Abstract
Defining and identifying teacher competence is crucial in education, however parental opinion in the evaluation of teachers has only been utilized in a few cases. The main aim of this study is to analyze parental perception of teacher competence. The study is set within the context of the province of Bolzano, in northern Italy. We examined four types of schools, pre-school, elementary, middle and high, and selected a sample of 3,669 parents representative of each type of school. The results highlighted the importance of teachers' knowledge and their ability to teach with enthusiasm. motivate the students, involve the family, respect differences and manage the classroom effectively.