Educating bright students in urban schools

•Study effect of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme on academic outcomes.•Exploit variation in offering of program across Chicago public high schools over time.•Find positive effect of program on probability of B average or better in 11th grade.•Find decrease in likelihood of dropout and increase in probability of graduation.

Our study analyzes the impact of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, a college-preparatory educational program designed for higher-achieving students, on high school academic achievement in Chicago Public Schools. We exploit exogenous variation in the offering of the program across schools over time with a difference-in-differences framework. We estimate a positive effect of the program on the probability of obtaining a B average or better in coursework, with most of the effect accruing to performance in mathematics. Most importantly, the program led to a decrease in the likelihood of high school dropout and an increase in the probability of high school graduation.