles and PublicExpenditureonEducation(2013)* responsibilities, the government undertook intensive As%ofGDP 3.6 trainingsofmunicipalpersonnelandschoolprincipalson As%ofTotalGovernmentExpenditure 9.8 the management of delegated budgets. Concerns have DistributionofPublicExpenditureperLevel(%)(2010)** remained,however,abouttheadequacyoftheapproach PreͲPrimary 22.0 for differentiation of the per capita based mechanisms Primary 19.8 for allocation of funds across municipalities and schools Secondary 43.5 Tertiaryandother 14.5 (currentlymadeatthelevelofbroadgroupsofBulgarian Teacher/PupilRatioinPrimary 1:17 municipalities), which, according to education PercentageofRepeatersinPrimary 0.62 stakeholders, does not reflect adequately the needs of PrimarytoSecondaryTransitionRate 98.4 the schools in smaller and rural municipalities for the Source:*2013,MinistryofFinance,RepublicofBulgaria inputsrequiredtodeliverqualityeducation.Thereforms **2010,EdStats,WorldBank did not create clear mechanisms of accountability to  enablepolicymakersatthemunicipalleveltoholdschool Education attainment varies considerably by ethnicity: principals accountable for the use of financial resources about70percentofethnicTurksand93percentofethnic asmeasuredbytheaddedvalueofschools,inparticular Roma in Bulgaria have not completed secondary improvements in school conditions or learning education,comparedto30percentforethnicBulgarians. outcomes. Another shortcoming of the reform is the AccordingtotheNationalStatisticalInstituteofBulgaria, insufficient relationships of accountability between atthebeginningof2011,23.2percentofRomachildren schools and the parents and community members to aged 7 to 15 did not attend school, a relatively high monitor the efficient use of resources by school proportion in relation to the ethnic Turkish minority principals. (11.9 percent) and ethnic Bulgarians (5.6 percent).  Similarly, the illiteracy rate among the Roma population Despite the government’s achievements in terms of (11.8 percent) is significantly higher than that of ethnic spendingefficiencyandhighenrollment,thequalityand Turks (4.7 percent) and Bulgarians (0.5 percent). There equity of the education system have deteriorated. The arealsodisparitiesbetweenurbanandruralareas:more country has seen a negative trend in student learning than 70 percent of the urban population has completed outcomes as measured by international assessments. atleastuppersecondaryeducationcomparedtoonly40 Between 2001 and 2011, Bulgaria fell from 4th to 22nd percentofthosewholiveinruralareas. place on the international PIRLS reading assessment of 4th gradersandwasamongtheonlyfourcountriesthat Bulgaria implemented sweeping decentralization and showed net declines of reading performance over the efficiencyͲfocused reforms in basic education in 2007 decade (along with Lithuania, the Netherlands, and and2008.Theeducationsystemadjustedtothenegative Sweden) (PIRLS, 2001, 2011). Between 2000 and 2012 demographic trends by optimizing the network of the performance of Bulgarian 15ͲyearͲolds on the schools (closing and merging schools), introducing perͲ internationalPISAassessment(OECD,2001,2007,2010, capita based financing and delegating financial and 2013) 3 stagnated, while neighboring Turkey, Romania, decisionͲmakingautonomytoschoolprincipals. and Serbia achieved better results while spending less  per student. About 43.8 percent of Bulgarian students aged15arefunctionallyinnumerate(scoresbelowlevel       3 OECD’sProgramforInternationalStudentAssessment(PISA) measuresreading,mathematical,andscientificliteracyandproblem solvingskills.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 2 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  2) and have difficulty reading and understanding basic rapidlyassessitseducationsystem,settingthestagefor mathandscienceproblems(PISA2012). improvingpolicyplanningandimplementation. The unfinished school accountability reforms and the  Box2:WhatareSchoolAutonomyandAccountability? extreme selectivity in enrollment of students have  Schoolautonomyisaformofschoolmanagementinwhich worsened the equity dimensions of the education  schools are given decisionͲmaking authority over their system. This is evident in the sizeable disparities in  operations,includingthehiringandfiringofpersonnel,and educationaloutcomesbetweenruralandurbanstudents  the assessment of teachers and pedagogical practices. and between different types of schools, to the  School management under autonomy may give an disadvantageofthestudentsbelongingtothebottom40  important role to the School Council, representing the percentintermsofincome.AccordingtothePISA2012  interests of parents, in budget planning and approval, as results, the urbanͲrural gap in learning outcomes in  wellasavoice/voteinpersonneldecisions.Byincludingthe Bulgaria is the equivalent of two yearsof schooling. The  School Council in school management, school autonomy gap between secondary students in the profiled  fosters accountability (Di Gropello 2004, 2006; Barrera, FasihandPatrinos2009). academictrackandthoseinthevocationaltrackexceeds   two years. The gap between students in the top  Initsbasicformaccountabilityisdefinedastheacceptance economicquintileandthoseinthebottomquintileisthe  of responsibility and being answerable for one’s actions. In equivalent of three years of schooling. More than half  school management, accountability may take other the 15ͲyearͲold students in vocational schools (53.2  additionalmeanings:(i)theactofcompliancewiththerules percent)arefunctionallyilliterate(PISA2012),compared  andregulationsofschoolgovernance;(ii)reportingtothose to28.6percentinprofiledsecondaryschools.  