School governance: Insights from the Italian case

Abstract

The Italian school system is organised according to the principles of subsidiarity with a high degree of autonomy (Eurydice, 2019). Starting from the legal frame provided at national level (DPR 275/1999), state schools have increasingly gained relevant administrative and management functions. However, in the last five years, the Italian government implemented duties and responsibilities of schools (Baldacci et al., 2016). In particular, the so-called “La Buona Scuola” reform (Law 107/2015) increased the powers of school heads, establishing a teacher evaluation system. Following the literature in management and education (among other see Samkange, 2013, Hofman et al., 2002), the main purpose of the research work is to draw out the role of state schools in effective governance. Thereupon, this work deeply describes school governance structure in Italy. On the one hand, we review the various reforms of school governance in order to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each reform. On the other hand, we involve a quantitative research methodology to evaluate effective school governance. Basing upon empirical data, we analyse how school governance reflects social culture, students’ well-being and educational outcomes. According to Burns and Koster (OECD, 2016) we confirm the significant role of State in triggering education reform. Finally, we provide policy suggestions to Italian Ministry of Education