Abstract:

Competency certification represents a key element in the sustainability of educational systems. This process aims to make the level of student competencies at the end of the school cycle more transparent and comparable. Most European countries use a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods for competency assessment. However, there is a growing focus on using qualitative methods to capture the complexity of competencies in real-world contexts. A common element among various European countries is the increasing importance attributed to key citizenship competencies and the ability to adapt to the changing needs of the labor market and society. For some years now, competency certification has become mandatory in Italy, starting from the first cycle of education until the end of secondary school. However, teachers face difficulties in aligning disciplinary knowledge with transversal competencies, often due to a lack of shared standards, adequate assessment tools, and collaboration among teachers of different subjects. Based on these premises, our investigation, conducted through a questionnaire addressed to 383 secondary school teachers, aims to describe the current school reality and investigate the practices, tools, opinions, and difficulties of teachers in evaluating and certifying competencies in the indicated school level. The objective is to understand how assessment tools are used and whether they are valid and effective in capturing the complexity of competencies, under the hypothesis that systematic observations and problem-solving simulations in real-world contexts are more suitable in this regard compared to other methods. In particular, we noted the strategies used by teachers preparatory to the design of an assessment tool and the tools used for verifying learning outcomes. 73.8% of survey participants responded with ‘very much’ and ‘a great deal’ to the statement ‘I define the objectives to be assessed beforehand.’ The same options were indicated by 41.9% for ‘The evaluation criteria are defined with other teachers’. Citizenship competencies are regularly assessed, with particular attention to the ability to work in a group (76.2%), and the results show that in their evaluation, teachers largely use systematic observations (60.7%) and problem-solving simulations in real-world contexts (62.9%). Additionally, the following are assessed: Collaborate and participate: interacting in a group, 76.2% of cases responded ‘very much’ and ‘a great deal’; Ability to identify connections and relationships, 75.9%; Acting autonomously and responsibly, 72.8%; and Problem-solving, 71.5%. The areas of criticality among teachers, in general, lie in the fact that competency certification is generally carried out using annual disciplinary assessments or by converting grades into competency levels. Specific teacher training in this regard is required, and we will monitor the outcomes of the application of new certification models that incorporate the orientation reforms (D. 14/2024). In this sense, the result of our investigation is interesting, showing that 38.8% of technical institute teachers, 32.1% of professional institute teachers, and 37.3% of high school teachers responded "very much" regarding the frequency of using self-assessment for orientation purposes.

Keywords:

Teacher training, Evaluation, Certification, Competencies students.