The Transformation of a School System: Principal, Teacher, and Parent Perceptions of Charter and Traditional Schools in Post-Katrina New Orleans. Technical Report

Hurricane Katrina set the stage for a transformation of public education in New Orleans, replacing the city's existing school system with a decentralized choice-based system of both charter and district-run schools. Using principal, teacher, and parent surveys administered three years after Katrina, this study examined schools' governance and operations, educational contexts, educator quality and mobility, and parental choice and involvement. The authors note that questions still remain about the variation in schools' policies and practices in the wake of the reform and about parents' experiences in an environment of school choice. Appended are: (1) Statistical Models Used in the Analyses; (2) 2009 RAND Survey of New Orleans Principals; (3) 2009 RAND Survey of New Orleans Teachers; and (4) 2009 RAND Survey of New Orleans Parents. Individual chapters contain footnotes. (Contains 8 figures and 45 tables.) [This work was prepared for the Scott S. Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives at Tulane University.]