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In the methodologies for evaluation the use of rubrics as a specific tool for competences assessment (Cortoni & Lo Presti, 2018) is supported by a wide research tradition, especially in the pedagogical field, that has circumscribed their application within dynamic learning contexts (Davidson, 2005). In didactic-educational environments, the administration of self-assessment rubrics can accompany and assist the learning process of students, stimulating in them the acquisition of critical self-reflection skills and drawing attention to those fields of experience that are traditionally connected to the teacher's evaluative sphere (performance assessment, learning tasks, innovative teaching processes, etc.) (Dawson, 2015). In the research The Social Impact Assessment of DaD after COVID-19, promoted and funded by Sapienza University of Rome, combining tools for competences self-assessment (rubrics) and participatory research techniques (focus groups) has been particularly fruitful since it has helped students discuss the main changes experienced because of the pandemic regarding: i. learning styles; ii. leisure activities; iii. relationships with classmates and teachers. Combined with online participatory techniques, rubrics have maintained their nature as a non-reactive tool (Ametrano et al., 2001). In particular, the dialogic dimension generated by the focus group has made possible to neutralize the distorting effects associated with the concept of performance, preventing respondents from providing answers conditioned by social desirability. This has made possible to focus the discussion on specific aspects of the individual's experience, making the scoring process more closely aligned with the lived experience. [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]

Nel saggio, le autrici presentano i principali risultati ottenuti con la ricerca su "La Valutazione dell'impatto sociale della DaD dopo il Covid 19" in 7 Istituti di Istruzione Superiore (I.I.S.) romani, riflettendo su alcune dimensioni di particolare innovazione sociale per le pratiche didattiche dei docenti e i processi di apprendimento degli studenti in DaD. Durante le interviste, si è prestata particolare attenzione alla ricostruzione delle pratiche didatticoeducative messe a punto dai docenti al fine di rintracciare i primi effetti della DaD/DDI: sull'innovazione metodologico-didattica delle comunità scolastiche; sul livello di apprendimento degli studenti e sul rafforzamento delle relazioni sociali. Dalla ricostruzione delle testimonianze dei docenti e degli studenti coinvolti nella ricerca, le autrici hanno delineato tre profili di DaD/DDI (innovativa, tradizionale e depotenziata), distinti in base ai diversi effetti che le ICT, unitamente alle pratiche didattico/educative messe in atto per il loro utilizzo, hanno esercitato sul consolidamento dell'apprendimento per competenze e sull'ampliamento dei confini della relazionalità. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work explores limits and potentialities of the evaluative field research at the time of Covid-19, taking as example the evaluation of the project "La Gazzetta Olimpica, journal of the school and the neighborhood". The project was born with the aim of supporting the editorial board of the newspaper "La Gazzetta Olimpica", across the spectrum of the various distance education activities put in place by the teachers working for the elementary school "Olympic Village" in Rome during Covid-19 lockdown. The observation of the educational activities, the interviews through digital platforms and the analysis of children's laboratory products are the main observational tools by which the development of children's ability to represent reality and translate it into communicative products (aimed to be disseminated in the neighborhood) have been evaluated. The focus of this analysis is on the impact that the digitalisation of teaching has had on the relations between children, between children and teachers and also between the school and the rest of the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]