Student Displacement in Louisiana After the Hurricanes of 2005: Experiences of Public Schools and Their Students
Source: RAND Corporation, Gulf Studies Policy Institute
From press release:

Many of the approximately 200,000 Louisiana students displaced from their public schools by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita may experience long-term academic problems, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today.

The vast majority of the displaced students missed weeks or more of school due to the storms, and most did not return to their original schools by the end of the 2005-06 school year, according to the report prepared by RAND Education for the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute (RGSPI).

“Many children relocated to other schools or left the Louisiana public school system entirely,” said lead study author John Pane of RAND. “Most students missed a lot of school and many had to adjust to new environments, which might slow their academic progress.”

Moving children among schools has been associated with detrimental effects on academic achievement both for the students who move and for other students in the schools, Pane said. In addition to missing some time in school, the students who move may find themselves inadequately prepared for their new classes because the curriculum varies across schools. These problems are compounded by the need to adjust to new social environments and overcome the trauma of the disasters.

Using Louisiana’s Student Information System and a survey of 415 school principals, researchers determined that more than a quarter of the state’s 740,000 public school students were displaced by one of the hurricanes – the largest displacement of students in U.S. history.

Summary (PDF; 200 KB) ||| Full Report (PDF; 700 KB)

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