Paper long abstract:

In Italy, the Fund for the fight against educational poverty was established in 2016, active throughout the country. The management of the projects financed by the Fund was entrusted to partnerships of non-profit and public organizations, selected through calls for proposals. Universities and research institutions were involved in the evaluation of the interventions.

Social researchers, therefore, were responsible for designing and implementing impact evaluation plans for complex projects, differentiated by objectives and interventions, by reference territories and size, although attributable to the frameworks defined in the project calls for proposals. The impact evaluation made it possible to come into contact with a plurality of actors and beneficiaries (children, families, communities) and to question the effectiveness of the interventions, sustainability and capacity to activate local resources. Furthermore, it was necessary to redefine methodological approaches and research tools to follow the physiological and exceptional adaptations (e.g. the pandemic) of the projects, and to create opportunities for reporting the evaluation results.

This contribution proposes a reflection on the public responsibility assumed by social researchers towards project partnerships and beneficiaries, as well as towards the Fund's management body (Social Enterprise With Children). The aim is to give back the learnings that can be exploited for future planning of actions against educational poverty.

The knowledge presented derives from the debate that originates from the collection of some evaluation experiences and from the discussion activated in seminars between Universities and Research Institutes within the Observatory on social services and poverty.