with oversight authority over the school; and (iii) linking   rewards and sanctions to expected results (Heim 1996; While general profiled and nonͲprofiled schools  Rechebei2010). managed to improve their PISA performance over time  in all three domains tested—reading, math, and  science—theperformanceofvocationalstudentsstayed School autonomy is a form of a decentralized education unchanged in math and deteriorated in reading and systeminwhichschoolpersonnelareinchargeofmaking science.Thesocialstratificationofschools(thetendency most managerial decisions, frequently in partnership for students of similar socioeconomic characteristics to with parents and the community. More local control attend the same school) is highest in Bulgaria among all helps create better conditions for improving student countriesintheEUandtheEuropeandCentralAsia(ECA) learninginasustainableway,sinceitgivesteachersand region covered by the 2012 PISA assessment. This parents more opportunities to develop common goals, extremesortingofstudentsisaconsequenceofboththe increase their mutual commitment to student learning, growing residential stratification of Bulgarian and promote more efficient use of scarce school households and the very early abilityͲbased selection of resources. students, starting as early as grades 1 and 4 and  becomingsystemͲwideaftergrade7. To be effective, school autonomy must function on the  basisofcompatibleincentives,takingintoaccountnational education policies, including incentives for the II.TheCaseforSchoolAutonomyand implementationofthosepolicies.Havingmoremanagerial SchoolAccountability responsibilities at the school level automatically implies thataschoolmustalsobeaccountabletolocalstakeholders School autonomy and accountability are key as well as national and local authorities. The empirical components of an education system that ensure evidence from education systems in which schools enjoy educational quality. The transfer of core managerial managerial autonomy is that autonomy is beneficial for responsibilitiestoschoolspromoteslocalaccountability; restoring the social contract between parents and schools helpsreflectlocalpriorities,values,andneeds;andgives and instrumental in setting in motion policies to improve teachers the opportunity to establish a personal studentlearning. commitment to students and their parents (Box 2).  Benchmarking and monitoring indicators of school The progression in school autonomy in the last two autonomy and accountability allow any country to decades has led to the conceptualization of SchoolͲ  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 3 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  BasedManagement(SBM)asaformofdecentralization managerialactivitiestoasetofinterconnectedvariables in which the school is in charge of most managerial that when working together can improve system decisions but with the participation of parents and the performance. If an SBM system is unable to close, are community through school councils (Barrera, Fasih and partialsolutionseffective?Yes,inabroadsense,inwhich Patrinos2009).SBMisnotasetofpredeterminedpolicies schools can still function but their degree of andprocedures,butacontinuumofactivitiesandpolicies effectiveness and efficiency would be lower than if the put into place to improve the functioning of schools, system closes. In this regard, SBM can achieve closure allowingparentsandteacherstofocusonimprovements when it enforces enough autonomy to evaluate its in learning. As such, SBM should foster a new social results and use those results to hold someone contract between teachers and their community in accountable. which local cooperation and local accountability drive  improvementsinprofessionalandpersonalperformance This last conclusion is very important because it means byteachers(Patrinos2010). that SBM can achieve system closure when autonomy, student assessment, and accountability, are TheempiricalevidencefromSBMshowsthatitcantake operationally interrelated through the functions of the many forms or combine many activities (Barrera et al. school councils, the policies for improving teacher 2009) with differing degrees of success (see Box 3). quality, and Education Management Information UnlessSBMactivitiescontributetosystemclosure, they Systems(seeFigure1). are just a collection of isolated managerial decisions.  Therefore, the indicators of SBM that relate to school Figure1 quality must conform to the concept of a system, in which the presence or absence of some critical componentswithinthesystemalloworprecludesystem closure.  As components of a managerial system, SBM activities may behave as mediating variables: they produce an enabling environment for teachers and students, allowing for pedagogical variables, school inputs, and personalefforttoworkasintended.  When do SBM components become critical for learning? Theimproperfunctioningofaschooloraschoolsystem can be a substantial barrier to success. The managerial  component of a school system is a necessary but  insufficient condition for learning.  One can fix some  managerial components and obtain no results or alter Source:DemasandArcia,2015. some other components and obtain good results. What Note:EMIS–educationmanagementinformationsystem. combinationofcomponentsiscrucialforsuccessarestill  understudy, buttheemergingbodyof practicepoint to In managerial terms it is clear that the point of contact a set of variables that foster managerial autonomy, the between autonomous schools and their clients is assessmentofresults,and theuseoftheassessmentto primarily through the school council (Corrales, 2006). promote accountability among all stakeholders (Bruns, Similarly, school assessments are the vehicles used by Filmer and Patrinos 2011).  When these three schools to determine their needs for changes in componentsareinbalancewitheachother,theyforma pedagogical practices and to determine the training “closedsystem.” needs of their teachers. Both, pedagogical changes and  teacher training are determinant factors of teacher Definingamanagerialsystemthatcanachieveclosureis quality (Vegas 2001). Finally, the role of EMIS on conceptually important for school based management, accountability has been well established and it is bound since it transforms its components from a list of to increase as technology makes it easier to report on  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 4 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  indicatorsofinternalefficiencyandonstandardizedtest SABERSchoolAutonomyand scores(Bruns,Filmer,andPatrinos2011). Accountability:AnalyzingPerformance. Results on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) suggest that, when autonomy and The SABER School Autonomy and Accountability tool accountabilityareintelligentlycombined,theytendtobe assistsinanalyzinghowwelldevelopedthesetofpolicies associated with better student performance (OECD, are in a given country to foster managerial autonomy, 2011). The experience of highͲperforming countries4on assessresults,anduseinformationfromassessmentsto PISAindicatesthat: promote accountability. There are five policy goals for schoolautonomyandaccountability.Belowarethemain x Education systems in which schools have more indicators that can help benchmark an education autonomy over teaching content and student system’s policies that enable school autonomy and assessmenttendtoperformbetter. accountability: x Education systems in which schools have more  autonomy over resource allocation and that 1. School autonomy in the planning and publish test results perform better than schools managementoftheschoolbudget withlessautonomy. 