Preparing formative assessment literate primary school teachers: A blurred snapshot from Italy

Abstract Over the last few decades, considerable attention has been directed towards formative assessment as a means of enhancing educational institutions. However, in Italy, this form of assessment has received comparatively little attention from researchers and has been identified as an underdeveloped educational practice when viewed in the context of other national school systems. Despite the recent reform in primary schools, which made formative assessment mandatory, it appears that the longstanding gap between educational research and policy has not been fully addressed, thus limiting the potential for transforming teacher assessment practices. The passage, in 2020, of the last school reform in this school system dramatically changed the assessment practices teachers are expected to enact in the classroom. More specifically, teachers switched from summative assessment, which had been extensively used for decades, to formative assessment. In light of growing concerns about teacher assessment literacy and the increased focus on formative assessment within this school system, a phenomenological interview study was conducted to examine how Italian teachers understand and implement formative assessment, in the context of the national professional development programme they attended. Three rounds of interviews were performed with 10 expert teachers. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) revealed an unclear conceptual understanding of the theory and practice of formative assessment. While the interviewees reported difficulties in putting the ambiguous policy requirements into practice, they also emphasised that the professional development programme offered little help. Finally, implications for research and practice in supporting teacher assessment literacy are discussed.