Resumen de Mesures de l’apprentissage et variables contextuelles [Measures of learning and contextual variables]
The first part of this paper explains learning measurement techniques that are used in Italy for the evaluation of the education system. The task is entrusted to the INVALSI (Istituto Nazionale per la VALutazione del Sistema educativo di Istruzione e di formazione – National Institute for the evaluation of the educational system of education and the training) and it is carried out each year across the entire school population through standardized tests by which we measure the skills acquired by students in the understanding of a text, in reflection on language and in mathematics. Questionnaires completed by students also include useful questions to rebuild some of the contextual variables that might influence the performance of students. In the second part, classic tools of correlational sociolinguistics are used to relate the values of social indicators considered with the scores obtained by students in different areas of grammatical competence and in various aspects of reading skills. This is done in different areas and aspects, with social variables considered either individually or collectively. The discussion of the results obtained will be made case by case as the data are presented, while in the conclusions we will discuss how the results can be used to improve teaching.
