| Title: |
Implementation Barriers and Program Effectiveness: A Quasi-Experimental Study on an Extended School Week |
| Language: |
English |
| Authors: |
Gijs Custers (ORCID 0000-0002-2716-3104) |
| Source: |
Educational Policy. 2025 39(7):1392-1419. |
| Availability: |
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: |
Y |
| Page Count: |
28 |
| Publication Date: |
2025 |
| Document Type: |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research |
| Education Level: |
Elementary Education |
| Descriptors: |
Elementary Schools; Scheduling; Disadvantaged Schools; Foreign Countries; Track System (Education); Program Implementation; Barriers; Program Effectiveness; Urban Areas; Educational Policy; Outcomes of Education |
| Geographic Terms: |
Netherlands |
| DOI: |
10.1177/08959048241309345 |
| ISSN: |
0895-9048; 1552-3896 |
| Abstract: |
This study investigates the impact of an extended school week in 30 primary schools on track recommendations, an achievement-related outcome, at the school level. The intervention is part of a major urban policy in one of the most disadvantaged areas in the Netherlands. Register data are used to examine changes in track recommendations between 2010 and 2020. Control schools are selected through genetic matching based on educational and demographic variables, after which comparative interrupted time series estimate the causal effect. The findings show that, on average, track recommendations in the intervention schools did not structurally increase compared to the control schools. We critically discuss how these results might relate to implementation barriers such as the partial top-down design, program quality and coordination, and teacher shortages. We contribute to the literature by showing how difficulties with program implementation are likely to produce null findings. |
| Abstractor: |
As Provided |
| Entry Date: |
2025 |
| Accession Number: |
EJ1484801 |
| Database: |
ERIC |