This text deals with a topic that the international pedagogical debate has always placed in the foreground. But not in Italy, where the feebleness of empirical research, together with widespread attachment to common sense, have caused a basic weakness in this field of study that needs to be overcome.
After a short historical introduction, the Author tackles the insidious problem of educational determinism, which hinders the intentional action of school, the long-lasting issue of inequalities in school achievement, the advent of the neo-liberal ideology promoting a business-oriented school.
The second part of the book presents the results of an empirical research project on formative assessment, a much-debated concept at the international level.