In this paper we trace a frame of the Italian Research in Mathematics Education hightlighting its reasons, its features, the phases of its evolutions and the recent trends. First we outline the main historical questions which have characterized mathematics education in Italy until the sixties, the cultural movements and the choices of the seventies; then we focus our attention on the studies of the eighties and their evolution until today, giving specific indications about the more recent ones. We also consider present innovations, such as the recent degree for teaching in primary school and the university post degree courses for teaching in secondary school, and we evidenciate their implications on the development and application of the discipline.