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Volume 13, Issue 7 (July 2026), Pages: 47-57
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Original Research Paper
Academic coherence in a dual curriculum system: A longitudinal analysis of school and boarding academic performance
Author(s):
Mohamad Ali 1, *, Aji Rizqi Ramadhan 2, Dinda Riska Ariningsih 1, Nur Rizqi Febriandika 3
Affiliation(s):
1Department of Islamic Religious Education, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Surakarta, Indonesia 2Department of Arabic Language Education, Faculty of Islamic Education, Institut Muslim Cendekia, Sukabumi, Indonesia 3Department of Management, Business School, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
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* Corresponding Author.
Corresponding author's ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1205-6501
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2026.07.004
Abstract
Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) in Indonesia commonly implement a dual curriculum that combines nationally recognized schooling with internally structured religious education. Despite its widespread adoption, empirical evidence on the academic relationship between these two educational domains remains limited. This study investigates academic coherence within a dual curriculum system by examining the relationship, longitudinal stability, and predictive interaction between school and boarding academic performance. A longitudinal quantitative design was employed using report card data from 62 students across four consecutive semesters. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, longitudinal stability analysis, regression modeling, and moderation analysis. The results revealed strong positive correlations between school and boarding academic achievement across semesters (r = 0.604–0.915, p < 0.001), together with high temporal stability, indicating consistent learning trajectories. Regression analyses demonstrated bidirectional predictive relationships, with school performance explaining 67.2% of the variance in boarding outcomes and boarding performance explaining 45.0% of the variance in school outcomes. Academic track specialization did not significantly moderate these relationships. The findings suggest that the dual curriculum supports strong academic coherence between school and boarding education, contributing to international discussions on cross-domain academic integration in faith-based educational settings. However, the findings should be interpreted as context-specific results from a single institution and require further confirmation using larger, multi-institutional samples.
© 2026 The Authors. Published by IASE.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Keywords
Dual curriculum education, Islamic boarding schools, Academic coherence, Longitudinal academic performance, Cross-domain learning
Article history
Received 23 February 2026, Received in revised form 1 July 2026, Accepted 6 July 2026
Acknowledgment
No Acknowledgment.
Compliance with ethical standards
Ethical considerations
This study was conducted in compliance with ethical standards for social science research in Indonesia. The research procedures adhered to the principles outlined in the Indonesian National Guidelines for Research Ethics (Pedoman Etika Penelitian Nasional) issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia.
Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Citation:
Ali M, Ramadhan AR, Ariningsih DR, and Febriandika NR (2026). Academic coherence in a dual curriculum system: A longitudinal analysis of school and boarding academic performance. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 13(7): 47-57
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