The Italian National Evaluation System: a quasi-project. Critical reflections and open questions

The issue of the evaluation of students, teachers, school managers, schools themselves\r\nand entire education systems has begun to attract particular attention among\r\ngovernments and policy-makers, both internationally and, increasingly, at national levels.\r\nSchool evaluation is used as a tool to improve understanding of how students progress in\r\ntheir learning, to provide information to parents and indeed society at large about\r\nperformance, and to improve schools in terms of their leadership and teaching practices.\r\nIn Italy, a National Evaluation System (SNV) was introduced in the 2014-2015 school\r\nyear. The realities of the political landscape and the contradictions, uncertainties and\r\ncomplexities of the school sector have substantially conditioned the SNV’s\r\nimplementation and continue to exert a major influence on it. This paper focuses on\r\nsome of the many points worthy of attention and on the numerous open questions, with\r\nparticular reference to their implications for pedagogical and educational research.