Bridging the gap: The effect of National Operational Program (PON) on primary school performance

This paper examines the impact of the National Operational Program (PON) on primary school achievement. To address endogenous selection into funding, we construct a propensity-score-matched comparison group and estimate causal effects using a staggered difference-in-differences design. PON participation significantly improves mathematics and language achievement, with effects of 0.09-0.10 standard deviations in second grade and 0.11-0.12 in fifth grade. Gains emerge immediately, peak within two years, and then fade, consistent with the short duration of interventions. Impacts vary across contexts and student groups: improvements are concentrated in the Centre-South and among native students, while effects for immigrant students are limited and no differentiated effects are found by gender. Mechanism analyses indicate that program effectiveness depends on the intensity of support: schools with higher per-student funding achieve larger gains. Moreover, schools exposed to basic-skills projects show significant improvements, though overlapping participation across project types limits our ability to draw causal inferences about the differential effectiveness of specific PON typologies. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of context-specific and skill-focused investments in shaping the effectiveness of EU-funded educational policies.