What is it about?
We show how the way a reform is written on paper can make or break what happens in schools. Using Italy’s initial teacher education and training (1989–2019), we read laws and rules to assess three design features—precision, internal coherence, and external coherence—and then trace how they play out in practice. This bridges policy design and evaluation to predict, ex ante, where implementation will stumble.
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Why is it important?
When reforms look good in principle but fail in classrooms, trust drops and systems waste scarce money and time. Our framework offers a quick, evidence-informed check for policymakers to spot design risks before rollout—unclear goals, mismatched tools, and misalignment with budgets, recruitment, and administrative capacity—so reforms are deliverable, not just desirable. Key findings: unclear or aspirational goals slow action; instruments often clash with stated aims; and the biggest killer is external misfit—recruitment rules, budgets, and capacity were out of sync with reform texts, derailing delivery.
Perspectives
Who should read this? Education ministers and advisors, school leaders, civil servants drafting laws, teacher-education faculty, and researchers of policy design and implementation. How to use it: Apply the three-step check (precision, internal coherence, external coherence) to draft or review reforms; add timelines and monitoring; align with recruitment, funding, and capacity; avoid frequent rule changes that reset the system.
Anna Malandrino
Universita degli Studi di Torino
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: From paper to practice: how reform design shapes implementation, Policy Design and Practice, January 2025, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/25741292.2025.2498257.
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