Early school leaving in Bulgaria: trends and determinants

In order to develop effective education strategies and policies to prevent dropping out, it is particularly important to focus on the mezzo-level and the relevant constraints arising from the school context and the functioning of educational institutions. Here, a number of reasons for early school leaving should be highlighted, based on the survey, mainly related to:

1. The general institutional conditions (non-flexibility of the education system, shortage of funding, insufficient qualification of the pedagogical staff - especially for work with children from the vulnerable groups, poor effectiveness of the existing forms of psychological-pedagogical support, etc.);

2. The school environment and the relationships with teachers and classmates (lack of close relationships with representatives of the pedagogical community, school staff - teachers, psychologists, counselors, insufficient attention to the compensatory mechanism and interventions, aimed to overcome students' educational deficits, low concern for the students' social and psycho-emotional well-being, limited supply of extracurricular forms of training and low involvement of the students in such types of activities, not particularly predisposing, child-friendly school ethos, weak students voice at school, etc.);

3. Curriculum and teaching methods (complex and overloaded school curriculum, lack of specialized programs and teaching materials for children in need of compensatory forms of education or absent from school for a longer period, use of unattractive forms and ways of teaching, etc.);

4. Facilities and technical equipment for the realization of an optimal training process (lack or acute shortage of halls, equipment, specialized technical devices, etc.).

Overall, the school today is poorly motivated to work with children at risk of dropping out. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and implement comprehensive, complex programs at the state and school level, including preventive, systemic measures, such as building an attractive, friendly learning environment, changing the «teacher-student», «student-student», «student-counselor» relationships, opening compensatory classes and introducing specialized compensatory training programs, improving the qualification of teachers, offering effective consultative assistance and free individual classes, especially for children in risk groups, setting up targeted socio-pedagogical services or structures.

References

1. Coleman J. The Concept of equality of educational opportunity. Harvard Educational Review. 1968. Vol. 38, N 1. P. 7-22.

2. Coleman J. S. Equality and Achievement in Education. Boulder, San Francisco and London, Westview Press, 1990, 340 p.

3. Council Recommendation of 28 June 2011on policies to reduce early school leaving, OJ C191/2011. Available at: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2011: 191:0001:0006:en (date of access: 4.12.2017).

4. Grissom J. B., Shepard L. A. Repeating and dropping out of school. Flunking grades: research and policies on retention. New York, The Falmer Press, 1989, pp. 34-63.

5. Thomas P. Gullota, Gerald R. Adams, Jessica M. Ramos (eds.). Handbook of Adolescent Behavioral problems: evidence-based approaches to prevention and treatment. New York, Springer, 2005, 665 p.

6. Kumpfer K. L., Alvorado R. Family-strengthing approaches for the prevention of youth problem behaviors. American Psychologist, 2003, vol. 58, pp. 457-465.

7. Reducing early school leaving: Key messages and policy support Final Report of the Thematic Working Group on Early School Leaving November 2013 Available at: https://www.bmb.gv.at/schulen/unterricht/ba/twg_report_final_25671.pdf?61ec4c (date of access: 21.05.2018).

8. Rush Sh., Vitale P. A. Analysis for determining factors that place elementary students at risk. Journal of Educational Research, 1994, vol. 8, no. 7, pp. 325-334.

9. Schlosser L. K. Teacher distance and Student disengagement: school lives on the margin. Journal of Teacher Education, 1992, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 128-141.

10. Tilkidjiev N., Milenkova V., Petkova K., Mileva N. Roma Dropping out. Sofia, Open Society Institute, 2009, 327 p.

Список литературы

1. Coleman J. The Concept of equality of educational opportunity // Harvard Educational Review. 1968. Vol. 38, N 1. P. 7-22.

2. Coleman J. S. Equality and Achievement in Education. Boulder, San Francisco and London, Westview Press, 1990. 340 p.

3. Council Recommendation of 28 June 2011on policies to reduce early school leaving, OJ C191/2011 [Electronic resource]. URL: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ. do?uri=0J:C:2011:191:0001:0006:en (date of access: 4.12.2017).

4. Grissom J. B., Shepard L. A. Repeating and dropping out of school // Flunking grades: research and policies on retention. N. Y.: The Falmer Press, 1989. P. 34-63.

5. Handbook of Adolescent Behavioral problems: evidence-based approaches to prevention and treatment / ed. by Thomas P. Gullota, Gerald R. Adams, Jessica M. Ramos. N. Y.: Springer, 2005. 665 р.

6. Kumpfer K. L., Alvorado R. Family-strengthing approaches for the prevention of youth problem behaviors // American Psychologist. 2003. Vol. 58.

7. Reducing early school leaving: Key messages and policy support Final Report of the Thematic Working Group on Early School Leaving November 2013 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.bmb.gv.at/schulen/unterricht/ba/twg_report_final_25671.pdf261ec4c (date of access: 21.05.2018).

8. Rush Sh., Vitale P. A. Analysis for determining factors that place elementary students at risk // Journal of Educational Research. 1994. Vol. 8, N 7. P. 325-334.

9. Schlosser L. K. Teacher distance and Student disengagement: school lives on the margin // Journal of Teacher Education. 1992. Vol. 43, N 2. P. 128-141.

10. Roma Dropping out / N. Tilkidjiev, V. Milenkova, K. Petkova, N. Mileva. Sofia: Open Society Institute, 2009. 327 p.

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