Evidence-Based Policies in Education: Initiatives and Challenges in Europe

Purpose: This article examines the state of progress of evidence-based educational policies in Europe and identifies organizations for the generation and dissemination of evidence. Further, it discusses some of the most relevant challenges facing the development of evidence-informed education policies in Europe. Design/Approach/Methods: This article analyzes official documents by the European Commission (EC) and other organizations. Literature in the field of evidence-based education worldwide is examined to identify the primary challenges and issues related to the development of a culture of evidence in Europe's education sector. Findings: The EC has recently prioritized evidence-informed policy and practice in education, increasingly encouraging member states to utilize evidence in the policy decision-making process. According to official documents, this process began in 2006 and has since enjoyed remarkable progress through several initiatives intended to spread a culture of evidence in education. However, several challenges and issues remain regarding the promotion of evidence-informed policymaking. Originality/Value: Having prioritized evidence-informed policy and practice, the EC strongly encourages the adoption of evidence in the policymaking process. This article provides a point of reference regarding the initiatives already undertaken and the challenges facing evidence-based educational policies and policymaking in Europe

RISKY-PLAY, PROSPETTIVE DI EDUCATORI E INSEGNANTI E LIVELLI DI AMMISSIBILITÁ NEI SERVIZI 0-6 E A SCUOLA: UNO STUDIO ESPLORATIVO

La letteratura internazionale risulta ormai concorde in merito al ruolo che il risky-play riveste per lo sviluppo e i processi di apprendimento di bambini e bambini con particolare riferimento alla capacità di assumersi rischi e di far fronte a situazioni rischiose. Profonda attenzione è stata accordata all’osservazione dei giochi potenzialmente rischiosi condotti dai bambini, mentre un numero estremamente ridotto di studi indaga la percezione di educatori e quella dei genitori a riguardo. Lo studio ha l’obiettivo di indagare le prospettive degli insegnanti riguardo al risky-play, rilevando in particolare le tipologie di gioco ammesse nel gioco libero dei bambini a scuola e il livello di rischio percepito per ciascuna di esse. Vengono qui presentati i primi risultati raccolti dalla somministrazione di un questionario auto-compilato a un campione, di tipo volontario, di 155 educatori e insegnanti della regione Toscana impiegati dal nido d’infanzia fino alla scuola primaria.Recently, there has been a lot of attention on risky-play, with an agreement, common to the international scientifi

L’efficacia della musica a scuola: una rassegna delle evidenze

The Italian school legislation supports the educational use of music from preschool to lower secondary school for the improvement of skills included in the student’s profile at the end of the first cycle of education. In the framework of inclusive education, musical teaching is part of the school’s commitment to promote the development of academic skills, executive functions, self-regulation as well as emotional, affective, and social dimensions. All those elements are needed for improving learning and developing attitudes towards the consideration of the differences. This work presents an umbrella review of the evidence on the effectiveness of educational musical activities for the improvement of cognitive skills, socio-emotional skills, and school performance from pupils attending K-12 as well as the factors that are relevant for improving the quality of music interventions in school. The review includes meta-analyses already conducted on the effectiveness of music and presents the method adopted for searching, selecting, and coding the studies. By reviewing the evidence, it emerges the need to carry out new research in the field of music teaching that should be more rigorous in the method than the ones included in this umbrella review

The development of the concept of “evidence” in the U.S. educational policies

It has been approximately twenty years since the word “evidence” entered in educational research thanks to Evidence Based Education and a debate grew immediately cause to the complexity in defining the concept. In this paper U.S. educational laws of the last fifteen years are presented and the meaning attributed to the concept of “evidence” in the transition between the two laws is discussed: the first law the “No Child Left Behind Act” (2002) and the new the “Every Students Succeeds Act” (2015). The definition in the last law could lead an important innovation in educational research, going towards experimental studies, and in the relationship between practice, research and policy with an Evidence Based Reform.   L’evoluzione del concetto di “evidenza” nelle politiche dell’istruzione statunitense Il termine “evidenza” è entrato nel linguaggio della ricerca educativa da circa venti anni grazie all’orientamento dell’Evidence Based Education ed è stato fin da subito un concetto molto discusso poiché difficile da definire. In questo contributo è presentato il quadro normativo che ha regolato l’organizzazione dell’istruzione statunitense degli ultimi quindici anni ed è discusso l’apporto innovativo attribuito al concetto di “evidenza” nel passaggio fra due leggi: la prima “No Child Left Behind Act” del 2002 e la recentissima “Every Students Succeeds Act” del 2015. Le indicazioni che si ricavano soprattutto in quest’ultima potrebbero segnare una svolta importante nella ricerca sull’istruzione spostando il fulcro verso studi sperimentali, regolando il rapporto tra decisioni scolastiche, ricerca didattica e politiche educative e aprendo la via all’Evidence Based Reform

