World Bank2014-12-172014-12-172012-09-26https://hdl.handle.net/10986/20776Bulgaria's performance on all three disciplines of the program for international student assessment (PISA) 2012 was slightly better than its PISA 2000 performance, after having dropped between 2000 and 2006. The improvements in performance between 2006 and 2012 promoted shared prosperity, but equality of opportunities is still a major challenge. In fact, disaggregating students' PISA scores across a number of variables for example, location and ethnicity - shows that large inequalities exist in Bulgaria's education system. Peer characteristics and school segregation are the key drivers of the Bulgarian education system's performance. An in-depth analysis into math and reading skills shows imbalances in performance in Bulgaria. The main areas in which Bulgaria can further improve its educational system involve: delaying the tracking of students to reduce segregation in schools; continue improving the quality of educational resources to ensure that all students learn in an environment with books, lab equipment, and technological hardware and software; encouraging longer pre-primary education for all children; learning from successful schools to improve accountability mechanisms for schools countrywide, particularly in rural areas; reevaluating the curriculum and assessment framework to better align student learning to the envisaged country goals; and promoting effective classroom management and strengthening teaching practices.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACADEMIC PERFORMANCEACCESS TO INFORMATIONADMISSION POLICIESASSESSMENT FRAMEWORKAVERAGE SCOREBASIC EDUCATIONBASIC READINGBETTER LEARNINGBETTER SCHOOLSCHILD DEVELOPMENTCLASS SIZECLASSROOMCLASSROOM ENVIRONMENTCLASSROOM MANAGEMENTCLASSROOMSCOGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTCOGNITIVE SKILLSCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIESCOMPULSORY EDUCATIONCOURSE CONTENTCURRICULUMCURRICULUM DEVELOPMENTDECENTRALIZATIONDECISION MAKINGDEGREESDISADVANTAGED GROUPSDISADVANTAGED STUDENTSDISCIPLINESDROPOUT RATEDROPOUT RATESEARLY CHILDHOODEARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATIONECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHEDUCATION AUTHORITIESEDUCATION ECONOMICSEDUCATION FOR ALLEDUCATION MANAGEMENTEDUCATION POLICYEDUCATION SECTOREDUCATION STUDENTSEDUCATION SYSTEMEDUCATION SYSTEMSEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONSEDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIESEDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCEEDUCATIONAL RESEARCHEDUCATIONAL RESOURCESEDUCATIONAL SYSTEMEDUCATIONAL SYSTEMSEFFECT ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTELITE SCHOOLSEND OF GRADEETHNIC GROUPSETHNIC MINORITIESEXAMEXAMSFORMAL SCHOOLINGFUNCTIONALLY ILLITERATEGENDER DISPARITIESGENDER GAPGENERAL EDUCATIONGIRLSGRADUATION RATEGROSS ENROLLMENTGROSS ENROLLMENT RATEHIGH SCHOOLHUMAN CAPITALINDEXESINSTRUCTIONINSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALSINTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENTINTERVENTIONSKINDERGARTENLABOR MARKET PARTICIPATIONLEARNINGLEARNING ENVIRONMENTLEARNING OUTCOMESLIBRARIESLINGUISTIC MINORITIESLINGUISTIC MINORITYLITERACYLITERATURELIVING STANDARDSLOWER SECONDARYMATH SCORESMATH SKILLSMATHEMATICAL CONCEPTSMATHEMATICSMEASURING EDUCATION QUALITYMINISTRY OF EDUCATIONOLD STUDENTSPAPERSPARENTAL EDUCATIONPEDAGOGYPERFORMANCE IN MATHPREPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRESCHOOL EDUCATIONPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIMARY EDUCATION PROGRAMPRIMARY GROSS ENROLLMENTPRIMARY GROSS ENROLLMENT RATEPRIMARY SCHOOLPRIMARY SCHOOLSPRIVATE SCHOOLPRIVATE TUTORINGPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTPROFICIENCYPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC EXPENDITURESQUALITY EDUCATIONQUALITY OF EDUCATIONQUALITY OF LIFEQUALITY OF PERFORMANCEQUALITY PRESCHOOLQUALITY PRESCHOOL EDUCATIONREADERSREADINGREADING ACHIEVEMENTREADING SKILLSREASONINGRURAL AREASRURAL DISPARITIESRURAL LOCATIONSRURAL STUDENTSSALARY INCREASESSCHOOL ADMINISTRATIONSCHOOL AUTONOMYSCHOOL BOARDSSCHOOL CLIMATESCHOOL COMMUNITYSCHOOL DROPOUTSCHOOL DROPOUTSSCHOOL ENVIRONMENTSCHOOL FACTORSSCHOOL IMPROVEMENTSCHOOL INSTRUCTIONSCHOOL LEARNINGSCHOOL LEVELSCHOOL LOCATIONSCHOOL OWNERSHIPSCHOOL POLICIESSCHOOL POLICYSCHOOL PRINCIPALSSCHOOL READINESSSCHOOL REFORMSCHOOL SCHOOLSSCHOOL STUDENTSSCHOOL SYSTEMSCHOOL TEACHERSCHOOL-AGESCHOOL-AGE POPULATIONSCHOOLINGSCHOOLSSCIENCE STUDYSECONDARY EDUCATIONSECONDARY SCHOOLSSERVICE TRAININGSHOW HOWSKILL ACQUISITIONSKILL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL MOBILITYSOCIAL SKILLSSTUDENT ACHIEVEMENTSTUDENT ASSESSMENTSTUDENT ASSESSMENTSSTUDENT BODYSTUDENT LEARNINGSTUDENT OUTCOMESSTUDENT PERFORMANCESTUDENT POPULATIONSTUDENT SCORESSTUDENT-TEACHER RATIOTEACHERTEACHER DEVELOPMENTTEACHER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMSTEACHER HIRINGTEACHER MANAGEMENTTEACHER SALARIESTEACHER SHORTAGETEACHER SUPPORTTEACHERSTEACHINGTEACHING FORCETERTIARY EDUCATIONTEST SCORESTEXTBOOKTEXTBOOKSTYPES OF SCHOOLSUPPER SECONDARYUPPER SECONDARY EDUCATIONUPPER SECONDARY SCHOOLSURBAN SCHOOLSVOCATIONAL EDUCATIONVOCATIONAL SCHOOLVOCATIONAL SCHOOLSVOCATIONAL SUBJECTSWORKFORCE DEVELOPMENTYOUTH10.1596/20776