Investigating the effect of teacher practices on student achievement: insights from INVALSI data

The present contribution aims at evaluating the effect of teaching practices on high school students’ performance focusing on INVALSI mathematics and reading tests at grade 13. The student-level data refers to the 2021-2022 cohort and are used jointly with classroom-level data gathered by teachers’ questionnaires. This allows us to consider the effect of instructional practices and teachers’ qualification and experience over students’ sociodemographic characteristics. Multilevel logistic models are adopted to assess factors influencing the probability of over- and under-achieving. These latter are defined accordingly to the INVALSI proficiency classification, considering test scores grouped in five classes. Main findings suggest that educational practices under investigation have not an effect on over-achieving, whereas some are associated with under-achieving. Furthermore, teachers’ qualification and experience appear as key determinants for enhancing students’ performance and preventing failures.