Centre for Education Policy

The main idea of the project is to initiate and develop mutual exchange and learning between schools with the aim of improving everyday practice of all participating schools. The project will support cooperation between 10 good schools and 10 pilot schools in need for additional support, as assessed through the process of external evaluation. The Project will assist good schools in taking a role of ‘critical friend’ by empowering them to recognise their own strengths and to reinforce their capacities for providing support and exchange of good practices with other schools. On the other hand, 10 pilot schools will be supported in taking actions to improve educational opportunities for their students. In order to do so, these schools will get continuous support from the CEP, IEQE, external expert mentors and peers from good schools. Based on lessons learned, the Project will provide recommendations how this novel practice could be scaled up to the system level.

The main aim of the project is to make new proposal of The Standards of Quality of Education for next revision in 2016, which should include created and adapted indicators of National Framework of Inclusive education in Republic of Serbia made by Institute of Psychology. Institute of Evaluation of Quality of Education (IEQE) as partner on the project participates in creation of the proposal for new revision of The Standards of Quality of Education which should become more sensitive to capture different school aspects of inclusive education. Proposal of old, new and adapted standards and indicators, as well as evidences that serves in process of verification of standards and indicators, will be piloted in 20 primary schools across Republic in Serbia in order to achieve measurable, feasible, relevant, economic and informative set of standards, indicators and evidence of inclusive education with strong correlation with quality of education.

The project aims to contribute to decreasing dropout and early school leaving of children and adolescents through the establishment and enforcement of mechanisms for early identification of children at risk of dropping out, responding to this and through the implementation of efficient prevention measures and intervention at the school level. It is implemented in 10 selected primary and secondary schools. Project activities are aimed at decreasing the dropout rate in selected schools through testing the measures for dropout prevention and strengthening schools’ capacities for independent elaboration and implementation of policies in this field. Target groups of this project are children at risk of dropping out and their parents, other children in school, teachers, local community and relevant institutions (centres for social welfare, local self-governments etc.), civil society organisations, while the beneficiary will be the wider community.

The project aims to contribute to ensuring a more efficient, effective and equitable financing of higher education in the Western Balkans through (a) gathering and analysing fundamental and essential evidence on system-level and institutional financing and equity in higher education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia; (b) introduction and implementation of the EUROSTUDENT survey in the three countries of the Western Balkans; (c) strengthening local expertise in developing policies on financing and equity in higher education; (d) policy framework for an efficient, effective and equitable higher education systems in the three countries; (e) university financing models based on sensible diversification of income streams; and (d) the establishment of Regional Resource Point with the purpose to sustain results and disseminate them across the region.

The project is based on the assumption that all the changes in the educational system cannot come to life if they do not directly involve those who are the main actors in the process of teaching - teachers themselves. The backbone of the activities in this project is the idea of a teacher as a researcher, a person who examines and based on concrete evidence improves practice and actively contributes to the improvement of conditions for quality education for every child. The project aims to support local teams of teachers researchers to research and promote inclusive practices in their school and community; improve the cooperation of teachers and other participants in the educational process; identify issues in practice for improvement and proposals for their solution; increase the professional satisfaction of teachers, to contribute to the development of a knowledge base on education, teaching and learning and its promotion.

The goal of this research is to provide insight into current state of Intercultural education in Serbian system of education and to formulate recommendations for policy makers based on the evidence and emerging conclusions. The research contains following analyses: analysis of legal and strategic framework, analysis of programmes at Teacher education faculties, analysis of Draft National Curriculum Framework, analysis of Catalogue of programmes for in-service teacher professional development and analysis of project activities in civil sector. Apart from these analyses, an overview of teachers' experiences of capacity building for Intercultural education was done as well as a research on teachers' intercultural sensitivity. Additionally, besides recommendations for policy makers, a proposal of indicators for monitoring Intercultural education in Serbia was given.

Together with the GOPA Consultants (DE) and Ecorys UK Ltd (UK), Centre for Education Policy is part of the consortium led by WYG International Limited (UK), which is implementing an EU funded project “Increasing the capacity of the Serbian VET system in improving the quality, coverage and relevance of the vocational education and training”. The purpose of the project is to increase capacity of Serbian VET system in improving the quality, coverage and relevance of the vocational education and training through: 1. The assessment, revision and implementation of training programmes in the area of VET; 2. Capacity building of institutions involved in VET reform; 3. Development of the National Qualification Framework (NQF) for VET.

