A few days ago I heard an intervention on the radio by a well-known Italian pedagogist on the topic of INVALSI tests and, more generally, on the system of judgments and evaluations of Italian schools.
I state that I have no sympathy for the INVALSI tests and I think they are an absurd evaluation system.
Having said that, I have heard this pedagogist say things that I do not agree with at all, on the contrary, I find that they are the quintessence of the abyss where we are getting into education.
The thesis of this pedagogist is that it is not correct to evaluate a student on the basis of the results he obtains, but should be evaluated exclusively on the basis of the improvements he has had.
This evaluation perspective, unfortunately, contrary to what the pedagogist asserts, has spread widely and is now pervasive in our school system, at all levels.
So, at first glance, it might seem like a good thing, but it absolutely isn't.
Let's try to understand what it means in practice.
The pedagogist invited to consider that a test like the INVALSI tries to determine (in my opinion, not succeeding, but this is another matter) the level of education, that is the knowledge acquired by the student.
Unfortunately, in fact, this is the purpose of the INVALSI, but I don't think it is the result, but is this the aim of the test wrong?
In my opinion absolutely not.
Evaluating a student on the basis of the commitment and the delta between his initial and final knowledge is an absurdity, we would say today  goodist that it can be proposed only by those who live outside the world.
If I call a plumber, I don't care if he has improved a lot since that time he flooded an entire building, while now he tends to just destroy individual houses, of course, it's a nice improvement, but he still hasn't reached the minimum level necessary to do his job.
If a pupil of elementary school, when he started the school year, could only write two letters of the alphabet and, at the end of the year, he could write even eight, certainly, he quadrupled his skills, but he is a little far from 'having learned to write.
When a bridge collapses I don't care if the designer is a lot better than when he started, I would like him to be able to <i><b>perfectly</b> </i> the calculations, not that he knows how to do them much better than two years ago.
Commitment and improvements must certainly be rewarded, stimulated and valued, but in the end it is necessary to demonstrate that you have actually reached the minimum level necessary to pass to the next school year, to the next level of education, to obtain a diploma, a degree, a certificate and so on.
This point cannot be negotiable, never, even if has worked very hard ... in the end the question must be: do you know the necessary things?
What can he do, can he do it?
If the answer is no, a good pat on the shoulder and come back when you have reached the minimum necessary level of learning.

The motto of the new millennium:

He is not good, but he is committed ...