Italian school and social inclusion has now 40 years of history and is often considered a model to follow (Dell'Anna, Bellacicco & Ianes, 2023). Nevertheless, numerous inclusion-skeptical positions persist, questioning the feasibility and actual utility for individuals with disabilities of an inclusive educational system. Recent scientific publications critically examine inclusive practices (Imray & Colley, 2017; Gordon-Gould & Hornby, 2023), asserting that even Italian inclusive practices have proven ineffective. So, what is the current situation in Italy? How well does the value of school and social inclusion withstand the daily challenges of implementation and the practical feasibility of inclusive values? This study aims to investigate, within the Italian population, whether the value of school and social inclusion is still indispensable and what difficulties/ strengths exist in certain applicative dimensions. An online questionnaire consisting of 19 questions (excluding demographic questions) was administered, and 3,137 individuals (average age = 44.6 years, standard deviation = 9.51) working with people with disabilities responded. Most participants were special education teachers (62.6%) and regular teachers (22.9%), while the rest of the sample comprised other educational professions. Descriptive analyses were conducted, and six thematic dimensions were identified: the dimension of value, realization, and feasibility; socio-emotional outcomes; collaborations; sexuality; and, finally, adult life. The results indicate that the value of inclusion is still deeply rooted in the Italian educational system. However, when it comes to practical implementation, significant difficulties in the feasibility of inclusion become evident. Concerning collaboration with services and families, the data show a considerable decline. Encouragingly, there is a proactive attitude towards the introduction of psychoeducational figures aimed at addressing the sexuality of individuals with disabilities. Lastly, support for the possibility of inclusive mixed classrooms is advocated by the school system.

The European education system, during the reform processes of the 1990s, advocated for the standardization of educational pathways and qualifications (Novoa and Dejong-Lambert, 2003; Ertl, 2006). Specifically, isomorphization primarily targeted decentralization policies and evaluative measures. Subsequently, this process extended to tertiary education, addressing the comparability of qualifications and levels of education, while leaving the organization of lower educational levels to the member states. The outcome is the fragmentation in the organizational structures of European education systems, resulting in varying levels of selectivity towards students (Benadusi and Giancola, 2014).

In countries with more selective systems, early tracking practices enhance the influence of social backgrounds on educational choices. This sustains stronger homogeneity in terms of social background and academic performance within each school (Duru-Bellat and Suchaut, 2005). The price for this internal homogeneity appears to be large school segregation, with greater disparities between schools in terms of social composition and average student performance (Sciffer et al., 2022).

Mechanisms of micro-level interactions intervene in individual actions by providing access to information, and influencing beliefs and desires (Hedstrom, 2005; Collins, 2005), while operating within the bounds defined by structural-level variables (Coleman, 1994). In matters of equity of educational outcomes the importance of primary effects (Boudon, 1974) is confirmed by the OECD (2023), which indicates socioeconomic status (SES) as the best predictor of achievement on standardized tests, regardless of the educational system.

The mix of micro and structural effects implies a reinforcement of segregation processes, pointing towards the existence of deep inequalities that tend to concentrate less fortunate students within disadvantaged schools. This phenomenon contributes to the perpetuation of educational disparities and, consequently, leads to divergent life outcomes (Dämmrich and Triventi, 2018).

Aware of the dependency of performances on SES and accounting for the structure of the educational system, the work aims to study the ability of national school systems to ‘produce’ students who perform better and worse than what would be expected of them based on their social background.

Using OECD PISA 2022 data and other international sources a database will be created storing data on educational systems both at the individual and country level for selected European countries. Educational systems will be evaluated in terms of the degree of selectivity defined by their structures (Benadusi, Giancola, 2014; European Commission, 2023). Secondly, primary effects are introduced through the residue distribution of a model that predicts mathematic performances (the main focus of the 2022 round of PISA) from SES. A model fitted on the overall sample will be used to identify the thresholds that will define at what point one deviates from the expectations. These thresholds will be then used on the residues from the same model, fitted on the data at the single country level. This will allow us to observe how many students in each country fall behind or beyond what could be generally expected. Finally, it will be observed whether the selectivity of educational systems affects the ability to 'produce' these students who deviate from expectations.

PCTOs (Pathways for Transversal Competencies and Orientation) in the Italian education system represent a strategic methodology for the global development of upper secondary school students and the orientation of their educational and professional choices (Keeley, 2007; Vitale, 2016). The project here presented, which is funded with PRIN 2022 funds, aims to analyze the characteristics of PCTOs and evaluate their influence on personal resources, as well as student dispersion and orientation measures. The project consists of three studies. The first study aims to explore if and how the implementation and objectives of PCTOs are described in the Three-Year Training Offer Plans (PTOF) of 200 institutes randomly selected at the national level. This study will highlight any variations and adherence to ministerial standards through a document analysis (Bianquin et al., 2018; Bolasco, 2021). The second study includes conducting six case studies involving 6 secondary schools, two for each region involved (Lazio, Lombardy, and Emilia-Romagna). This phase aims to collect data at different levels, including institute, teachers, and students, through the Training Research methodology (Asquini, 2018), to understand the factors that hinder and facilitate the planning of PCTOs and their effects on students' educational and professional development choices. The third study involves conducting a retrospective survey among first-year university students to evaluate the impact of PCTOs on their career choices and individual well-being. The project aims to create an open-access digital platform for schools to self-evaluate and improve the effectiveness of PCTOs. The theoretical-cognitive, educational, and technological implications of the project will contribute to informing educational policies and improving school practices, promoting continuous evaluation and an improvement cycle to raise the overall quality of educational paths.