Joint project of the European Union and the Council of Europe aims to improve social inclusion and social cohesion in the region, by promoting inclusive education and training. The project includes the countries of Southeast Europe - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo*. Seven selected schools per country will receive technical and financial support in the form of small grant loans (donations) for the improvement of inclusive education. In addition, there will be established a regional network of inclusive pilot schools (Inclusive School Net), for mutual learning and exchanging of experiences. Centre for Education Policy is a part of consortium, in charge of providing schools in Serbia with the technical support during the project lifetime.

The overall objective of the project is to diversify and enlarge the student body to mirror the society structure in Serbia. The specific objectives are to (a) enhance and improve efficiency of national support programme for diversifying and enlarging the student body entering and completing HE; (b) to establish and institutionalise practice of data collection and analysis in the domain of social dimension of higher education, both at the system and institutional level; (c) to establish institutional framework supporting student population to participate equally in higher education.

The CONGRAD project’s wider objective is to enable Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina to continuously conduct graduate surveys for the purpose of enhancing study offerings and facilitating permanent modernisation processes. CONGRAD is expected to contribute to the improvement of institutional self-evaluation processes by collecting systematic and reliable information on the links between study offerings and subsequent employment of graduates, as well as enable the evidence based evaluation of higher education reforms and curricular changes in the last decade. CONGRAD results will be exploited through the development of an action plan for future graduate surveys including other HEIs in the Western Balkans.

The aim of the project is raising awareness of teachers about the teaching profession beyond the subject affiliation, started with project Teachers’ Attitudes towards Their Profession (RANON), familiarising teachers with the advantages of the formal partnerships in order to facilitate greater influence on the formulation and implementation of inclusive education policies, acquainting them with the importance of  these policies and strengthening their professional capacities through trainings for their successful implementation.

The project seeks primarily to strengthen the capacity of partner institutions in the Western Balkan countries in the area of educational research in general, and higher education and research policy analysis in particular, as well as to strengthen the basis for evidence based policy making in the area of higher education and research in the Western Balkans. At the same time, the project looks into the dynamics of higher education and research systems in the Western Balkans, while placing them against the backdrop of European integration processes. The project aims to contribute to knowledge within education research, higher education and research policy analysis and European studies, given that the information and analytical studies of higher education and research in the Western Balkans countries is rather limited.

The project objective is to strengthen capacity for higher education structural reform in Western Balkan countries and facilitate a coherent convergence of the Region towards European Area of Higher Education, as a prerequisite for genuine implementation of Bologna agenda. Specific project objectives are (a) to enhance Regional cooperation in higher education issues and address questions concerning coherent convergence of the Region towards EHEA; (b) to strengthen capacity for change in public administration of Partner Country’s higher education institutions, on the issues related to the EU modernisation agenda; (c) to develop joint regional roadmap for structural reform and benchmark it with the best European practice.

The project objective is to contribute to the reform of education system in Serbia and Montenegro through establishing modern, flexible and internationally recognised programmes (master level) on education policy, compliant with the highest European standards and designed to meet constantly changing needs of education systems and to respond to expectations of different groups of learners and users.

The research aims primarily at identifying and interpreting the internal and external perceptions of the social contract between university and society in Serbian context (through qualitative techniques), by addressing the issue of university’s social role and responsibility, as seen by its members, on one hand, and salient external stakeholders, on the other. In parallel, the research seeks to identify (through quantitative techniques) key characteristics of the protagonists of academic profession in a changing higher education environment.

The project strives to contribute to the development of the teaching profession, as well as creating a solid empirical base on teachers' attitudes and perceptions on key educational topics (teaching profession and its improvement, responsibility, quality of education, cooperation of teachers within the school, at the municipality level etc.) for the purpose of further in-depth analysis and research. The project also aims at creating the pre-conditions for the development of education policies based on research and with participation of teachers as key actors in the educational process; providing teachers with the information on modern trends in education and their role in improving the quality of education and, finally, providing teachers with the information about opportunities for self-organization at the municipality level and the possibilities of strengthening teachers' associations. 

