Sandra Fenaroli

Sandra Fenaroli is a Researcher at the Competence Centre for Innovation and Research on Education Systems (CIRSE) within the Department of Education and Learning at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI). She has been with CIRSE since December 2011, contributing to various educational research projects at cantonal, national, and international levels.

Her educational background includes a bachelor's degree in Social Work and Social Policies from the University of Fribourg (2009) and a master's degree in Social Sciences from the University of Lausanne (2011).

Dr. Fenaroli's research focuses on educational assessment, particularly standardized testing in educational systems. Her work examines both systemic and individual evaluation approaches, with significant contributions to understanding school effectiveness, PISA studies, and multilevel analysis of educational data. She has conducted comparative research between the Ticino and Geneva cantons in Switzerland, exploring institutional effects on student achievement and demonstrating that while institutional effects account for 5-12% of performance variance, these effects don't correspond to simple social or academic composition factors.

Her expertise includes research methodology, statistical analysis with SPSS, item creation using the ItemBuilder program, and organization of standardized tests in schools. She has contributed to major educational assessments including PISA, national verification of fundamental skills (VeCoF), and cantonal indicator projects.

• Educational Sciences
• Educational Assessment
• Standardized Testing
• Educational Research Methodology
• School Effectiveness
• Comparative Education

Dr. Fenaroli has published multiple scholarly works focusing on educational assessment methodologies and analysis of educational systems. Her publications demonstrate a consistent focus on improving educational evaluation practices through rigorous research methods, with particular attention to the Swiss educational context.