Action Research to Train Teachers Towards School Self-Evaluation

Culture of evaluation at social micro-level among schools is gradually developing with the scholastic autonomy system. Embedded evaluative experiences at the level of school context (meso and/or micro level) are done contemporary to that at national and international stages (macro level). Teachers usually become enrolled as voluntary evaluators. Having motivation and using appropriately evaluative tools and language are two aspects perceived as necessary by teachers. Our paper shows a case study about a teacher training organized in some primary and middle schools of Genoa. The purpose of the training process was to improve teacher expertise in standardized evaluations of student performances on reading literacy. The main hypothesis is that for a successful training on how to realize tests on students performance it is useful to embed the stages of social research involving teachers using action research. Creating a model of teacher training can help to combine both emic and etic methodological perspectives to facilitate the articulation of the training process and its methodological issues. As the matter of fact aspects such as defining the theoretical framework, individuating the literacy and its dimensions and indicators to be evaluated, selecting sample, building evaluative tools and establish how to administer them, elaborating and analyzing results are relevant. Moreover the question is also how to communicate results to different school stakeholders. Both scientific and practical aspects are underlined. The main results are shown by descriptive analysis.