The tension between standardized tests and subjective assessment: comparing the voices of two teachers

Abstract

This article will present and analyze the reflections of two in-service mathematics teachers in Italy about the standardized tests promoted by the Italian Istituto nazionale per la valutazione del sistema educativo di istruzione e di formazione (INVALSI). As shown, these tests can be understood as part of a device aimed at increasing the standardization of educational practices, potentially to the detriment of teachers’ freedom and of student-centered personalization of learning. At the same time, and for the same reasons, the influence of this device can also be interpreted as moderately liberating if contrasted with the traditional virtually arbitrary power detained by teachers. This tension reflects the open institutional challenge between the need to refer to common and objective standards of assessment and the equally recognized value of the teacher’s individuality and of personalized learning.