The effects of extended school-days on Brazilian students’ outcome

This study estimates the effects of the main extended school-day program in Brazil – Mais Educação – on primary and secondary students’ outcomes. The Ministry of Education defined those schools with over 50% of their students participating in the conditional cash transfer program Bolsa Família as priority targets – the schools that should receive financial support first – for Mais Educação. That criterion allows us to utilize a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. The estimates suggest that participation in Mais Educação increased by between 18 and 30 percentage points at the threshold. We observe probability changes within small bandwidths, i.e. when treatment and control schools are very similar. On the other hand, the estimates suggest that the program was not effective at improving student outcomes. We conclude that the failure of the program is due to its design. A lack of resources, underpaid and underprepared tutors with high rates of turnover, excessive recreational activities, a lack of guidance in the choice of tutoring subject, and a failure to integrate after-hours activities into the regular curriculum are some explanations for the poor results of the program.