Competition, Niches, and Networks: Forming a Tiered Education Market in New Orleans

• In Event: Competition and Choice

Abstract

School choice policies are based in part on the idea that competition will lead to better outcomes for all students. School leaders are expected to respond to market pressure by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of their schools. Yet there is limited empirical research on how school leaders actually experience competition and how they react to market pressures. This paper explores whom school leaders view as their competitors and where they place themselves in the market hierarchy, identifying the networks of competitors. This is an important first step in understanding how market pressures affect schools. I use a socio-economic approach and multiple methods to examine principals’ “perceptual set” of competitors, the schools they view as rivals, in New Orleans.

Author

• Huriya Jabbar, The University of Texas - Austin