What do schools produce? Implications of multiple outputs in education

This article introduces the hypothesis that secondary schools create at least two competing 'outputs' standardized test scores and high school completion - which may be seen as substitutes. This hypothesis provides an explanation for the decrease in standardized test scores that occurred over the last 40 years along with an often overlooked increase in high school graduation rates. The article presents evidence supporting this hypothesis as well as evidence that different schools face different tradeoffs and discusses the policy implications of such trade-offs.