School Performance in “Focus Schools” After Waiver Reforms: No ChangeSchool Performance in “Focus Schools” After Waiver Reforms: No Change

States that receive federal waivers to the No Child Left Behind Act were required to implement reforms in designated “Focus Schools” that contribute to achievement gaps.

This study examines the performance effects of such “differentiated accountability” reforms in Louisiana. These Focus School reforms emphasized school-needs assessments and aligned technical assistance. These reforms may have also been uniquely high-powered because they were linked to a letter-based school-rating system.

The study finds that, over each of 3 years, Louisiana’s Focus School reforms had no measurable impact on school performance.

These findings may reflect policy reform fatigue and poor quality of implementation at the state and local level.