The Promotion Power Impacts of Louisiana High Schools (Executive Summary)

In partnership with the Louisiana Department of Education and through a grant from the Walton Family Foundation, Mathematica conducted a study that measured each Louisiana public high school’s promotion power, which is a school’s effect on the long-term success of its students as indicated by high school graduation, college or career readiness, college enrollment and persistence, and success in the job market. The study enables Louisiana to become one of the first states to identify its high schools’ contributions to students’ long-term success separately from other factors, such as family resources and students’ learning before high school.

This summary provides an overview of the study and describes how measuring promotion power provides rich information about high school performance of value to districts, schools, and parents in Louisiana.