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 paying particular attention to the role played by social background. Second, we consider policy solutions that might reduce the effects of social background on individuals� school choices in Italy. We examine empirical studies on two areas of intervention: (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.