Contextual Contrast of Assessment Practices in Catalonia and Tuscany

Government proposals for change and innovation projects in the field of education generate anxiety and uncertainty in teachers, since they are ac companied by initiatives or specific models to be developed. and they im pose regulation, bureaucracy and organisational rigidity. This can create a misalignment between educational policies and teachers’ practice that makes it difficult to implement innovation (Caliskan & Zhu, 2019). A more inclusive policy of educational practices is promoted both in Catalonia (Spain) and Italy, which in turn affects the assessment practices. Italian laws have been focusing on inclusion and alignment of the teaching-learning-assessment process for a longer period. Their regulations are more prescriptive than Catalan laws on the object of assessment and the development of assessment practices, although the regulation of educational competencies that must be promoted in educational processes is better defined in Catalonia than in Italy. This necessary coherence between all the elements of the teaching-learning-assessment process allows for an alignment that serves both assessment of learning process by teachers and the introduction of mod ifications and improvements in teaching (Ciani, Ferrari, & Vannini, 2020). The aim of this article is to propose a contextual comparison between the regions of Catalonia and Tuscany focused on teachers’ perception of the importance, competence and use of the planning and development of the as sessment practices, which includes their improvement and monitoring of students’ learning and participation. The study focuses on pre-school, primary and secondary school education.