Valutare per migliorare tra retorica e ricerca

The article aims to offer a theoretical and methodological contribution on topics regarding school evaluation, reflecting on the complex relationships between evaluation and improvement, starting from the critical interpretation of the Decreto Istitutivo del Sistema Nazionale di Valutazione (SNV, D.Lgs. n. 80/2013). The objective is to consider the effects of evaluation and accountability systems in terms of school improvement by exploring different aspects. First of all, by analysing if the publication of schools’ results in standardized tests could stimulate the improvement or, instead, could produce unforeseen and undesired effects. Secondly, by observing the consequences of the emersion of a quasi-market system in education field in terms of competition among schools and of choice processes by families. Lastly, by reflecting on the role of school operators, which would need an adequate training permitting evaluation to become a lever for improvement.