Search

The paper discusses the idea that the evaluation of public policies is witnessing a remarkable enlargement of its domain, in four relevant dimensions- its object, effect, methods, and data.Regarding the objects of evaluation, policy makers are increasingly interested not only in the evaluation of the content of policies (output) or the result (outcome), but also on a broader notion of impact, which includes direct and indirect effects, on the sub-system under analysis and on society at large. Regarding the effects of policies, the paper calls the attention on the rising of the notion of conditionality, requiring more flexible and sophisticated approaches for in itinere evaluation. With respect to new methods, the paper discusses new developments in counterfactual methods, robust nonparametric approaches (robust and conditional), as well as methods to deal with non commensurable indicators. Finally, the implications for evaluation of policies of the availability of microdata from public sources are examined. In all these devekopments new challenges are identified, calling for advanced methodological and quantitative work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to evaluate the scientific products of the Italian legal scholarship and make them comparable with the outputs in other scientific areas, some institutional actors have proposed to classify different scientific works (monographs, articles, notes etc.), publishers and journals. Part of learned societies in legal area have published a joint "Document on evaluation" (October 1, 2010) about methods and criteria that should be applied by various institutional organizations for several purposes. The aim of this paper is to offer a critique of that document, as well as to suggest that digital technologies (in particular, Open Access to science) might play a prominent role in the evaluation of products in the legal science field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the relationship between the mixed methods approach and the evaluation field, with an overall look at the international social science area. Analysing a set of papers that make use of mixed methods, a reflection on the prevalence of the evaluation field is presented. Text analysis through the Structural Topic Model (STM) technique allows to extract topics from a corpus of documents. Findings show how the evaluation filed has a relevant role within the area of studies that use a mixed methods approach. Evaluation emerges indeed as a topic itself. Moreover, relationships among evaluation and other disciplinary fields wherein mixed methods are used can be highlighted. The overview presented in this study allows to look at trends within the mixed methods approach in social science and within evaluation, as well as intersections between the two areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Percorsi is a matched savings program aimed at helping students from low-income households attend college. Previous experimental research has demonstrated the positive effects of the program on college enrollment and persistence. This paper investigates the extent to which these experimental results are attributable to the applied targeting strategy: students were admitted to the study through a targeting mechanism based on household income and on a predictive model of university enrollment probability. Applicants with a very high predicted university enrollment probability and those who revealed no intention of going to university were excluded from the program. The authors assess the performance of this approach by comparing cost-effectiveness estimates against simulated scenarios, showing that both the implemented and a simplified targeting yield a cost-effectiveness gain over a no targeting scenario. The study makes the case for an increased use of prior knowledge and collaboration between researchers and program managers to enhance programs' cost-effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses non-academic training in evaluation with a twofold perspective. The first one will focus on the reconstruction of a map of the existing training offer in Italy. This map, updated at September 2022, will propose an overview of the existing courses in terms of both main features (e.g.: duration, structure, providers) and macro-contents. The second perspective will match the results of this analysis with the profile, overall and by competences, of the Expert in Evaluation of Policies, Programmes, Projects and Institutions as defined by the Italian Evaluation Society (A.I.V.). This match intends to explore the correspondence between the courses and the A.I.V. proposal. In such a way, an attempt will be made, on the one hand, to contextualize the courses with respect to A.I.V. evaluator's profile and competences and, on the other hand, to do the same with A.I.V. profile in relation to evaluation courses. Finally, some recommendations will be proposed on the basis of the evidence produced by the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of the paper is to address and explore a much-debated issue within the evaluation community: the idea of "democratic evaluation". What exactly is meant by this term? When can an evaluation be said to be democratic? Through the adoption of what behaviours should this ideal translate into concrete working practice? The essay aims to contribute to broadening the community's debate on these questions, which are central at a historical-political moment such as the post-emergence from Covid-19 and in the midst of an international crisis, that between Russia and Ukraine, which calls democratic evaluation into question in our country. On a general level, in fact, the situation of uncertainty due to the unpredictable effects of the pandemic, the social and economic crisis in the country and the consequent growing distrust of the citizens towards the administration seem to have increased the demand for accountability, leading to talk, as in the rest of Europe as well, of a "democratic deficit". On the other hand, recent administrative re-centralization, even assisted by current evaluative practices, only aggravates the inefficiency of public administration. Accountability, freedom