Education Research Alliance for New Orleans (ERA-New Orleans)

What Education Research Alliance for New Orleans (ERA-New Orleans) does

ERA-New Orleans is a research center at Tulane University that produces objective, empirical research on the New Orleans post-Katrina school reforms, which constitute the only fully market-driven, all-charter public school system in the United States. Founded in 2013 and housed in the School of Liberal Arts with support from Tulane's Murphy Institute, the organization operates with approximately 11 employees and a single headquarters at 1555 Poydras Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. Its core products are policy briefs, technical reports, and the annual Citywide Youth Survey, organized across seven research areas: outcomes and equity, accountability, teachers and leaders, enrollment and school access, equity, additional topics, and student experience.

The organization's underlying methodology combines longitudinal administrative data analysis, field experiments (such as text-message interventions that raised early childhood verification rates by up to 7.7 percentage points), and large-scale survey administration reaching nearly 4,000 New Orleans students. Distribution is non-commercial: all publications, policy briefs, and technical reports are freely available on the organization's website, supplemented by conferences, brown-bag seminars, webcasts, and earned media coverage in outlets including the Wall Street Journal, National Journal, and Education Week. The 2024-25 Citywide Youth Survey and a 12-conclusion synthesis of 20 years of post-Katrina reform research represent its most current public outputs.

The business model is grant-funded and institutional rather than commercial. Disclosed funding includes a $399,988 grant plus $36,852 in non-federal support from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education for the New Orleans Early Education Research Alliance (NOEERA) partnership, with Tulane University serving as the primary institutional backer. The organization's customers in the consumption sense are federal, state, and local education policymakers, school and district leaders, families and students, education researchers and academics, and education advocacy nonprofits; none are charged for research outputs. Strategic alliances include the New Orleans Public Schools, the New Orleans Early Education Network, the American Enterprise Institute, the Urban Institute, the University of Arkansas School Choice Demonstration Project, and NACSA.

Name

Education Research Alliance for New Orleans (ERA-New Orleans)

Legal name

Education Research Alliance for New Orleans

Website

https://educationresearchalliancenola.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ERA-New Orleans is a Tulane University research center producing objective, longitudinal research on New Orleans post-Katrina school reforms, including policy briefs, technical reports, and an annual Citywide Youth Survey reaching nearly 4,000 students, funded by federal grants and Tulane institutional support.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Research

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Educational Services (61)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Curriculum, Standards & Assessment Policy Research (EDADADAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Educational Research, Measurement & Evaluation Programs (EDAHAFAL), Standards Alignment & Curriculum Mapping (State/National) (EDAJAFAD)

Keywords

• Education policy research
• Charter school research
• Urban education analysis
• School reform studies
• Youth education surveys

Headquarters

HQ city

New Orleans

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Federal Research Grants: Primary funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, which awarded $399,988 grant plus $36,852 in non-federal support for the New Orleans Early Education Research Alliance (NOEERA) partnership.
2. University Support: Supported by Tulane University's Murphy Institute and housed within the School of Liberal Arts at Tulane University.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ERA-New Orleans is a research center that produces objective, rigorous research on New Orleans schools, with a particular focus on the post-Katrina all-charter school system. Its primary deliverables are research publications including policy briefs and technical reports, alongside the Citywide Youth Survey, additional research topics on the student experience, and a co-led early education research alliance (NOEERA). Outputs are made available free of charge to policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and the public.

Product overview

ERA-New Orleans is a research center at Tulane University (not a technology product company) that produces objective, rigorous research on New Orleans education reforms. The organization offers research publications including policy briefs and technical reports across seven research areas (Outcomes/Equity, Accountability, Teachers/Leaders, Enrollment/School Access, Equity, Additional Topics, and Student Experience), the annual Citywide Youth Survey capturing student voices, conferences and webcasts for disseminating findings, and manages the New Orleans Early Education Research Alliance (NOEERA) partnership. These offerings work together as a comprehensive research and dissemination ecosystem rather than a commercial product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research Publications (Policy Briefs and Technical Reports) Written research products—including policy briefs and technical reports—produced by ERA-New Orleans researchers and disseminated for free to policymakers, practitioners, journalists, and the public. They translate findings from the center's longitudinal data, Citywide Youth Survey, and analytic studies into actionable insights on New Orleans school reforms.
• Citywide Youth Survey A recurring survey instrument administered across New Orleans schools that captures student experiences, behaviors, and outcomes to inform the center's research on the all-charter school system. Outputs from the survey underpin multiple research publications and are made available to researchers and the public.
• ERA-New Orleans Conferences and Events Hosted conferences and events—including past events in 2015 and webcasts—where research findings are presented to and discussed with policymakers, practitioners, and education stakeholders. These events serve as a core dissemination channel for the center's research outputs.
• New Orleans Early Education Research Alliance (NOEERA) A partnership-style research alliance co-led by ERA-New Orleans that conducts research on early childhood education in New Orleans. It functions as a multi-organizational research program producing findings on early education programs and outcomes in the city.

