1. Comenius Project – Water Essence of Life Helsinki 16-19/01/2013 Liceo Scientifico Pacinotti – Cagliari - Italy Italian Education and OCSE-PISA results

2. CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF DATA SURVAY 2009 1.Improvements compared to the surveys of 2003 and 2006 2.Improvements confirmed in 2012 3.Data and graphics complete the survey of 2012 not released by a national report

3. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 LITERACY READING OECD 2009 average493 Italy average 2009486 Italy ranks slightly below the OECD average but showed a significant improvement Italy average 2003476 Italy average 2006469

4. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 Italy score: 486 OECD average score: 493 READING – AVERAGE PERFORMANCE

5. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 READING – AVERAGE PERFORMANCE IN ITALY BY MACRO GEOGRAPHICAL AREA

6. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 READING – AVERAGE PERFORMANCE IN ITALY BY TYPE OF SCHOOL

7. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 READING – PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE 1.OECD average of students at Level 6= 0.8% 2.Italian average of students at Level 6= 0.4%

8. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 LITERACY MATHEMATICS Italy, with a score of 483 points, whilst being below the OECD average, gets a better result than in PISA 2006, which had an average of 462 and PISA 2003, which had an average of 466. Considering this data on mathematic-literacy scale the average score of Italian students falls within the Level 3 while in 2006 and 2003 was at Level 2.

9. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 MATHEMATICS – PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE 1.OECD average of students at Level 6= 3.1%

10. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 MATHEMATICS – PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS AT DIFFERENT PERFORMANCE LEVELS FOR MACRO GEOGRAPHICAL AREA

11. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 MATHEMATICS –PERFORMANCE OF ITALIAN STUDENTS BY TYPE OF SCHOOL

12. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 MATHEMATICS – PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS AT EACH LEVEL IN ITALIAN TYPE OF SCHOOL

13. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 LITERACY SCIENCES Italy, with an average score of 489, whilst being statistically significantly below the OECD average, achieves significantly higher than in 2006 (average 475).

14. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 SCIENCES – PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS BASED ON DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE Italy, with an average score of 489, whilst being statistically below the OECD average, achieves significantly higher than in 2006 (average 475).

15. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 SCIENCES – AVERAGE PERFORMANCE IN ITALY BY MACRO GEOGRAPHICAL AREA

16. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 SCIENCES – AVERAGE PERFORMANCE OF ITALIAN STUDENTS BY TYPE OF SCHOOL

17. DATA COLLECTION AND TABLES 2009 SCIENCES – PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS AT EACH LEVEL IN ITALIAN TYPE OF SCHOOL

18. THE RESULTS OF THE ITALIAN STUDENTS IN SURVEY 2009 Poor understanding of the test texts or their misinterpretation, probably because of little attention to the reading of the instructions or of a non complete reading. Difficulties in identifying and recognizing the mathematics they have learned at school in the PISA tests, i.e. in math tests that relate to real life, and therefore knowing how to apply it in different contexts.

19. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS The draft survey promoted internationally by the OECD, made in Italy by INVALSI (National Institute for the Evaluation of Educational System of Education and Training), found resistance both among teachers (whether university or secondary school) and among leading experts in this field for the following reasons...

20. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS... a conservative pedagogical perspective that continues to focus teaching mainly through teacher centred lectures and assessing based mainly on oral tests...

21. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS... The study of history and literature have a considerable weight in our courses...

22. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS... The evaluation of our education system does not take into account what actually takes place in the classroom (programmes methodology, test typology etc. ) and fundamentally the results are strictly related to the type of tests that are carried out (Giorgio Israel)...

23. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS... The objective risk that the views of the OECD PISA tests do not interfere too much on education policies in individual countries as noted by The APMEP (French association of teachers of mathematics for teaching public)...

24. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS... OECD has a more macroeconomic tendency to read more processes and therefore consider the growth of functional skills development more from an economical rather than cultural perspective...

25. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS... The risk of transforming the school into a machine concentrated on the success of the tests where the activities are predominantly based on training the students to pass them...

26. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS... The need to invest in the training of teachers in order to avoid a generalized and opportunistic “teaching to the test”...

27. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS... The "teaching to the test" is now being challenged in the countries in which it was implemented...

28. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS... The OECD PISA project and INVALSI do not take into account the characteristics of Italian education...

29. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS... there is an impoverishment of knowledge among middle school students (11/13 years) in conjunction with the insertion of INVALSI tests which are compulsory the final year exam...

30. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS... the evaluation parameters. have not been identified in a univocal way...

31. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS... Even the authoritative Finnish teachers and experts believe that if the students are assessed on their ability to understand mathematical concepts rather than maths practice, Finland would end up at the bottom...

32. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS... Transforming school into a machine based on the success of a test would result in an excessive simplification of knowledge.

33. REFLECTIONS OF TEACHERS AND ITALIAN EXPERTS In a page by Dostoevskij, “ The Diary of a Writer “ January 1876 we find written: “It’s a real pity that currently everything possible is done to render things easier for children, not only in all fields of education, in learning notions, but also in games and enjoyment. As soon as the child begins to stutter his first words, all efforts to facilitate the task are taken. All the prevailing education has no other preoccupation. However facilitating does not always mean improving, sometimes it can also come to mean regression. Two or more ideas, two or three impressions experienced more deeply in childhood through one’s personal effort (or rather through personal suffering) will lead the child through life with more depth than the school that is more organized to facilitate things, where nothing is precise, neither good nor bad, where even vice nor virtues virtuous.”

34. SOME CONCLUSIONS ON THE OECD REPORT 2009 Italy invests little and badly on education: 4.5% of GDP compared to an average of 5.7% in most industrialized countries. Teachers are among the lowest paid (a high school teacher earns (max) € 48,000.00 € 60,000.00 against the wages of their colleagues from other countries). The average number of hours of teaching a week of Italian teachers is higher than the European average in secondary school Grade II, 18 hours against 16.3 on average. Too many hours for pupils at school (8000 versus an average of OECD 6777). The sudden rise of the number of graduates (5% a year, compared to 1999), is explained by “the three-year degrees”.

35. WHAT TO DO? WHO SHOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY? As far as the curriculum is concerned its planning regards the political power supported by experts and professional associations, whereas regards the pedagogy and methodology the individual teacher can do something about it. What can be done? Integrate the teacher’s test typology with the tests that PISA usually provides ; Adopt a more text centred approach to avoid mere rote learning (Rohr F.); Increase the opportunities of exchange with the realities of schools in other countries.