Italy. The Italian education system and school autonomy

This study aims to contribute to a reflection on the nature of the transformations in the area of school autonomy in Italy. It is conducted in the frame of EPSOAE PROJECT, managed by CIES-IUL (University of Lisbone) with a private donor economic support, with an European comparative approach. The essay is divided in 4 chapters: A description of the national education system, its organization and recording distinctive national specificities where noteworthy; 2. Identification of the main changes in the organisation of the education system and how these impacts its morphology and educational offer. 3. Characterization of the current model of school autonomy in Italy and in which areas this autonomy has been strengthened or expanded. 4. Identification of the transformations in school autonomy in the last decade and a half (from 2000 to 2015). Providing an account of the type of consequences that have transpired in the system (if any) and what discussions have arisen in this regard. A further description of the evaluation (or monitoring) for these policies and what results they have achieved. In brief, the Italian case is characterized by an hybrid model of school autonomy, an heterogeneity of patterns . The several reforms introducted since 2000 remain unfinished, because the Italian institutes lack the resources necessary to extend their own autonomy (i.e. financial and workforce resource management is very limited and still controlled by central power).