2. Schoolautonomyinpersonnelmanagement 3. RoleoftheSchoolCouncilinschoolgovernance x Education systems in which many schools 4. Schoolandstudentassessments compete for students do not systematically 5. Accountability scorehigheronPISA.  Eachofthesepolicygoalshasasetofpolicyactionsthat x Education systems with standardized student make it possible to judge how far along an education assessmenttendtodobetterthanthosewithout system’s policies are in enabling school autonomy and suchassessments. accountability.  Each policy goal and policy action is scoredonthebasisofits statusandtheresultsclassified x PISA scores among schools with students from asLatent,Emerging,Established,orAdvanced: different social backgrounds differ less in  education systems that use standardized student Latent Emerging Established Advanced assessmentsthaninsystemsthatdonot. €{{{ €€{{ €€€{ €€€€ Reflects Reflects Reflectsgood Reflects As of now, the empirical evidence from countries that practice,with international policynotin somegood have implemented school autonomy suggests that a some bestpractice placeor practice; certain set of policies and practices are effective in limited policywork limitations fostering managerial autonomy, assessment of results, engagement stillin and the use of assessments to promote accountability. progress Benchmarking the policy intent of these variables using  SABER can be very useful for any country interested in ALatentscoresignifiesthatthepolicybehindtheindicator improvingtheperformanceofitseducationsystem. isnotyetinplaceor thatthereislimitedengagementin developing the related education policy. An Emerging score indicates that the policy in place reflects some good practice but that policy development is still in progress.AnEstablishedscoreindicatesthattheprogram       4Examplesofhighperformingcountriesthathaveimplemented schoolͲbasedmanagementpoliciesandframeworksincludethe Netherlands,Canada,andNewZealandamongothers.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 5 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  or policy reflects good practice and meets the minimum established to distribute and use information such as standardsbuttheremaybesomelimitationsinitscontent assessment results to hold schools and the education and scope.  An Advanced score indicates that the system accountable for their performance to parents, program or policy reflects best practice and it can be communities,andthepublic. consideredonparwithinternationalstandards. 1. Autonomyintheplanningandmanagementof III.Bulgaria’sPerformance:ASummaryof theschoolbudgetisEstablished Results Thispolicygoalfocusesonthedegreeofautonomythat schoolshaveinplanningandmanagingtheirbudgets.In A summary of the results of the benchmarking exercise ordertoevaluatepolicyintent,thescoringrubricmakes for Bulgaria are shown below, followed by a breakdown clearwhichareasshouldbebackedbylaws,regulations, bypolicygoal. and/or official rules in the public record. School  autonomyintheplanningandmanagementoftheschool Summary. Budgetary autonomy is Established. The budget is considered desirable because it can increase schooldirectorhasautonomytoplanandimplementthe the efficiency of financial resources, give schools more school budget. The majority of funding is transferred flexibility in budget management, and give parents the from the central level to the schools through the local opportunitytohavemorevoiceonbudgetplanningand governmentbudgets,andtheschoollevelhastheability execution. to raise additional financial resources. Autonomy in  personnel management is Established. The school The delegation of school budgets, piloted in Bulgaria in directorhasfullauthoritytomaketeacherappointment 1998andadoptednationallyin2008,providestheschool anddeploymentdecisions,andhasautonomyovernonͲ director with responsibility for preparation and teaching staff. Decisions on selection and placement of executionoftheoperationalbudget5.Accordingtopolicy schooldirectorsarehandledbytheMinistry.Theroleof pertaining to the development of the funding formula the School Council in school governance is Latent. The (MoES’s Order 9 of 2014 “Instructions for development majority of schools have Boards of Trustees (BoT), but of funding formula at local level”), the school director is they are not legally recognized as a school decision not obligated to consult with parents or community making body and do not participate in budget members to prepare or execute the budget, however preparation.Nordotheyhaveinputpertainingtoschool they must consult with their municipal education operations matters or learning inputs, and there are no authority. In practice, the school director may prepare mechanisms to engage the community in school theoperationalbudgetinconsultationwithpedagogical operations.SchoolandstudentassessmentisEmerging. staff, based on the broader parameters agreed with the Bulgaria uses both school assessments and student municipality and in compliance with all applicable assessments to evaluate the performance of the legislation. Guidelines exist to establish the set of basic education system and individual schools. However, rules and principles and provide broader guidance for resultsarenotwelldistributedtothepublic,noristhere devising funding formula and allocation of public policystipulatingthatschoolsareobligatedtouseresults resourcesamongschools. to make pedagogical, personnel, or operational  adjustments to improve the learning environment. Accountability to stakeholders is Emerging. There are InBulgariaitisnecessarytodistinguishbetweensources regulationsinplaceforcomplyingwithrulesforfinancial offinancingandexpenditure.Therearetwoapproaches and school operations. However, mechanisms are not with respect to sources of financing. First, for schools directly funded by the MoES and sectoral ministries       5 excludingsalariesforteachersandnonͲteachingstaffandcapital Operationalbudgetisdefinedasbudgettransferredthrough governmentchannelsforthedayͲtoͲdayoperationofschools costlikeschoolconstruction.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 6 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  (about10percentofschools),thebudgetisapprovedby 1.Legalauthorityoverplanningandmanagementofthe theMoESortherespectivesectoralMinistry.Second,the schoolbudgetisEstablished remaining 90 percent of schools are funded through a Indicator Score Justification perͲcapita government transfer to municipal budgets. Legalauthority Schooldirectorhas Local governments are legally required to further over legalauthorityover managementof Established managementofthe allocatethistransfertoschoolsthroughaformuladriven €€€{ theoperational operationalbudget. by the number of students enrolled, along with other budget factors agreed on with the local body representing the Legalauthority Schooldirectorhas schoolsand/ortheschooldirector.Itisimportanttonote overthe legalauthorityto that the National Association of Municipalities has a managementof Established managenonͲteaching voice in determining the level of funding to be received nonͲteaching €€€{ staffsalaries. byschoolsfromthecentrallevel. staffsalaries  Legalauthority Schooldirector In Bulgaria the school director has full autonomy over overthe determinesteacher managementof Established salarylevelusing management of nonͲteaching staff salary and is not €€€{ required to consult with parents or community teacher’s minimumsandlabor members. The salary must adhere to general salaries standardsasguides. employment policies, including employment and Schoolshaveauthority Legalauthority toraiseadditional remuneration of the Collective Employment Contract in toraise Advanced funds,includingfrom the Education System; Labor Code; and the Social additionalfunds €€€€ NGOs,privatesector, SecurityCode. fortheschool andothersources.  Collaborative Schooldirector Thespecificlevelofteachersalariesandbonusesareset budgetplanning Emerging proposesexpenditure and managed by the school director, however the andpreparation €€{{ planforoperating  general rules and the minimum thresholds per grade,  budget. qualification, andcategoryofteacheraredefinedat the central level. These are designed as guiding principles, 2. Schoolautonomyinpersonnelmanagementis within which the school director has significant Established autonomy. Similar to nonͲteaching staff, the school This policy goal measures policy intent in the director is not required to consult with parents or management of school personnel, which includes the communitymemberstomakethisdecision. principal, teachers, and nonͲteaching staff. Appointing  anddeployingprincipalsandteacherscanbecentralized AsstipulatedinthePublicEducationAct(firstadoptedin at the level of the Ministry of Education or it can be the 1991,lastamendedinJuly25,2014),theschooldirector responsibility of regional or municipal governments. In hasthelegalauthoritytoraiseotherfundsinadditionto decentralizededucationsystemsschoolshaveautonomy the transfers from the central and local governments, in teacher hiring and firing decisions. Budgetary including from parents/community members, private autonomy includes giving schools responsibility for businesses, and NGOs. Furthermore, providing they do negotiating and setting the salaries of its teaching and not hinder their ability to meet education goals, the nonͲteaching staff and using monetary and nonͲ school has the autonomy to consider other avenues or monetary bonuses as rewards for good performance. In economic means to raise and utilize financial resources centralized systems, teachers are paid directly by the tobestsuittheneedsoftheirschoolandcommunity. Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Finance under  union or civil service agreements. As a result, in  centralized systems schools have less influence over  teacher performance because they have no financial  leverage over teachers. Inversely, if a school negotiates  teachers’salaries,asprivateschoolsroutinelydo,itmay  be able to motivate teachers directly with rewards for a  jobwelldone.   SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 7 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  As with budget planning, Bulgarian schools enjoy 2. School autonomy in personnel management is significant autonomy in personnel management Established devolved to the school director. Specifically, as outlined Indicator Score Justification in the Public Education Act, 1991 (last amendment July Autonomyin Schooldirectorhasfull 2014), the school director has the legal authority to teacher authoritytomake Advanced appointanddeployteachersusingcriteriadeterminedat appointmentand teacherappointment deployment €€€€ anddeployment the school level to meet their local needs. Set at the central level, there is a general framework within which decisions decisions. theschooldirectormustoperate,whichincludesdefined Autonomyin requirements for admittance into the teaching nonͲteaching Schooldirectorhas staff Advanced profession (i.e. preͲservice qualifications), as well as autonomyovernonͲ appointmentand €€€€ teachingstaff. some minimum requirements and rules for hiring and deployment dismissalofteacherswhicharecollectivelybargainedby decisions TeacherUnionsandtheGovernment. Autonomyin  MinistryofEducationor schoolprincipal Emerging itsregionalofficehasthe The school director has autonomy over matters appointmentand €€{{ authoritytoappointand pertaining to the appointment, deployment, and deployment  deployprincipals. dismissalofnonͲteachingstaff.Similartoteachers,nonͲ decisions. teaching staff are not considered public servants, and hiring and treatment of nonͲteaching staff must adhere 3. Participation of the School Council in school governanceisLatent tothelaborcodeandminimumsalaryprovisions.  The participation of the School/Parent Council in school Formunicipallyoperatedschools,which,asnotedearlier administration is very important because it enables account for nearly 90 percent of schools in the country, parents to exercise their real power as clients of the theschooldirectorishiredbytheMinistryofEducation's educationsystem.Ifthecouncilhastocosignpayments, regional deconcentrated structures (the Regional it automatically has purchasing power. The use of a Education Inspectorate). Selection is made by a detailed operational manual is extremely important in committee representing both the inspectorate and the thisarea,sinceitallowsCouncilmemberstoadequately municipality in which the school operates. It is monitor school management performance, help the noteworthy that the school director position is not tied principalwithcashflowdecisions,andbecomeacatalyst to a specific term of office. As a result, anecdotal for seeking additional funds from the community. The evidence suggests that the position has been part of useofsuchmanualsbytheSchoolCouncilisthusagood political considerations at both the local and central vehicle for promoting increased accountability and level. Regional Education Inspectorates are responsible institutionalizingautonomy. for undertaking performance evaluations of the school  directors. Itisimportanttonotethatchangemanagementstudies  also have provided evidence that bringing stakeholders  together to plan and implement meaningful activities  also contributes to behavioral change in institutions,  including schools. Collective school planning activities  canprovideamutualvisionandsharedaccountabilityof  what parents and school staff can commit in terms of  support to the school.  These processes provide an  enablingenvironmentforbettergovernance.    In Bulgaria there are no formal School Councils. Rather,  approximately 75 percent of schools have a Board of  Trustees (BoT), which serves to financially support  schools through fundͲraising activities. They are not empowered to participate in school policies and  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 8 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  decisions, nor legally authorized to perform advisory 3. Role of the School Council in School Governance is functionsorbeagoverningstructureoftheschool.More Latent an exception than a rule, in some highͲperforming Indicator Score Justification schools (where parents are well educated and of higher BoardofTrustees(BoT) social status), BoTs tend to be more active and Participationof doesnotparticipatein depending on the school director, advice from parents theSchool Latent budgetpreparation,which maybesoughtandconsidered. Councilinbudget €{{{ isresponsibilityofschool  preparation directorinconsultation Further to the discussion in Policy Goal 1, the school withpedagogicalstaff. TheBoThasnolegal director in consultation with pedagogical staff prepares Participationin standingasanorganization theschoolbudget.TheBoThasnorole,nordoesithave Latent financial andnoformalvoiceor oversight responsibility during budget implementation oversight. €{{{ oversightauthorityon or in any matters pertaining to personnel management, budgetissues. suchasteacherappointment,transfer,orremoval. BoTdoesnothavealegal  Participationin Personnel Latent rightorvoiceinteacher There are no national guidelines or manuals to organize Management €{{{ appointments,transfers, volunteers to perform tasks in support of academic and andremovals. nonͲacademic school activities. Furthermore, Bulgaria Therearenoformal Community does not have laws or a system to promote community participationin Latent guidelinesfororganizing participation in learning inputs, such as affording a schoolactivities €{{{ volunteerstoperform duties. formalvoiceindecisionͲmakingprocesses. Therearenolawsor  Community oversightresponsibilities The composition of BoT members is not made through participationin Latent thatenablecommunity openandtransparentelections,noraretherefixedterm learninginputs €{{{ participationinlearning lengths for participating members. The BoT are inputs. registered as nonͲprofit organizations mainly to provide Therearenoprovisionsfor Transparencyin material support and raise funds for the benefit of the Latent theopenelectionofBoT Community schools. As a nonͲprofit, they have their own legal Participation €{{{ membersandforcalling structure.  However, they do not have any legal generalassemblies. requirements or formal procedures for calling general  assemblies with the school / parent community, as do systemswithestablishedandactiveSchoolCouncils. 4. Assessment of school and student  performanceisEmerging Apubliccouncil,whichisenvisionedintheconceptfora School assessments can have a big impact on school new education law as a new governing structure of the performance because it encourages parents and school, is an important step towards greater parental teacherstoagreeonscoringrulesandwaystokeeptrack andcommunityparticipation,butithasnottakenshape of them. Measuring student assessment is another yet. important way to determine if a school is effective in  improving learning. A key aspect of school autonomy is  the regular measurement of student learning, with the  intentofusingtheresultstoinformparentsandsociety,  andtomakeadjustmentstomanagerialandpedagogical  practices. Without a regular assessment of learning  outcomes school accountability is reduced and  improvingeducationqualitybecomeslesscertain.    Bulgarian schools are inspected for compliance by the  Regional Education Inspectorates of the MOES. School  performance in terms of educational outcomes, however, is not assessed directly and is only indirectly  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 9 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  evaluated through the system for national student Standardized student assessments were introduced in assessments and the analyses of the results from the 2007andareconductedannuallyatGrades4,7,and12, nationalassessments.AccordingtothePublicEducation as outlined in the Regulation for National Student Act,1991 (amended, July2014)andrelatedregulations, Assessment,Order3fortheStudentAssessmentSystem. thereisnospecifiedfrequencyofschoolinspection,and TheGrade12exam,knownasthematuraexam,isused since school inspections focus mainly on compliance to determine student eligibility for different types of rather than performance, inspections results are not a tertiary schools, and an optional section of the Grade 7 key contributor to the pedagogical, personnel, or assessment is used for selection into specialized and operational adjustments to improve the learning vocationalschools.Asaresultofadjustmentstothelevel environment. of difficulty of the exams from year to year, the results  arenotcomparableacrossyears. In addition to school inspection, school performance is  assessed based on national student assessment data. Similar to school assessments, there is no policy Data are provided to the Regional Inspectorates for obligating schools to use the results of standardized further analyses. Schools also receive the results from student assessments to make pedagogical, operational the national students’ assessments with comparison and personnel adjustments. Each school receives their with other schools and regions.  Results are not made results from the standardized student assessment exam public,norarethereareanyguidelinesforhowstudent with some analysis conducted by the MOES, however assessmentdatacouldbeusedatthedifferentlevels(i.e. resultsarenotdistributedtothepublic.Inpractice,many regionalandschoollevels). schools use the standardized assessments to track the  impact of short and longͲterm administration and 4.SchoolandstudentassessmentisEmerging pedagogical adjustments on school and student Indicator Score Justification performance. Existenceand Schoolassessments 5. School accountability to stakeholders is frequencyof Emerging existhowevertheir Emerging school €€{{ implementationdoes assessments notfollowaschedule. Accountability is at the heart of schoolͲbased Schoolsarenot management. The systemic connection between Useofschool obligatedtouseschool budgetary and personnel autonomy, parent assessmentsfor Emerging assessmenttomake participationinthefinancialandoperationalaspectsofa makingschool €€{{ pedagogical,personnel, school, and the measurement of learning outcomes are adjustments andoperational adjustments. all aimed to reinforce accountability. Only by being Existenceand Standardizedstudent accountable to parents can educational quality be frequencyof assessmentsare sustainable. The following indicators below address standardized Established conductedannuallyin aspects of accountability that can be implemented student €€€{ Grade4,7,and12 withintheframeworkofschoolͲbasedmanagement. assessments levels. In Bulgaria there are no guidelines outlining how the Useof Policydoesnotrequire results of student assessments should be used or which standardized schoolstouseresults educationstakeholdersshouldbeusingtheresults. student tomakepedagogical,  assessmentsfor Emerging operational,or According to policy, the assessment system does not pedagogical, €€{{ personneladjustments. have formal provisions that mandate comparative operational,and personnel analysisofstudentassessmentresultsovertimeorwith adjustments otherschools/regions.However,thesetypesofanalyses Educationauthorities and comparisons are implemented at the central level Publicationof andschoollevel using data from the standardized national assessment, student Established personnelreceive the Matura, and more recently, based on PISA assessments €€€{ studentassessment assessmentdata(foracademicyear2014,seeorder09Ͳ results. 126and09Ͳ130forthenationalassessmentaftergrades 4 and 7; Order 09Ͳ1131 for the Matura exams).  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 10 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  Comparisonsaredrawnbetweenregions,municipalities 5.AccountabilitytostakeholdersisEmerging andtypesofschools. Indicator Score Justification  Guidelinesfor Noguidelinesfor the Intheareaoffinancialaccountabilitytherearerulesand theuseofresults Latent useofresultsof regulations to guide spending and ensure transparency ofstudent €{{{ studentassessments at the central, municipal, and school level. The central assessments exist. level is tasked with defining regulations for financial Therearenomandates management and transparency that apply to all levels foranalysisofschool andstudent andtiersofthepublicbudget,includingreportingtothe Analysisof performance,butin entitywithfinancialoversight,accordingtotheStateand schooland Latent practicetheMOES Municipal Budget Acts, the State Financial Control Act student €{{{ carriesoutsome and the Public Education Act. Most school budgets are performance comparativeanalysis partofthemunicipalbudget.Assuch,theyaresubjectto usingstandardizedtest supervision by the national financial control institutions results. and the National Audit Office. For municipal schools, all Degreeof Regulationsfor rules and regulations related to municipal budgets are financial complyingwithrulesof also applicable to the school budget. The school is accountabilityat Established financialmanagement requiredtoimplementandcomplywithallnational and thecentral, €€€{ andtransparencyarein regional,and placeateachlevelof local laws, rules and regulations related to financial schoollevel educationsystem. managementandtransparency.Therearenoregulations Someregulationsfor for linking rewards and sanctions to compliance. In Degreeof accountabilityinschool practice, school budget supervision entails accountabilityin Established operationsareinplace, consequencesinthecasesofsignificantoverspending. school €€€{ butdonotlinkrewards  operations toperformance. In line with the Public Education Act, 1991 (amended, Norequirementto Degreeof July2014)andthemanualforitsapplication,schoolsare Latent explainandsimplify learning required to comply with the rules of school operations accountability €{{{ studentassessment andtoreporttothosewithoversightauthorityeitherat resultstothepublic. themunicipalityorMinistryforallmatterspertainingto  school operations. An innovative accountability mechanism in the Bulgarian education system is that IV.Enhancingeducationquality:Policy parentshave“freeschoolchoice”,meaningthattheyare recommendationsforBulgaria ableto“votewiththeirfeet”byputtingtheirchildinthe As mentioned earlier, the interrelations between schoolthattheyfeelwouldprovidethebesteducation. autonomy, assessment, and accountability can be  compared to a “closedͲloop system”, or one in which Althoughparentalchoicecanbeaneffectivemechanism, feedback constantly informs output.  