Valutare l’impatto nei contesti socio-educativi. Possibilità, pratiche, metodi

This research project discusses the topic of impact evaluation in education, an urgent issue not only because it is increasingly required by founders and promoted by special regulations in the Third Sector, but also because it has been little studied from a pedagogical perspective.\r\nIn the article, theoretical-methodological issues are first presented, about definitions, families, approaches, and methods by which impacts in social contexts can be assessed; then, the field of research is restricted to impact evaluations conducted in the field of education, of which some characteristics are explored through a review of primary studies conducted in the ERIC database.\r\nAfter presenting the process of inclusion/exclusion of studies, which led to the selection of 74 impact evaluations belonging to the field of education, some characteristics of the programs under evaluation are discussed, with reference to the types and territorial area in which they are distributed.