Extended School Day: Evidence, Implementation, Challenges and Recommendations

Dante Contreras & Ignacio Lepe · IDB Technical Note IDB-TN-2792 · September 2023

Abstract

This study reviews evidence on implementing the extended school day (ESD), a policy adopted across Latin America to improve academic results and educational quality, especially in schools serving vulnerable students. Drawing on the experiences of Chile, Colombia, Pernambuco (Brazil), and Portugal, it finds that ESD requires high funding and maintenance costs and detailed planning, and that its effects on standardized academic performance are marginal in most settings, though Pernambuco stands out as a success. Beyond test scores, the region shows ample evidence of socioemotional, family, and community benefits, including lower school dropout and teenage pregnancy and greater female labor-force participation. The note discusses the main implementation challenges (infrastructure, cost, organizational planning, national coordination, pedagogical redesign, and community engagement) and proposes strategies to mitigate them, such as starting with pilot programs and phasing in the reform gradually.

Citation

Contreras, D., & Lepe, I. (2023). Extended school day: Evidence, implementation challenges and recommendations (IDB Technical Note No. IDB-TN-2792). Inter-American Development Bank. Link

@techreport{contreras2023extended,
  author      = {Contreras, Dante and Lepe, Ignacio},
  title       = {Extended School Day: Evidence, Implementation Challenges and Recommendations},
  institution = {Inter-American Development Bank},
  type        = {IDB Technical Note},
  number      = {IDB-TN-2792},
  year        = {2023}
}

Links

Technical note (Inter-American Development Bank)

JEL: I28, I25, I24 · Keywords: education, extended school day, implementation, academic performance, ESD