In a closedͲloop in order for parents to make informed decisions they system, all elements in balance are critical to achieving mustbeequippedwithsufficientinformation.InBulgaria success. In this regard, schoolͲbased management can there is no mandate requiring student assessment achieve closure of the loop (balance) when it allows resultstobereleasedtothepublicandbesimplifiedand enoughautonomytomakeinformeddecisions,evaluate explained. There is also no collective body by which its results and use that information to hold someone parents and the community can voice their opinions or accountable(DemasandArcia2015). concernsinordertoholdthoseresponsiblefordelivering  aqualityeducation. As we see from the benchmarking results for Bulgaria,  the country has keenly focused reform efforts on  supporting schoolͲbased management and provided  much autonomy to school directors in terms of budget  and personnel issues.  Less developed are the SBM  policies that enable the participation of parents and the  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 11 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  community to support the school, have a voice, and 3.RoleofSchoolCommitteeonSchoolGovernance provide oversight. Coupled with the strengthening of (Latent) policies to disseminate critical information on Bulgaria’s approach to schoolͲbased management performancetostakeholders,thestakeholderscanbegin reformwasfarreachingintermsofprovidingautonomy to use that information to improve learning, service to schools in the area of planning and management of delivery and accountability.  Below are the school budget and personnel.  However, the recommendations for moving forward based on the decisionͲmaking authority at the school level is highly benchmarkingresults. concentrated on the school director.  Improving the  policy environment to better enable parents and 1.Autonomyoverplanningandmanagementofthe community members to take a more active role in what schoolbudget(Established) happens at schools can be beneficial for transparency The Government may consider a more balanced and accountability, thereby enabling autonomy with approachtobudgetautonomybyexpandingtherangeof accountability.  The lack of participation coupled with stakeholders involved in budget planning and “emerging” assessment information and low supervision, such as a public council, a structure accountability has likely prevented the reforms from proposed in the recent concept for a new Law on reaching their potential to influence better learning PreschoolandSchoolEducationthatwouldbecomposed outcomes. ofparentsandrepresentativesofthelocalgovernment. Significant efforts are required to improve the level of If its functions and constitution are designed participation by local stakeholders on school appropriately, public councils can potentially broaden governance. The public council, envisioned in the the base of school budget ownership, increase concept for a new education law as a new governing participation, and support the school director in budget structure of the school, is an important step towards planning,management,andsupervision. greater participation. In case the recently developed  draft legal framework is considered for adoption and 2.Autonomyinpersonnelmanagement(Established) implementation,itneedstoestablishformalprocedures Bulgarian schools enjoy significant autonomy in throughwhichparentscandiscusswith schooldirectors personnel management devolved to the school director and municipal authorities decisions about budgetary intermsofteachingandnonͲteachingstaff.However,it allocations,humanresources,infrastructure,andschool is recommended to expand the range of stakeholders operations. involved in the selection, attestation and performance  review of school directors since this process is highly Bulgaria may also consider increased flexibility in the centralized.  A selection and appointment mechanism distribution of roles and responsibilities of school thatinvolvescentralandlocalgovernmentsandparents directors and the public councils, allowing better isanoptionworthconsidering.Moreparticipationatthe adjustment to local circumstances. WellͲdeveloped and schoollevelmayhelptoeliminatepoliticalinfluenceand clear guidelines on the role and functions of the public retainafocusonprofessionalqualitiesandperformance councils in schoolͲlevel decisions will contribute to of the school director since parents and the public greater parental participation.  Parents will have more council are likely to be concerned with the quality of incentives to get involved in school life if there are schooling that their children receive. The government consequencestotheirparticipation. mayfurtherimprovethehumanresourceaspectsofthe  systembystrengtheningtheframeworkfortrainingand 4.SchoolandStudentAssessment(Emerging) qualification of school directors, with focus on Bulgaria’s assessment system has evolved significantly instructional leadership skills, working with parents, since 2007. At this time, it is recommended to improve performance management, and the use of assessments the policies and practices supporting the use and forshortandlongtermplansforschoolimprovement.In dissemination of assessment results. A censusͲbased thisrespect,exploringtheexperienceofEnglandinhead assessmentateacheducationalstagethatiscomparable teacher accreditation may be helpful for strengthening acrosstimeisnecessaryforprovidinglocalstakeholders, theschoolleadershipprogramsinBulgaria. including parents and municipal officials, with  informationaboutperformanceofindividualschools.In  order to use assessment data to parse out what  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 12 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  componentofstudentachievementisduetotheefforts of the school or teacher and what component is due to the student’s household or background, Bulgaria could perform value added analysis of assessment results. Englandprovidesagoodexampleofthiskindofanalysis. Using the value added scores (and not the absolute assessment scores) will ensure that publicity of results does not stigmatize schools, especially where the absolute scores are low because of the socio economic characteristics of students, but nevertheless performanceisimprovingovertime.  