and democracy are never given, they need to be defended, always regained: evaluation assumes a strategic role to this end; it can help bring citizens closer to public administration. The crisis between Russia and Ukraine is changing geopolitical balances; the effects of the war economy, inflation, the energy crisis, and the possible escalation of the conflict add to the uncertain situation due to the pandemic. New inequalities and an increase in poverty threaten to generate deep rifts in the country's socioeconomic fabric. Systemic shocks add to chronic problems: a demographic collapse, stagnation, job insecurity, and a lag in digitization. At the same time, the political system fails to represent and stabilize consensus over time. Governments also suffer from this instability, with the inability to design and implement structural reforms for the country, including that of the bureaucracy. Social complexity, chronic problems and systemic shocks, require the ability to apply effective public policies. State intervention and the ability of the bureaucracy to be efficient and responsive to social change are central issues for the health of democracy. Public policies move within a framework of very high complexity, in which the role of evaluation emerges, which should tend to the development of democratic accountability, illuminating decision-making choices through its methodological rigor, analytical capacity and scientific knowledge. The essay thus aims to address the potential of a democratic evaluation that can broaden the number of stakeholders, the field of values that are taken into account, the repertoire of research methods, the field of interest of policies, and the very definition of the objects of evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper aims to introduce the reflection upon the Mixed Methods (MM) approach and evaluation research that will be attained in the following contributions. It is by now largely recognised how rarely a single evaluation strategy can fully capture the entire complexity of social phenomena happening in the "real" world. Nowadays, many recognise that combining different strategies and techniques within one evaluative process is more efficient than using conventional evaluation approaches with a single research strategy. This article recomposes the development of a need for a MM approach in Italy. Moreover, other papers in this special issue are briefly presented by identifying a common thread, represented by the reflection suggested in the paper by Jennifer Greene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on evaluation capacity building in educational-school contexts underlines the need to adopt training models tailored to schools, enhancing aspects such as collaboration among teachers, school culture, attitudes towards evaluation. This paper presents the results emerging from three training paths on school self-evaluation (North, Centre, and South Italian macro-areas). The project involved a judgment sample of 42 Italian schools. At the end of the training, a Satisfaction Questionnaire was administered to teachers (N. 243). The Questionnaire aimed of investigating the participants satisfaction about more dialogic and relational aspects of evaluation capacity training. As the results show, some of the pathways were able to capture trainees' needs to a greater extent, inspiring confidence and supporting the development of their evaluative skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to highlight the importance of source triangulation (Denzin, 2009; Grion et al., 2021) in school innovation evaluation processes. This contribution is part of a broader investigation aimed at evaluating the spillover of innovation processes within schools that have joined the Educational Vanguards Movement: in particular, the perceptions of School Principals, teachers and students regarding some aspects considered peculiar to the evaluation of school transformations from an innovation perspective are compared here. The results suggest a greater agreement between teachers and School Principals with respect to the levels of collaboration and sharing of innovative practices, but the opinions among the three actors involved on the use of innovative teaching methodologies and evaluation methods are discordant. Triangulation thus appears to be an added value that can provide an overall picture on the crucial aspects of organizational evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally and nationally, the need for a "culture of evaluation" has progressively grown in schools, considering internal and external evaluation processes as tools for implementing an integrated model of inclusive, equitable and sustainable education. Evaluation can become an agent of change balancing modes of accountability and improvement at the micro-individual and macro-systemic levels when it is exercised with formative intentions by mindful as well as reflective professionals who interact their expertise through effective, distributed, expert and collaborative leadership. The paper is intended to investigate the collaborative dimension in relation to evaluative practices as a trait of teaching professionalism to nurture Evaluation Capacity Building for School Improvement. A questionnaire addressed to a sample of university students revealed that future teachers' expectations of collaboratively acted evaluative practices are higher than the perception found in a group of in-service teachers. An initial descriptive data analysis suggests that capacity-building processes should also be activated in evaluation for the purpose of improvement, for which it is not enough to trigger the initial training of future teachers, but it is also necessary to work on the training of in-service teachers because training needs to be co-constructed and strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has required new reflections on the evaluation of multi-dimensional programs aimed at multiple stakeholders. The traditional approach, based on the blueprint approach, resulted unsuitable for grasping the complexity of the new scenario, due to its focus on objectives achieved. This paper aims to describe the evaluation of two projects for the