The Value for Schools Project: Pedagogical research and Learning Analytics for the self-evaluation of schools

Abstract

In the wake of the innovative thrusts of scholastic evaluation systems coming from the international and European context, as well as the development in this last decade of Learning Analytics (LA), as a new sector of Technology- Enhanced Learning (TEL), the scientific approach to educational research broadens its horizons and invites us to understand how Research, Technology, Pedagogy and Evaluation can/should constructively dialogue. In fact, in view of the sudden development of the LA, the need to connect the collection and analysis of data on school evaluation in direct synergy with the pedagogical and psychological principles of learning processes and the interpersonal dynamics activated in governance emerges more and more. The present study, starting from the political scenario and from the technological evolution mentioned above, aims to illustrate the pedagogical structure of the project “Valu.E for schools - Supporting school self-evaluation”, promoted by INVALSI, whose purpose is to “test and evaluate the effectiveness of different training models to support school self-evaluation activities.” It presents itself as an innovative heuristic purpose that opens up interesting and fertile spaces for dialogue between educational research, professional training and self-evaluation of schools.