Tracking, inequality and education policy. Looking for a recipe for the Italian case

This contribution has two main goals. First, we review the most relevant empirical literature that has focused on the relationship between tracking and inequality in Italy. We address the issue of inequality in access to the different school branches. We pay particular attention to the role played by social background, but we also consider migration background and gender. Second, we consider policy solutions that might reduce the effects of ascriptive factors on individuals’ school choices in Italy. We examine the empirical literature about two possible interventions: (a) de-tracking reforms such as postponement of age at first tracking and reduction of curricula differences between tracks; (b) interventions aimed at reducing students’ misallocation across schools through guidance initiatives and teacher recommendations.