Ricerc@Sapienza

This paper focuses on the relationship between accountability and inclusion in the Italian school system. It argues that this relationship constitutes an actual contradiction that threatens the effectiveness of inclusive processes. On the basis of scientific results, researches and reflections of inclusive studies, school good practice, and the relevant norms about inclusion, the paper suggests that the key principle of the Italian inclusion system, that is the personalization-individualization realized through the common planning of learning objectives, is not implemented in its authentic form, as a complex, multiple and multifaceted process. The paper shows that the impoverished realization of the key principle is a consequence of the control and standardization instances derived from the external accountability system, and in particular from the form and logic of central exams evaluation.