National and International standardized assessments have shown sharp differences between native and foreign students' performance in both text comprehension and mathematics. Based on the data gathered yearly by the INVALSI (Italian National Institute for the Evaluation of Educational Systems) at the national level, we performed a two-step…

Copying a text quickly and accurately is important both in school and in daily life. However, this skill has never been systematically studied, either in children with typical development (TD) or in children with specific learning disabilities (SLD). The aim of this research was to study the features of a copy task and its relationship with other…

The present study investigated the antecedents of cyberbullying victimization and addressed the commonalities and differences between visual and written forms of cyberbullying victimization among 3172 Italian adolescents (51.6% male, M[subscript age] = 13.74 years, SD = 1.70) who participated in the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC,…

In this article, we describe the results of a research study investigating the effects of a programming model specifically designed to apply the pedagogy of gifted education to the overall process of schoolwide enrichment, "The Schoolwide Enrichment Model" ("SEM," Renzulli & Reis, 2014). The specific factors examined during…

We describe how young students situate themselves with respect to astronomy through an identity framework that features four dimensions: interest, utility value, confidence, and conceptual knowledge. Overall, about 900 Italian students, from 5th to 9th grade (9-14 years old), were involved in the study. We tested our model using confirmatory…

Background: Children with dyslexia often show second-language reading and writing difficulties, but the cognitive mechanisms connected to this impairment need to be clarified. Aims: The present study examined the neuropsychological mechanisms underlying learning English as a foreign language in 4th- to the 8th-grade Italian students showing…

In this paper We present a pilot study providing ICT resources at some Italian junior high schools. In 2009, 156 classes at 6th grade were endowed with additional resources earmarked for purchasing ICT equipment. By selecting an equivalent number of classes in the same schools, we are able to conduct an evaluation of the causal effect of ICT on…

This study investigated the links between students' behavioral problems, student--teacher conflict, and students' involvement in bully, victim, and bully/victim roles in adolescence. The role of student-teacher conflict as moderator of the association between students' behavioral problems and their involvement in each bullying role was examined.…

While homework is a frequent source of distress, positive attitudes of parents can help students develop positive emotions and self-efficacy regarding homework. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that parents' emotions, favored by autonomous motivation, directly and indirectly relate with students' emotions through their self-efficacy with…

For years educators have attempted to identify the effective predictors of scholastic achievement and several personality variables were described as significantly correlated with grade performance. Since one of the crucial practical implications of identifying the factors involved in academic achievement is to facilitate the teaching-learning…

This work summarizes the results of two randomized control trails (RCTs) aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of a professional development program for lower secondary school math teachers. The program, called M@t.abel, was financed by the Ministry of Education in Southern Italy with EU funds. It lasts a full school year and it is based on formal…

This study investigated the relationships between three psychopathic dimensions (callousness/unemotionality, grandiosity/manipulation, and impulsivity/irresponsibility) and reactive and instrumental aggression in a community sample of early adolescents (N = 243, age M = 12.29, SD = 1.18). The moderating role of moral disengagement (MD) was also…

This article describes the state of informatics education in the Italian secondary schools, highlighting how the learning objectives set up by the Ministry of Education are difficult to meet, due to the fact that the subject is often taught by teachers not holding an informatics degree, the lack of suitable teaching material and the expectations…

TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) is an international assessment of mathematics and science at the fourth and eighth grades that has been conducted every four years since 1995, with the most recent assessment in 2011. PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) is an international assessment of reading…

This study tested the hypothesis whether older dyslexic children may obtain fewer gains on fluency and accuracy with respect to their younger peers after specific remediation. Changes in accuracy and fluency of a group of children with a diagnosis of dyslexia attending third and fourth grades were compared with those obtained by a group of…