Valu.E for Schools is part of Action 2 of the PON Valu.E project – Supporting school self-evaluation – aimed at testing how effective training models are in supporting school self-evaluation activities, innovatively placing INVALSI in the role of enabling the creation of networks between different players, involved in supporting the quality of the National Evaluation System (SNV). The support actions that are being tested are aimed at improving how well school personnel can intervene in the evaluation and self-evaluation processes through a training initiative specifically developed by partners specialised in professional training, who are selected through a public procedure in Italy: each partner is entrusted with a sample of schools divided into territorial macro-areas (North, Centre, South and Islands), and is constantly supervised by the PON Valu.E Project research group that has drawn up the Formative Action Lines (FAL), which align the theoretical framework of the training programme at the national level.
Research Partners
The following are the research proposals made in partnership between INVALSI and each of the three partners that leads the activities locally :
FADING – Training in Self-Evaluation for School Principals and Teachers, Networking and Process Management: proposal by an Inter-University Consortium aimed at supporting self-evaluation for schools in Northern Italy and made up of Cremit, SmaIL and Cinedumedia (research centres of the Milan Cattolica, Bologna and Turin Universities, respectively). The project methodologically defines the Formative Action Lines inherent in peer learning amongst schools proposed by the PON Valu.E project research group, as part of a research/action plan that is mainly conducted online (RAOL). The proposal is characterised by three key-aspects, namely: a) a blended learning system; b) e-tivities, as suggested by Gilly Salmon; c) a coaching app. Using supporting technologies and online tools, this research/action pathway aims to promote the interaction amongst the participating schools as well as assist them to progressively focus on emerging issues. Researchers, school principals and teachers work together to improve professional skills in schools.
TAM – Training on Self-Assessment for Improvement, an activity that is run by our partner OPPI – Organisation for the Professional Preparation of Teachers. The aim of the proposal is to support the self-evaluation activities of the schools included in the Central Italy sample, by effectively handling the analysis and improvement processes, through a comprehensive outlook that will increase their ability to read and analyse data. The research proposal is also aimed at developing innovative measures, fostering relationships and connecting the different fields of educational evaluation research: processes, outcomes and resources, with the ultimate aim of triggering positive change in schools.
“Form/Action, because thought can only produce change through action”. The main aim of this training programme run by our partner Know K. is to conduct participatory research-action in schools in Southern Italy and Sardinia, with the help of cutting-edge information technology on an ongoing basis. The programme aims to raise awareness about how useful school self-evaluation is in order to make all school stakeholders increasingly qualified and active players in self-diagnosis processes.
Methodology
The methodology proposed by INVALSI within the framework of the Formative Action Lines (FAL) provides innovative resources, including peer learning between schools (exchange between peers on aspects of tutoring, cooperative learning and evaluation) and situated learning (situated approach and enactive teaching for the enhancement of the context which gives meaning and sense to the processes).
Valu.E for Schools aims to foster the empowerment of schools, activating and promoting decentralised forms of support that most effectively respond to the needs of schools, creating new synergies with local stakeholders as envisaged in the Regulations on the national evaluation system in education and training (Presidential Decree 80/2013).
Recipients
The Action has a duration of three years. 90 schools are expected to be involved: 45 of these schools will be the intervention group which is provided with ‘tailor-made’ training and support by the training programme partners; another 45 schools will be the control group. A centralised distance learning activity, developed and coordinated by INVALSI, will be dedicated to the latter.
In preparing the evaluation design, a paradigm combining different approaches was adopted (Stame, 2016; Stern, 2012), based on the objectives and the multiplicity of levels, activities and players involved.
The Action has a duration of three years. 90 schools are expected to be involved: 45 of these schools will be the intervention group which is provided with ‘tailor-made’ training and support by the training programme partners; another 45 schools will be the control group. A centralised distance learning activity, developed and co-ordinated by INVALSI, will be dedicated to the latter. In preparing the evaluation design, a paradigm combining different approaches was adopted (Stame, 2016; Stern, 2012), based on the objectives and the multiplicity of levels, activities and players involved.
In preparing the evaluation design, a paradigm combining different approaches was adopted (Stame, 2016; Stern, 2012), based on the objectives and the multiplicity of levels, activities and players involved.
