Virtue - Abstract
AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A SCHOOL-READINESS
PROGRAM TARGETING NON-DANISH SPEAKING IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE
CHILDREN IN ROSKILDE, DENMARK
By
DAVID CHARLES VIRTUE
(Under the Direction of DIANE BROOK NAPIER)
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research was to build a case study of program implementation
occurring within the context of a Danish project targeting the school-readiness of
language minority (LM) children of pre-school age. The study focused on a three-year
project in Roskilde, Denmark that involved enrolling LM children in daycare institutions,
educating their parents about Danish child rearing and educational traditions, and
preparing daycare staff to work with LM children and their families. The goals of the
study were to identify and describe in context key factors that impacted implementation
of the program, to analyze the relationships between program implementation and those
factors, and to conceptualize the overall nature of the implementation process. The study
employed a single, prestructured case study design and utilized qualitative methods in the
tradition of naturalistic inquiry. A conceptual/analytical framework derived from studies
of educational program implementation guided the collection and analysis of qualitative
data.
The implementation of the integration project was found to be a complex,
dynamic process that consisted of four dimensions: implementation as service delivery,
implementation as learning, implementation as political activity, and implementation as
cultural process. Multiple factors that appeared related to implementation included
structural features of the program, individual characteristics of program implementers
and program targets, and other contextual factors. The most salient of these were the
structural relationships among implementers that facilitated organizational learning; the
competency and level of commitment of program implementers; the leadership ability of
the program coordinator; and the receptivity of the target group members to the program.
The study illustrated the complexity that may characterize the process of
implementing educational interventions targeting LM children. It documented the
interpretation and adaptation of policy between the national and local levels, and at the
level of practice by program implementers. Viewing the program as organic and everchanging, the study highlighted underlying processes of learning, culturing, and political
activity that may constitute the implementation process, and it illustrated how programs
may be designed to work with rather than against these processes. Additionally, the study
calls for the further development of analytical models that conceptualize implementation
as complex and organic.
INDEX WORDS:
Program implementation, Educational change, Policy analysis,
Language minorities, Denmark