The Effects of the New Orleans Post-Katrina Market-Based School Reforms on Student Achievement, High School Graduation, and College Outcomes

This quasi-experimental paper by Douglas N. Harris and Matt F. Larsen examines the effects of the New Orleans school reforms on students’ medium term outcomes. The authors compare students who experienced the New Orleans school reforms with students who did not, either because the student graduated school prior to the reforms or because the student attended school in a comparison district. The authors find large, significant positive effects of the reforms on a range of dimensions, including standardized test scores, high school graduation, college entry, and college persistence.