The problems of Italy’s education system mostly stem from its modus operandi and interactions with the expectations of families and students. The recent signs of improvement in Italian students’ proficiency, plausibly reflecting greater emphasis on rigour, could be reinforced by making...

This paper reviews the evolution of educational institutions and outcomes over the 150 years since Italy's unification, and discusses their interaction with national and regional growth patterns. While initial educational conditions contributed to differentiate across regions the early...