The use of systematic reviews of research in Adult Education: perspectives and trends

The paper briefly describes the main phases to conduct a systematic review of research and discusses the use of this method in adult education and lifelong learning. Electronic educational databases and journals on adult education and research reviews with the highest impact factor were screened to determine which types of systematic reviews (qualitative reviews or mixed methods research synthesis vs. meta-analysis) are used and which topics (e.g. employment, lifelong learning) are investigated the most in the reviews. The objective is to obtain a portrayal of the systematic review literature in the field of adult education and lifelong learning of the last five years

La valutazione degli insegnanti nell’area OECD

La valutazione degli insegnanti è un tema di crescente interesse perché non si presenta solo come momento per misurare le conoscenze e le competenze dei docenti ma come opportunità per la loro formazione continua. L’articolo presenta i più recenti documenti europei e internazionali riguardanti la formazione degli insegnanti e analizza la rassegna conclusiva dell’indagine triennale dell’OECD Review on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes nella sezione dedicata ai sistemi di valutazione degli insegnanti

L'affidabilità dei criteri di inclusione nelle meta-analisi in educazione: una rassegna di studi

Reliability of meta-analysis standards in education: an overview of studies. Research syntheses, such as meta-analyses and systematic reviews, are methods for combining results of different primary studies on a certain theme. These methods have been widespread in the early eighties in educational research with the purpose of giving more reliable information to the teaching practice. As primary studies, not all the reviews carried out are reliable to inform practice on programs and strategies that are effective for learning. Although some systematic reviews and meta-analyses have weaknesses, it is possible to identify which procedures and standards are more valid and reliable for carrying out metaanalyses. This article reviews and examines studies that have evaluated methodological factors that affect effect sizes in meta-analyses of educational practices. The studies of this review have showed that the following methodological factors affect effect sizes: publication bias, sample size, study design, outcome measures and intervention duration. The conclusion specifies which inclusion criteria, based on the review results, are more reliable to carry out meta-analyses that have the objective to inform educational practices

Richard E. Mayer, Computer Games for Learning. An Evidence- Based Approach. Cambridge & London: The MIT Press (2014)

Con Computer games for learning Mayer intende offrire informazioni, provenienti da ricerche sperimentali, sul valore educativo dei giochi elettronici per l’apprendimento. Dato che in letteratura le opinioni sull’efficacia dei games sono contrastanti, Mayer si è proposto di fare chiarezza riguardo ai risultati della ricerca evidence based in tale ambito

Sviluppare abilità cognitive e metacognitive nell’infanzia e nella primaria: una rassegna delle evidenze

This work aims to synthesize the evidence supporting school interventions to enhance cognitive and metacognitive skills for students aged 3-10. The umbrella review included five meta-analyses on this topic selected on the basis of inclusion criteria relevant to assess their methodological quality. The review results show that metacognitive interventions are effective to enhance logical reasoning and academic achievement, effects that have a long-term. Executive function interventions are effective to enhance cognitive abilities however, there are not transfer effects on academic achievement. The review results also suggest practitioners introducing cognitive enhancement interventions in early childhood.Il contributo si propone di sintetizzare le evidenze a supporto di interventi scolastici per lo sviluppo di abilità cognitive e metacognitive per studenti nella fascia 3-10 anni. La rassegna ha incluso cinque meta-analisi su questo tema, selezionate sulla base di criteri di inclusione utili per valutare la qualità metodologica degli studi. I risultati della rassegna mostrano che interventi di natura metacognitiva sono efficaci per sviluppare abilità di ragionamento logico e performance disciplinari, effetti che permangono nel tempo. Interventi di potenziamento delle funzioni esecutive sono efficaci per lo sviluppo di abilità cognitive, tuttavia, gli studi non mostrano un effetto di trasferimento sulle performance disciplinari. Dalla rassegna emerge inoltre come suggerimento per i professionisti dell’educazione di utilizzare interventi di potenziamento cognitivo fin dalla prima infanzia