The educational level of students in our province? Basically in the national average, at least as regards the results that emerge from the Invalsi tests submitted to the children who are preparing to take the final exams which are now upon us. With an important peak that puts the Pistoia schools in fourth place in Tuscany according to the results that emerged, while there are much lower data, for example, for Montecatini and San Marcello (we are only talking about places where there are high schools in the province, with tests concerning fifth year students). These are days of waiting for thousands of students in view of the first turning point in their lives, with a view to then choosing to continue their studies or a professional career.
As many studies have shown, the average preparation of students reaching high school diploma is decreasing after two years of major limitations due to the pandemic and there has been an increase but we have not yet returned to the pre-2019 numbers. In this situation, the Invalsi tests to which the students are subjected are important because they give a fairly clear picture of what the preparation is like once they reach the fifth grade and, above all, the differences between one institute and another can also be understood .
As regards our province, the references are on the four poles where we sit at school with the final exam in the background, therefore Pistoia, San Marcello Pistoiese, Pescia and Montecatini Terme and concern what emerged at the end of the 2022/23 school year . The score of the Invalsi tests ranges from a minimum of 110 to a maximum of 235 and, just to give an idea, in 2019 the overall average at national level was at 200 points, which dropped to 186.3 in 2021 and fell further back with the latest available data for 2023 at 184.9. Numbers which, essentially, are also found in our province even if the trend is downwards: the average score achieved in the high schools of Montecatini Terme, with a coverage of 98% of students who took the test, is 176.62 but unfortunately it drops even more when looking at the San Marcello pole where it reaches 169.86. A situation which, however, improves and exceeds the national average in Pescia, reaching 185.57 and even more so in the capital, totaling a good 190.19, approaching those that were the pre-pandemic numbers. Looking at the other provincial capitals, Pistoia is at the top in the metropolitan area, doing better than both Prato which stops at 185.2 and Florence with 184.75. Broadening the horizon, Lucca (186.9), Grosseto (185.8), Livorno (184.4), Arezzo (189.8), Massa (182.5) also remain behind while Carrara (196.7) remains in front ) which is at the top in Tuscany, Siena (191.8) and Pisa with a very slight margin (190.59).
Saverio Melegari