Quantifiable outcome

• The reforms increased student achievement by 11-16 percentiles, high school graduation by 3-9 percentage points, college entry by 8-15 percentage points, and college graduation by 3-5 percentage points.
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• New Orleans Early Education Network (NOEEN)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 August 2019NOEERA (New Orleans Early Education Research Alliance) partnership co-directed by Lindsay Weixler (ERA-NOLA), Jen Roberts (NOEEN), and Thomas Lambert (NOLA-PS). Goal is to improve student outcomes by identifying factors enabling families to access preschool programs and maximize program benefits. NOEERA is the first partnership to unify K-12 public education, school-based pre-K, and Head Start programs in one application research system.
• New Orleans Public Schools (NOLA-PS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the New Orleans Early Education Research Alliance (NOEERA), with Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. expressing excitement about identifying ways to improve how the enrollment system serves New Orleans families.
• School Choice Demonstration Project at University of ArkansascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for joint research on the Louisiana Scholarship Program, releasing four technical reports on voucher effects on student achievement, non-cognitive skills, racial segregation, and competitive effects on public schools.
• American Enterprise Institute (AEI)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-hosted K-12 Working Group meeting as part of the Future of American Education Project, bringing together 60 policymakers, researchers, and educators from across the country.
• New Schools for New OrleansmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in co-hosting the K-12 Working Group and Future of American Education Project events.
• Louisiana Association of EducatorsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in co-hosting the K-12 Working Group conference on the future of American education.
• Tulane Cowen InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTulane University internal partner co-hosting education reform conferences and events.
• Tulane University Murphy InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary institutional funder and host institution. ERA-New Orleans is an initiative of Tulane University supported by funding from the Murphy Institute.
• Tulane UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent institution. ERA-New Orleans is housed in the School of Liberal Arts at Tulane University and operates as an initiative of the university.
• Orleans Public Education Network (OPEN)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsored the release event for the 'Extreme Measures' study on school closures and charter takeovers, hosting panel discussions with local and national education leaders.
• National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner referenced in charter authorization studies. NACSA ratings informed charter approval and renewal decisions in Louisiana.
• Urban InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosted release events for Louisiana Scholarship Program research with live webcasts, partnering on research dissemination to national audiences.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• American Institutes for Research (AIR): Large nonprofit behavioral and social science research organization with a major education evaluation practice. Comparable in producing federal-grant-funded education research, technical reports, and policy briefs for IES and ED.
• Brookings Institution - Center for Universal Education: Major policy think tank with an active education research program. Comparable in producing high-profile, federally-relevant K-12 and global education policy research with national media reach.
• RAND Corporation: Major nonprofit research organization with a long-standing education policy research division. Directly comparable to ERA-New Orleans in conducting rigorous, evidence-based K-12 and higher education policy studies, but at vastly greater scale and across many geographies.

Direct peers

• Urban Institute: Nonprofit policy research organization with a substantial education policy program and a history of voucher and school choice research. Already a documented ERA-New Orleans dissemination partner, making it a natural direct peer in education policy R&D.
• New America Education Policy Program: Education policy think tank producing research on school choice, accountability, and equity. Comparable to ERA-New Orleans in producing accessible, policy-actionable education research with strong dissemination focus.
• Mathematica Policy Research: Major social policy research firm with deep K-12 and education policy evaluation practice. Comparable to ERA-New Orleans in producing rigorous impact evaluations, technical reports, and federal-grant-funded education research.
• Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard: University-based education policy research center partnering with districts and states to study school improvement. Comparable to ERA-New Orleans in academic-affiliated, data-driven K-12 policy research.
• Vanderbilt Peabody (PEAR/NCER): University-based education research center with strong IES-funded evaluation portfolio. Comparable as an academic research center producing rigorous, grant-funded studies of K-12 reform and policy.
• American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Education Policy Studies: Education policy research program at a national think tank. Already a documented ERA-New Orleans partner (co-host of K-12 Working Group) and a natural peer in producing right-leaning but rigorous K-12 reform research.
• Brown University Annenberg Institute for School Reform: University-based education policy and reform research center. Highly comparable to ERA-New Orleans as an academic-affiliated research center studying urban K-12 reform, equity, and school improvement.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Era_NOLA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/eranola

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Education Research Alliance for New Orleans (ERA-New Orleans)