inclusion of marginalized young people, through the Positive Thinking lenses. In fact, it turned out to be the theoretical approach most capable of responding to the complexities that emerged in this peculiar historical period. The evaluation becomes useful for triggering improvement actions and for capturing the efforts of the organizations. The contribution intends to open the theoretical reflection on the complexity of the programs, and on the role of the evaluator in accompanying the organizations by supporting them, in order to develop effective actions for the beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes a case study about integration of focus group and survey to listen teenagers and preteens in the participatory evaluation of a local educational project. The contribution discusses strengths and weaknesses of the focus group as a participatory instrument in the evaluation process and the integration with the survey. Furthermore, the authors reflect about possible ways to enhance the approach, starting from the Youth Participatory Evaluation model and focusing on the role of teenagers in different evaluation stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a reflection on the connection between social innovation-driven social design and social impact evaluation (SIE). The author argues for a cognitive and learning function of SIE that can be conducted through the choice of methods, approaches and tools that can capture and enhance the innovations introduced by the programs. To this end, the construction path of the research design of the "Ri-belli" project, funded by the "Educational Poverty Alleviation Fund", is presented. The intervention is representative of the renewed system of second welfare, marked by the involvement of the private social sector in the policy making process and the desire to disseminate evaluative practice in the social sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper aims to analyze the reflexivity issue in scientific research practice. Starting from a theoretical reflection on the epistemological and methodological reasons listing reflexivity among the main practical issues of social and evaluative research, the contribution seeks to highlight how the sus-tainability of reflective research practices actually swings between adequacy and challenges. With particular reference to pragmatic approaches to knowledge, it is believed that the main elements that can undermine reflex-ivity are the contexts in which the investigation takes place and the language's indexicality. Finally, particular attention is paid to the transactional nature of the evaluative research in which contexts and languages constitute a mix of indisputable relevance, for its effectiveness and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper we focus on the impact of low cost carriers on tourism. With respect to the previous literature our paper has the advantage of using a very rich dataset, including territorially disaggregated data on tourism expenditure. To ensure greater consistency we employ an instrumental variable estimator, devised by exploiting the exogenous airports' structural characteristics. Our results indicate that proximity to a low cost operating airport, measured in terms of travel time, exerts a positive effect on total tourism receipts; the estimated impact is larger if we consider leisure tourism expenditure only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The transformations characterizing the Italian university and research system reproduce a constant oscillation between autonomy and responsibility. A new pathway has been paved with the introduction of evaluation and the creation of an agency with a specific mandate for managing it, the National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes (ANVUR). The process of institutional creation has given rise to a new postbureaucratic model, inspired by independence and professionalism principles. Specific organizational devices have been implemented to this aim, such as the appointment procedures of the agency's Governing Board as well as the introduction of a new officer profile, the technical officer for evaluation, working side by side administrative staff, to serve the evaluation scope. In this paper, the agency's organizational model will be analysed, together with the main characteristics and the principles of the agency in the framework of the Italian university and research system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The impact assessment of social and labour policies is mainly based on direct inquiry on their recipients. In the case of net impact assessments, one has to observe a group of untreated individuals that is very homogeneous with respect to the treated. However, the very high cost of direct surveys limits their scope, as it prevents large sample size, hindering the reliability of estimates. The access to databases created for different purposes (fiscal, administrative, monitoring) could overcome the above limitations, with much convenience in terms of cost and data quality. This paper presents a validation exercise based on a very broad and complex employment database, the Comunicazioni Obbligaorie (COB), that collects employers' compulsory notifications in the case of changes in a job contract. This exercise was possible thanks to an extraordinary condition, giving contemporaneous access to two different data sources, the COB database and a direct survey on recipients of vocational training policies in the Piedmont Region. The paper discusses the main differences between employment indicators evaluated on direct survey data and on COB data. Inconsistencies involve the 20% sample. In addition, such inconsistencies do distort the net impact assessment, since the key variables for placement outcomes vary significantly. Hence, whenever administrative databases are used as a source for socioeconomic analyses, extreme caution and critical thinking must be used, verifying the reliability of estimates deriving from their use and comparing results with other sources. In the lack of such preliminary validation, which should be carried out in close collaboration with the regional or national authorities managing