This project is being implemented within a broader plan for short-term follow-up of monitoring of the implementation of inclusive education policy, which should provide regular reports and feedback needed in order to enable education system to generate quick corrective actions of different actors involved in the implementation of the inclusive education policy. The project is focused on school work and cooperation in local communities as essential objects for monitoring. In-depth qualitative analyses of practices of inclusive education (that did not exist in current practice) is being be used as monitoring methodology. Monitoring of work of a small number of schools are being be part of an analysis that would identify what worked well in practice so far, what are the key school pillars in the implementation of Individual Education Plans, what are the difficulties and barriers they faced, what are experiences gained and what schools and communities have learned from the experience of implementing inclusive education.

The main goal of the project is to formulate national qualification frameworks for teachers in Western Balkan countries which can act as guidelines for further changes of educational practices and the reform of educational system. Their elaboration entails engagement of decision makers in the field of education, teachers’ educators, researchers and teachers themselves. A special attention is given to the voice of parents and pupils, especially those from marginalized and vulnerable groups, in order to assure a truly inclusive and anti-discriminatory approach. The project also strives to empower teachers within the related project “International Teacher Leadership,” as well as to provide support to young researchers of South Eastern Europe and disseminate policy recommendations, proposals and education research results.

The overall goal of the campaign for inclusive education is creation of an inclusive culture and practice for all children - increasing the enrolment rate of children from marginalized groups and improving the quality of education that they receive in preschool, primary and secondary education. The campaign included over 100 events across Serbia together with media campaign at the national and local level, publishing of articles on the topic of inclusive education and preparation of materials for educational institutions in Serbia about quality educational practices harmonized with the principles of the Education for All. The campaign included a brochure providing an overview of basic concepts related to inclusive education was prepared in order to better understand the concept of inclusion and inclusive education, as well as the importance of inclusion in society in general.

The aim behind the study was to provide an informative comparison of policy developments, financing and performance in the three countries which were once part of the former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia: Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. The research looked into the degree to which financing as a policy instrument is conducive to the development of scientific research within these countrie. The results can primarily be used by policy makers in Serbia, and though to a lesser extent other two countries, as well as international institutions and organisations approaching or seeking to enhance their understanding of the research systems under study.

In cooperation with Magna Charta Observatory, CEP conducted research on the concept of autonomy in higher education in the former Yugoslavian countries. The research was focused on the following questions: Who is autonomous? What does autonomy mean? How autonomy is "implemented"? The analysis of the concept of autonomy on the basis of laws and regulations was conducted as well as an analysis based on interviews with key stakeholders in all ex-Yugoslavian countries. The research addresses four dimensions of autonomy, namely, organizational structures and institutional governance, staffing, finances and academic matters. Preliminary results of the research were presented at the 24th annual CHER (Consortium of Higher Education Researchers) conference in Iceland in June 2011.

The aspect of higher education teaching staff working conditions are very often neglected in higher education reform plans and even the institutions that have started developing their own quality assurance systems often do not pay attention to this aspect of quality, although it is often points out that teachers have a key role in education reforms. Through analysis of relevant documents (legal framework, statutes of universities and colleges, rulebooks) and interviewing of staff, different aspects of teachers' work were addressed  (nomination and promotion, teaching function and it’s possible training, research function and it’s possible training, administrative function and it’s possible training, the satisfaction of staff with the working conditions, etc.).

In cooperation with the Czech scientific institute CERGE-EI, CEP conducted research on the inclusiveness and efficiency of higher education in Serbia. The research involves analyzing the structure of the student population in terms of socioeconomic characteristics. Furthermore, during the research the possible impact which socioeconomic characteristics of students have on access, progress and finishing of higher education was considered. The research results were presented in the form of scientific article for publication in the Higher Education Policy in English and the journal of the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory in Serbian.

The research of higher education funding models in SEE has been launched in order to made available information about higher education funding in selected countries of SEE, but also to deepen the higher education funding theme with the systematic review of the theory about higher education funding. The research approach was by the three analytical levels: system, institutional and individual student's level. The key intention of the study is to provide material for widening and deepening the ongoing discussions on financing higher education in the region and to offer a solid overview of the current situation to interested national and international audiences alike.

The research was designed in order to provide information about the competences that teachers need in practice and that could serve as a base for development of programs and courses for teacher education. For this purpose, the project was designed to help in determining disparities between demands of practice and existing programs for teachers’ education. The aim of this research project was to examine the possibility of reform of curriculum for teachers’ education towards education based on the competencies they need in practice. Using the methodology of the European Tuning project, these competencies are defined in consultation with students and staff from institutions for training teachers, but also with a greater number of staff from future employers, e.g. kindergartens and schools. The survey included institutions for teachers’ education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia.