La valutazione del programma ABMOVE!

This contribution presents the experimental design and the assessment strategies adopted within the ABMOVE! programme, a large-scale multisite study conducted in Italian primary schools in order to estimate the impact of curricu- lum-based active breaks on executive functions, mathematics anxiety, and mathe- matical achievement. The study was structured as a multisite cluster-randomised controlled trial and involved 244 classes from second to fifth grade (ages 7–11) across 36 schools located in three Italian regions (Sicily, Apulia, and Piedmont), for a total of 4,221 pupils. Pre- and post-intervention data were collected through standardised instruments measuring sustained attention, planning, mathematics anxiety, school anxiety, and mathematical performance, and were analysed through multilevel models, accounting for the hierarchical structure of the data. Initial find- ings concerning mathematics anxiety and school anxiety are presented and dis- cussed, together with the methodological choices made, the challenges encountered, and the potential of this assessment framework for evidence-based educational research in inclusive school contexts.