What Effect Did the New Orleans School Reforms Have on Student Achievement, High School Graduation, and College Outcomes?

The post-Katrina New Orleans school reforms created the nation’s most intensive market-based school system. Non-profit charter schools operate almost all schools under performance-based contracts. With the end of teacher collective bargaining and tenure, schools have authority over personnel decisions. Families choose their schools. The reforms also attracted additional funding. Using matched in-differences, we find that these reforms increased test scores, high school graduation, college attendance, and college graduation. While the precise magnitudes are difficult to establish, even the lower end of these ranges are economically large. The policies also appear to have reduced most achievement gaps by race and income.