the information systems, we run the risk not only to uncritically accept information producing systematic bias, but also to prevent the development of procedures that are essential for the system development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that, despite a very large volume of management reform in the EU over the past quarter century or more, our knowledge of the impacts of these efforts is patchy and fragile. It calls on a number of key studies which each, in a different way, carries this same basic message. In the second part of the paper the reasons for this state of affairs are analyzed. One set of reasons is concerned with the considerable methodological difficulties of evaluating major reforms, which are commonly complex, evolving and spread out over time. A second set of reasons concerns the limited incentives for politicians and top officials to take a sustained interest in evaluation. A concluding reflection is that, while this basic situation is not likely to change, there are nevertheless ways in which the academic contribution to reform evaluation can be strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The first relevant attempt to describe mixed methods (MM) in the field of evaluative research is attributable to Greene and Caracelli (1997). The authors distinguish various forms of MM starting from the purposes for which they are used. Since 1997 important developments occurred in academic and professional debates related to MM in evaluative research. Starting from the reconstruction of the debate on the usefulness and use of MM in evaluative research, this paper reflects on the ontological, epistemological, methodological, and axiological issues related to the evaluative research processes using MM. This consideration needs to involve an extended vision of the issues underlying the choices of specific methods in the research process. This is even more necessary in evaluative research that constitutionally engages with complex dilemmas, especially on the axiological level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The research question in this paper is what the role of evaluation could be to improve the ability of universities to affect territorial development. Universities are supposed to be the driving force of territorial development in a global perspective, which therefore includes both local interests and the wider international and European context. What elements of the current institutional assessment can be used or valorized, and what other forms of assessment could be proposed for this purpose?. The aim is to discuss the concept of diversity of the national university system, trying to identify the potential inherent in the assessment, to avoid that diversification processes based on principles of competition and marketization can become marginalization factors of the universities located in less economically developed regions such as those located in southern Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper, in light of the growing interest that the Third Mission of the University knows at international and national level, delves into the ways in which it has been detected and evaluated by ANVUR in recent years. It shows that this assessment is based on two logics, one of a linearincremental type (more is better) and one of adequacy of the activities carried out face to the needs of the territory and the internal resources of the University. The second appears to be the most useful for the learning function that the evaluation should carry out in order to continuously improve the universities in their positioning into their settlement area. Finally, it suggests some lines of work to use TM assessment for learning purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay presents some results of a national research about the perception of the Department's deans of the changes in the governance of universities after L.N. 240/2010 and the introduction of management and evaluation control tools developed by Anvur. This paper focuses on the changes in resources for universities and departments and on criteria used in universities for the distribution of resources between departments, as perceived by Department Directors. The perception and the evaluation of these changes, by central players in the universities, appears to be very informative about the outcome of the reforms and the problems associated with them and offer elements of reflection about the uses of the tools and results of the evaluation, because of the relevance that this issue is gaining in the scaling back of resources for the University. Indeed, while 'macro' data are enabling the detection of the impact that VQR has had on different universities, empiric findings on its impact in universities, among different departments, are still modest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The guiding hypothesis of the paper assumes that big data (BD) started affecting evaluation practices (formal and informal) in / of planning. The delay in developing 'public internet' for the benefit of the platforms prevents knowledge from being recognized as a common good. But, we must not underestimate the fact that the individual data in a social practice such as planning, have little value if not aggregated and aimed at offering innovative, and not only marketable, services. BDs open up new possibilities, but they also raise new issues of a cognitive, regulatory and decision-making type, as well as ethical and deontological. Four case studies provide evidence in this regard, particularly in the domains of mapping, mobility management and participation in public policies. These evidences help to identify relevant criteria for the evaluation of BD contributions in planning processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illustrates how the selection and training of experts for the external evaluation of schools takes places. According to the typology proposed by Bezzi (2007), our choice was on the one hand towards a competent evaluation, conducted by professionals with high experience in the school sector, on the other hand towards an expert evaluation, carried out by social sciences experts with evaluation skills. These