The relationship of policy to implementation: The study of an elementary school after-school child-care program

The purpose of this study was to gather and analyze information derived from the study of policy and implementation of a specific elementary school child-care program. A mixed design to collect the data was used in this case study combining interviews with the after-school program policy developers and implementers and a survey of approximately 100 parents of the children in the after-school program. The conclusions drawn from this study confirm research theories that describe the complexity and unpredictability of policy design and its implementation. The board of education, parent groups, local government, the teachers union, and the role of the superintendent as an educational leader are identified as internal and external factors that influence the relationship of policy to implementation. These conclusions led to recommendations that point the way toward further research of more effective ways to design policies, to control their implementation, and to gain insight into the nature of organizations. This case study presents important information on the changing American family, the emergence of latchkey children as a new subgroup in our society, and the changing role of America's public elementary schools to meet the needs of families and children of the 1990s.