ADVANCING EDUCATIONAL INCLUSION AND QUALITY IN SOUTH EAST EUROPE

The project “Advancing Inclusion and Quality in Education in South East Europe” was an international research project supported by the Open Society Institute’s Education Support Program. This project coincides with the decision of osi representatives related to 10 Countries of Southeast Europe (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia). The main objectives of the project were:

• Better understanding of the causes of inequalities in the quality and equity of education, conducting national studies of school principals;
• Support sustainable initiatives at local, national and regional level to improve quality and inclusion.

The project activities were divided into three groups:

• National research of school principals to discover their skills, values, attitudes and practices;
• National research of parents’ needs, their expectations and experiences regarding schools’ efforts towards their engagement in school life;
• Action research to initiate new community-based initiatives and document existing initiatives that are important in improving the quality of education and inclusion.

Key results:

1. Research and research reports on the capacities, values, attitudes and actions of school leaders towards advancing educational inclusiveness and quality at school level in the eight South East European countries;
2. Thirty research projects carried out in 10 South East European countries with the involvement of about 800 to 2000 participants, including pupils, parents and teachers and related reports.
3. Volume local languages on the results of national research of school principals, as well as results of participative action research.
4. A regional synthesis volume of research findings of study and action in English.