professionals work in teams in order to maximize the skills they possess. The National Institute for the Educational Evaluation of Instruction and Training (INVALSI) has invested in their professional development and has sought to identify guidelines by which to offer training courses aimed at enhancing strategic skills, such as those related to the field data collection and those for feedback. Furthermore, INVALSI will set up a process of further training in order to support the attainment of a professional expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is a passionate "reaction" to the evaluation system designed and implemented of the ANVUR in recent years. The main objective of this paper is to argue that the culture of evaluation in Italian universities producing irrational economic, cultural and social effects on the universities. The central idea of this paper is that the quality of the university is closely linked to the quality of its evaluation process, in the essay critically discusses the reasons for the decline of the university also to stimulate the attention of sociologists on the processes of change occurring after the 'ANVUR' and encourage them to study with a "sociological eye" some effects of the evaluation system on the quality of the university, on the scientific research and on the categories of subjects that animate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intense reform process that invests the Italian higher education and scientific research system is hereby considered in the light of the concept of accountability. Within that framework, the paper addresses the definition of accountability along with the associated principles of transparency, responsibility and responsiveness. The different logics and forms of accountability are thereafter discussed by highlighting the difficulties which arise with respect to the necessary link between accountability rhetoric and organizational models. The author argues that the present situation of widespread discomfort within Italian universities is related to the disconnection between prevailing types of accountability and sense of the reform process. The paper ends by proposing the concept of social accountability as a possible way to be explored in order to overcome the difficulties highlighted in the previous paragraphs. The principle is briefly presented. Some considerations are introduced as to its potentials but also as to some possible limitations [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Standardized Score" indicator for University Departments based on the research assessment exercise VQR 2004-2010. In this paper the authors describe an indicator (called Standardized Score) for the evaluation of university departments based solely on the quality of the research-related products presented in the framework of the Italian research assessment exercise VQR 2004-2010. This indicator is built by normalizing with the Italian disciplinary sectors (SSD), thus taking full advantage of the information collected by ANVUR. It has the advantage of comparing and sorting, according to research quality, departments very different form each other both in terms of number of members and/or disciplinary sectors (SSD) thereof. This indicator is complementary to those provided by ANVUR according to the Ministry rules, for it provides support to different needs and it is not normalized over research areas (Aree CUN). The paper describes the concepts behind the Standardized Score indicator, its characteristics, the questions it aims to answer and the possible limitations of its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione is the property of FrancoAngeli srl and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper presents an impact assessment of vocational training courses, which the Piedmont Region co-financed by the ESF, both discussing the methodological feasibility and proposing a quasi-experimental evaluation strategy based on the medium-term job placement of vocational training students. The authors illustrate the operational design and the implementation of the assessment, with particular attention to the identification of a proper control sample, finally identified on the basis of the course noshows and drop-outs. The paper proposes an accurate description of gross and net impact evaluation strategies. The gross impact evaluation is carried out through an analysis of the employment outcomes in the mid-term, while the net impact is estimated through net employment differentials between the main and the counterfactual sample, as well as through a multivariate probit analysis, which investigates the effects of individual characteristics on the probability of being employed a year later the end of the course. The selection bias problem is discussed, illustrating the strategy adopted to identify and counteract its effects. In conclusion, the authors distill this research experience through a series of lessons learned about both the methods and the evaluation assessment of training effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a reflection on the policy of cost-cutting and spending review in the Italian public sectors. The thesis is twofold. First of all, the paradigm used by the spending reviews' policies is based on the macro-economic theory that doesn't take into account the complexity of the implementation processes. Secondly, the weakness of the administrative technical bureaucracies in coordinating modernisation processes produces an incoherent diffusion of innovations. The paper discusses, as empirical examples, two relevant national programmes in the field of the judicial sector; these programmes are mobilising an interesting governance network at the territorial (local) level and a vast number of projects in specific territorial areas. The implementation of these interventions shows, however, that many judicial offices of the Nation lack the necessary resources and capabilities to sustain modernisation projects and, at the same time, the difficulty of central bureaucracies to oversee and safeguard a coherent fulfilment of the diffusion objectives, due to the fragility of technical bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]