Middle schools: in search of a new mission

Abstract

Middle schools need intervention guaranteeing effectiveness and fairness, allowing all students to acquire quality learning, increasing their ability to study independently and helping them to make more informed choices as regards their subsequent studies. Unfortunately, the data obtained and analysis carried out to draft the latest report of the Agnelli Foundation on the state of middle schools provides us with a less than comforting picture: learning continues to be unsatisfactory, gaps and inequality continue to grow and teaching methods have not been modernised, while students appear increasingly dissatisfied with their time at school and teachers struggle to find the best teaching strategies for a difficult and delicate age.