5.AccountabilitytoStakeholders(Emerging) The government could consider developing and implementing a more rigorous accountability system with improved dissemination of information to further empowerparentstomakeinformeddecisionsandbetter instruments to hold the school director accountable for increases in learning outcomes, greater monitoring by parents and the public councils, and real consequences for poor performance. Since parents have choice over public schools and funding follows the student, unsatisfactoryprogressofschoolsonlearningoutcomes as evidenced by valueͲadded evaluation will have real consequences for the school, if information reaches the parents appropriately. Thus, informed choice in itself is astrongaccountabilitymechanism.  In terms of financial accountability, Bulgaria has strong policiesandproceduresinplace.Toadvanceinthisarea, the Government could consider the introduction of rewards to schools that demonstrate efficient and effectiveuseoffinancialresourcesandhighͲlevelschool operations. This would serve to both motivate schools, as well as enable the MOES to identify strong characteristics and best practices that can be shared acrosstheeducationsystem.      SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 13 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014  Acknowledgements CommunityͲmanagedSchoolsinCentralAmerica.”Social Policy&Administration40(4):450Ͳ470 ClarkMatthews,Consultant,compiledthisreportwithAngela Demas, Sr. Education Specialist, Global Education and Demas, Angela and Gustavo Arcia. 2015. What Matters Knowledge Unit of the World Bank. Plamen Danchev, Most for Autonomy and Accountability: A Framework Education Specialist, of theGlobal Education Practice, Europe Paper.TheWorldBank,Washington,DC. andCentralAsiaRegion,coordinateddatacollection,provided country expertise and technical input to this report. Helpful Di Gropello, Emanuela, 2004. “Education peer review comments were submitted by Lars Sondergaard, Decentralization and Accountability Relationships in Program Leader and Juan Manuel Moreno, Lead Education Latin America.” World Bank Policy Research Working Specialist. Paper3453.Washington,DC.  DiGropello,Emanuela,2006.“AComparativeAnalysisof SchoolͲBased Management in Central America.” World Acronyms BankWorkingPaperNo.72.WashingtonDC. BoT BoardofTrustees Eurydice.2007.SchoolAutonomyinEurope.Policiesand MoES MinistryofEducationandScience Measures.Brussels:Eurydice. NGO NonͲGovernmentOrganization OECD OrganizationforEconomicCooperationand Heim, Michael. 1996. “Accountability in Education: A Development primer for school leaders.” Pacific Resources for PIRLS ProgressinInternationalReadingLiteracyStudy Education and Learning, Hawaii Department of SAA SchoolAutonomyandAccountability Education.Honolulu,Hawaii. SBM SchoolͲbasedManagement  Hood,C.2001.NewPublicManagement,InN.J.Smelser, P.B.Baltes(eds),InternationalEncyclopediaoftheSocial References andBehavorialsciences.Amsterdam:Elsevier. Arcia, Gustavo, Kevin Macdonald, Harry Anthony Patrinos, Harry Anthony. 2010. “SchoolͲBased Patrinos, and Emilio Porta. April 27, 2011. “School Management.” In Bruns, B., D. Filmer, and H.A. Patrinos Autonomy and Accountability.” Systems Approach for (2011), Making Schools Work: New Evidence on Better Education Results (SABER). Human Development AccountabilityReforms.Washington,DC:WorldBank. Network,TheWorldBank,WashingtonD.C Rechebei, Elizabeth. 2010. Accountability and Reality.  WhoShouldDoWhat?andWhoShouldBeAccountable? Arcia,Gustavo,HarryAnthonyPatrinos,EmilioPorta,and Research Into Practice Series, Pacific Resources for Kevin Macdonald. 2011. “School Autonomy and Education and Learning, Hawaii Department of Accountability in Context: Application of Benchmarking Education.Honolulu,Hawaii. Indicators in Selected European Countries.” Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER). Human OECD. 2011. School Autonomy and Accountability: Are Development Network, The World Bank, Washington TheyRelatedtoStudentPerformance?PISAinFocus. D.C. Vegas, Emiliana. 2001. “School Choice, Student Barrera, Felipe, Tazeen Fasih, and Harry Patrinos, with Performance, and Teacher and School Characteristics: Lucrecia Santibáñez, 2009. Decentralized DecisionͲ The Chilean Case.” Development Research Group. Making in Schools. The theory and evidence on SchoolͲ Washington,DC:TheWorldBank. basedmanagement.TheWorldBank,WashingtonD.C.  Bruns, Barbara, Deon Filmer, and Harry Anthony  Patrinos, 2011. Making Schools Work: New Evidence on  Accountability Reforms. Washington, DC: The World  Bank.  Corrales, Javier, 2006. “Does Parental Participation in Schools Empower or Strain Civil Society? The Case of  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 14 BULGARIAۣSCHOOLAUTONOMYANDACCOUNTABILITY SABERCOUNTRYREPORT|2014   www.worldbank.org/education/saber  The Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) initiative collects data on the policies and institutions of education systems around the world and benchmarks them against practices associated with student learning. SABER aims to give all parties with a stake in educational results—from students, administrators, teachers, and parents to policymakers and business people—an accessible, detailed, objective snapshot of how well the policies of their country's education system are oriented toward ensuring that all children and youth learn. This report focuses specifically on policies in the area of School Autonomy and Accountability. ThisworkisaproductofthestaffofTheWorldBankwithexternalcontributions.Thefindings,interpretations,andconclusionsexpressedinthis workdonotnecessarilyreflecttheviewsofTheWorldBank,itsBoardofExecutiveDirectors,orthegovernmentstheyrepresent.TheWorldBank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptanceofsuchboundaries.  SYSTEMSAPPROACHFORBETTEREDUCATIONRESULTS 15