The Effects of Unified School Enrollment Systems on School Demographics and Outcomes - Evidence From New Orleans’ Transition to a Centralized School Lottery

Oct 15, 2026

Unified enrollment (UE) systems aim to improve efficiency, equity, and transparency in school choice, yet prior work has emphasized efficiency rather than segregation and broader outcomes. This study evaluates New Orleans charter schools that previously enrolled disproportionately many White students before adopting UE. UE entry increased non-White enrollment without compensating White declines, supported by schools raising total enrollment. No meaningful effects are found on accountability, student or teacher mobility, or student discipline.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages40

Reading Time1 h 41 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Effects of Unified School Enrollment Systems

School demographics and racial segregation

Student and teacher mobility

Accountability and student discipline

American Educational Research Journal August 2024, Vol. 61, No. 4, pp. 647–686 DOI: 10.3102/00028312241248513 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions) 􀀂 2024 AERA. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/aer](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/aer) The Effects of Unified School Enrollment Systems on School Demographics and Outcomes: Evidence From New Orleans’Transition to a Centralized School Lottery Jane Arnold Lincove University of Maryland, Baltimore County Jon Valant Brookings Institution Unified enrollment (UE) systems were designed to improve efficiency, equity, and transparency in school choice processes, but research has focused on efficiency gains. This study examines whether moving from decentralized enrollment processes to UE mitigates or exacerbates racial segregation that often occurs in choice systems. Specifically, we examine a subset of charter schools in New Orleans that had enrolled disproportionately high numbers of White students prior to entering UE. We find that UE entry was associated with increased enrollment of non-White students in these schools without offsetting declines in White enrollment, facilitated by schools also increasing total enrollment after entering UE. We find no meaningful impacts of UEon school accountability measures, student or teacher mobility, or student discipline. KEYWORDS: unified enrollment systems, school reform, school choice, segregation Introduction Advocates of market-based education reforms argue that schools operate more efficiently and serve families more effectively when schools must compete to attract families to enroll. By empowering families to choose from an JANE ARNOLD LINCOVE is a professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle Drive Baltimore, Maryland 21250; [e-mail:](e-mail: jlincove@umbc.edu. Her)[ jlincove@umbc.edu](e-mail: jlincove@umbc.edu. Her)[. Her](e-mail: jlincove@umbc.edu. Her) research focuses on the effects of market-based school reform on educational outcomes and equity. JON VALANT is a senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and the Director of the Brown Center on Education Policy; [e-mail:](e-mail: jvalant@brookings.edu. He)[ jvalant@brookings.edu](e-mail: jvalant@brookings.edu. He)[. He](e-mail: jvalant@brookings.edu. He)[ ](e-mail: jvalant@brookings.edu. He)[specializes in PK](specializes in PK)–[12 education policy and politics with a focus on inequities in U.S](12 education policy and politics with a focus on inequities in U.S). schools. Lincove and Valant assortment of autonomous schools, these reforms create incentives for schools to satisfy families’ needs in ways that, in theory, could improve school performance and the fit between what families want and what schools offer (Chubb & Moe, 2011; Friedman, 1955) . This prominent role for school-choosing parents results in a corresponding ‘‘decentering [of] the state’’ as governments cede control to the market (Fuller, 2000) . This suggests that the outcomes of market-based reforms depend partly on what families want for their children relative to what they would get in a more traditional, government-run school system. If families want their children to attend schools that are more diverse than their local neighborhoods, we might expect market-based reforms to reduce the high levels of racial and economic segregation that harm many U.S. students (Reardon et al., 2021) . In practice, however, school choice reforms are often associated with increases in school segregation (Bifulco & Ladd, 2007; Logan & Burdick-Will, 2016; Monarrez et al., 2022; Weiher & Tedin, 2002) . This brings into question whether school choice reforms are an effective pathway to integration or a diversion from more promising strategies (Roda & Wells, 2013; Scott & Holme, 2016) . In this study, we examine whether the design of choice systems can contribute to the

FAQs

What is the main question of the study on unified enrollment systems?

The study asks whether shifting from decentralized enrollment to unified enrollment mitigates or worsens racial segregation that often arises in school choice systems.

What enrollment changes did unified enrollment produce in the New Orleans charter schools studied?

UE entry was associated with increased enrollment of non-White students without offsetting declines in White enrollment, helped by schools increasing total enrollment after entering UE.

Did unified enrollment significantly affect accountability measures or student outcomes like discipline?

The study reports no meaningful impacts of UE on school accountability measures, student or teacher mobility, or student discipline.

Oct 15, 2026

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