Monitoring Student Progress in Mathematics and Science
At both the primary and lower secondary levels, teachers carry out periodic and annual assessments of student learning and grade students numerically on a 10-point scale.31 At the primary level, student grades are accompanied by written analytical comments. In daily practice, teachers have the autonomy to determine how to assess students, and student evaluation at all school levels is conducted through oral, written, and practical testing (depending on the subject). For each period of evaluation, schools independently draft report cards tracking student progress in each discipline. Teachers keep a register in which they record student marks and absences. At the end of the school year, teachers copy average grades onto a final report card.
Students graduate from primary to lower secondary school on the basis of an evaluation at the end of their final year of primary education (Grade 5); there is no state examination at this level. In lower secondary schools, at the end of each school period (i.e., every three to four months) and at the end of each school year, subject teachers confer in a class council to determine final student grades. Subject teachers present student grades in their respective disciplines to the class council, and then the council discusses and approves final student grades by majority vote. A grade of 6 out of 10 (equivalent to “satisfactory”) is the minimum passing grade.
Since 2004, the National Institute for the Educational Evaluation of Instruction and Training (INVALSI) has sought to improve the quality of Italy’s education system through the administration of national and international student assessments.32 External assessments of student performance are administered in Grades 2 and 5 in primary school, Grade 8 in lower secondary school, and Grade 10 in upper secondary school.33 At the end of lower secondary school (Grade 8), all students take a state examination. If they obtain an overall grade higher than 6 out of 10, they obtain the certificate required for matriculation to upper secondary education. At this stage, schools prepare their own final examinations in mathematics and science (on the basis of their curriculum). As of the 2008–2009 school year, the state examination includes the INVALSI tests for Italian and mathematics.34 Students also receive periodic and annual evaluations of their conduct, graded numerically on a 10- point scale. Students must earn a grade of at least 6 out of 10 by the class council to advance to the next grade level and in Grade 8, to take the final lower secondary school examination.