This contribution aims to elucidate the stages and objectives of the research project in detail, seeking to share the methodologies and objectives with the scientific community, thereby facilitating collaboration, discussion, and the exchange of knowledge within the field.

Internationally, there is quite a consensus on the close connection between high-quality inclusive schooling and educational justice, whereby, at the national level, the different structural conditions of education systems and teacher-professionalization shape the scientific discourses in a meaningful way (Seitz, Auer & Bellacicco, 2023). The Italian education system, with its almost five decades-old tradition of inclusive schooling, herein takes on a pioneering role compared to other nations worldwide (EASNIE, 2023). However, under the umbrella of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (United Nations, 2015) - more specifically, Goal 4 - Italy, like all other nations, pursues the objective to "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all" (p. 14). The latter builds the main starting point of the research project GOODWILL (Researching school development: Pathways to inclusive quality Education; 2023-2026). It is being conducted in connection to a initiative by the education department of the Province of Bolzano, which provides school-development-counselling and in-house-training for teachers in 23 schools to foster inclusive school quality.

The mixed-methods-design of our study starts from two groundlying assumptions: first, schools are understood as learning organisations (Senge, 1990), and second, educational discourses on (in)equity and inclusion along with school laws and curricula provide an institutionalised framework (Sturm, 2023) for change processes on the cultural level. Consequently, school cultures become highly relevant since they open up possibilities for options for action that people can then rely on in specific situations (Helsper, 2008).

While the qualitative part of the research focuses both school staff and students' social practices (Schatzki, 2001) and their conjunctive knowledge (Bohnsack, 2017), the quantitative part of the study (T1 = January 2024; T2 = January 2026) – focus of the planned contribution - sheds light on teachers’ valuation and self-efficacy beliefs related to heterogeneity in the classroom, which are relevant for quality schooling based on equity. Starting from the assumption that teachers’ confidence to be competent and able to implement inclusive teaching but also to cope with possible challenges is one of the crucial factors in the realisation of (quality) inclusive education (Hecht et al., 2016), we argue that teachers’ perceptions and self-efficacy beliefs build an important starting point related to their professionalisation due to their motivational component and the relationship with health, satisfaction, and ability to act (Bandura, 1977; Ross, 1995). Participants are teachers from a total of 23 schools from different school levels (i.e., primary school, lower and upper secondary schools, vocational schools). Next to sociodemographic and professionalisation related data, teachers are asked about the evaluation of heterogeneity (10 items) as well as about their self-efficacy beliefs in relation to teaching heterogeneous learning groups (30 items) on a 6-point Likert-scale (1 = do not agree at all; 6 = fully agree) by Schmitz et al. (2020). Preliminary results will be presented and discussed within the framework of inequity relevant aspects of school cultures and school development processes.

Both national (INVALSI) and international (OECD-PISA) surveys reveal a significant and persistent skills gap between students from the North and students from the South of Italy.

Such gap, which affects text comprehension as well logical and mathematical skills, tends to increase with the student’s age, reaching its maximum at the end of upper secondary school.

Basic human capital accumulation is therefore a further dimension of the disadvantage that affects the regions of Southern Italy, which adds to the differences in the rate of employment, in economic conditions, in health and much more.

Most studies that focus on the North-South skills gap tend to highlight differences in the availability of economic resources and in the distribution of family features, such as average social status and parents' level of education. According to empirical evidence, household/parents’ characteristics are by far the stronger predictors of school outcomes and, accordingly, one of the most likely causes of the skills gap.

In the opinion of some scholars, this testifies the persistent classist nature of Italian school.

This discussion, however important, risks to overshadow the possible interweaving of economic, social and institutional factors which, in a complex and differentiated society, can be jointly responsible of a specific empirical result.

In our study we put together data from different statistical and administrative sources in order to investigate how the interaction between different social systems – school, labour market, vocational training sector – can affect the average level of students’ achievements in different areas of our Country.

More specifically, we put forward the hypothesis (to be assessed empirically) that where alternative channels of training or social integration are available schools tend to be more selective, favouring the exit of students with lower performance (or otherwise more problematic).

To the extent that such a dynamic is under way, at least some part of the observable skills gap between Northern and Southern regions could be attributed to differences in the selection mechanisms of the respective student populations.

It is important to note that this research perspective, whereas supported by data, has significant implications in terms of the design of policies aimed at reducing geographical skills gaps. For example, one might consider the possibility to allocate resources to encourage the development of a stronger vocational training sector as an alternative or a complement to increasing school funding.

According to such a perspective, in this preliminary study we display and discuss data and empirical evidence consistent with the interpretative hypothesis. as an additional step we include a simulation analysis which estimates the possible impact of selection mechanisms upon the observed gap in average skills between Northern and Southern students.

Although still in progress, we confide that this line of research can provide an effective contribution to empirical research on the causes of the geographical gaps in our country and on the choice of policies that can help reduce them.