Parents, schools and community collaboration for improvement: insights from the evaluation processes

Purpose According to the literature, school collaboration with the local community may enhance equity and inclusion. This paper aims to explore collaborations between schools and local communities in Italy, in the context of national legislation. It also seeks to understand whether schools view working with local communities as an opportunity for improvement. When carrying out school self-evaluation, Italian schools examine their engagement with parents, other schools and partners for developing local educational policy. This study focuses on how schools describe and evaluate their partnerships, identify improvement objectives, and how these objectives are considered in school inspections. Design/methodology/approach The study focuses on a sample of 375 Italian schools. It uses a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data from three sources: a school questionnaire, the school self-evaluation reports and the school inspection reports. Findings The paper provides a composite picture of the school–community collaboration in Italy, highlighting differences by geographical area and school level. It also provides a classification of the schools’ improvement pathways. Finally, the external evaluators’ review of improvement objectives shows significant criticisms. Research limitations/implications The data examined refer to school years 2014–2017. Therefore, to get an up-to-date picture of school–community collaboration, more recent data are suggested. Originality/value The study provides an opportunity to reflect on how participation is materialized in the Italian system and on the bridging role that school–community collaboration can play for governance and school improvement.