Information seeking behavior of the poor: the study of parents’ school choice decisions

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate information seeking behavior of immigrants in disadvantaged communities in the state of CO, USA, using school choice decisions as a problematic situation. The study investigated the extent to which immigrant families in poor neighborhoods took advantage of school choice policies and the extent to which these decisions were mediated by information seeking activities. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative study using survey questionnaire was used. The study design used everyday life information seeking behavior (Savolainen, 1995) and information-poverty lived-experiences of poor people (Chatman and Pendelton, 1995) as a framework and theoretical lens, respectively. Parents of school-age children who met the criteria of “poor” based on the federal poverty guideline were recruited to participate in the study. Findings The study found that only 21 per cent (24 families out of 113) participated in school choice programs. Within the smaller group of parents that took advantage of school choice policy, 72 per cent gathered information before choosing a school, and of this group, about 80 per cent asked friends followed by school visit and a phone call to schools as information sources. Library use as sources of information was also selected by 61 per cent of the respondents. One important finding of this study is that although a majority of the families are aware of school choice policy, their level of participation is low and that is largely due to their economic and life circumstances. Social implications Access to quality education is widely investigated and multiple entities have a stake in it, including parents, policymakers, researchers and school districts. The social implications of this study are significant in that the mere presence and awareness of school choice policy did not translate into increased participation by parents from disadvantaged communities for whom the policy was designed to benefit. Consistent with findings in the extant literature, parents in low socio-economic status also value quality education for their children. To address the issue of low participation in school choice, cities need to work toward strengthening schools and library systems in poor neighborhoods instead of diverting resources away. Originality/value Based on two theoretical accounts – i.e. the information-poverty lived-experiences of poor people, or the outsiders, (Chatman, 1999, 1996), and theory of everyday life information seeking (Savolainen, 1995) – this study investigated how immigrants and disadvantaged communities seek, acquire and use information to navigate school choice policy in the city of Aurora, CO. The findings of this study are relevant for educators, policymakers, libraries, school districts, cities, counties and parents to determine the necessary policy measures that are required to increase school choice participation by immigrants and disadvantaged communities.

Examining the factors influencing information poverty in western China

“…They emphasized the important impact of information practice on information poverty. Assefa and Stansbury (2018) found that the information seeking behavior of the poor is largely dependent on inter-personal channels which are consistent with Chatman.…”

Perilaku Pencarian Informasi Mengenai Kebijakan Sekolah Tatap Muka oleh Orang Tua Siswa di kota Malang

“…Pengambilan keputusan dalam keterkaitannya dengan kebijakan sekolah tatap muka dapat dilihat melalui model pencarian informasi untuk kehidupan sehari-hari (Everyday Life Information Seeking). Meski Savolainen mengaitkan model ELIS ini dengan pengambilan keputusan yang dilakukan oleh orang sehari-hari berkaitan dengan hal-hal sederhana dalam keseharian seperti masalah kesehatan, hobi, dan lainnya (Case, 2007), namun model ini juga bisa digunakan untuk melihat pengambilan keputusan yang dilakukan orang tua berkaitan dengan pendidikan anaknya (G. Assefa & Stansbury, 2018).…”

“…Penelitian lain yang melibatkan perilaku pencarian informasi orang tua berkaitan dengan pendidikan anak adalah penelitian yang mengkaji perilaku pencarian informasi orang tua imigran yang tinggal pada komunitas miskin Amerika Serikat terkait keputusan untuk memanfaatkan kebijakan memilih sekolah yang ditetapkan pemerintah Amerika Serikat (Assefa & Stansbury, 2018). Bagi para orang tua imigran dengan keadaan ekonomi rendah, kebijakan pemilihan sekolah dapat menjadi salah satu cara untuk mendapatkan pendidikan berkualitas bagi anak mereka.…”

“…Dari beberapa penelitian tersebut tampak bahwa keterlibatan orang tua pada kehidupan anak, terutama berkaitan dengan Kesehatan, pendidikan dan pengembangan diri anak menjadi faktor yang penting. Perilaku pencarian informasi oleh orang tua bukan hanya dimanfaatkan oleh diri mereka melainkan digunakan untuk kepentingan anak mereka, baik berupa penerusan informasi (Crowley & High, 2018) maupun berupa pengambilan keputusan (Assefa & Stansbury, 2018;Chan dkk., 2020).…”

The Implementation of Primary and Secondary Education Quality Assurance Systems

“…And participation of parents or committees is very necessary because as customers, parents can provide input to school and fulfill their aspiration related to education. Some aspects often demanded by parents are the issue of security guarantees by schools to students [25], costs and school performance [26].…”