“It’s Our Best Choice Right Now”: Examining the Choice Options of Charter School Parents

Abstract

One of the underlying premises of the charter school movement is that quality drives consumer choice. As educational consumers, parents are viewed as rational actors who, if given the choice, will select better performing school. In examining the choice processes of charter school parents, however, this study calls into question the extent to which some parents can make optimal choices. Interviews with parents enrolled in two different charter schools indicate that charter parents do not necessarily choose higher performing charter schools; nor do they necessarily leave low performing charter schools. The study also provides evidence that parent “choice sets” (Bell, 2009) vary depending on networks and social capital. Thus, choice alone does not necessarily ensure that parents will have better, more equal options.

Parental Empowerment, Involvement, and Satisfaction: A Comparison of Choosers of Charter, Catholic, Christian, and District-Run Public Schools

“…Expansion of educational options could also be impractical. In rural locales, low population density, limitations on economies of scale, and other human resource impediments may constrain the number of schools that can reasonably be made available to families (Denice & Gross, 2016; Villavicencio, 2013). These potential barriers are worth highlighting since the largest proportion of nonchoosers of district-run public schools in this work were located in small town and rural areas.…”

Hispanic, English Learner, and Low-Income Parental Magnet Middle School Choice in a Majority Hispanic California Community

“…A study in St. Louis, Missouri, found that parental school choice is not exercised the same or equally among families of different ethnic groups and socioeconomic status (SES; Goldring & Hausman, 1999). Studies in California, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., have documented similar results (Arcia, 2006; Beabout & Cambre, 2013; Buckley & Sattin-Bajaj, 2011; Frankenberg et al, 2010; Koedel et al, 2009; Neild, 2005; Roda & Wells, 2013; Saporito, 2003; Villavicencio, 2013). In addition, research has been conducted regarding how American parents choose a school.…”

“…Not all parents living in New York City’s choice-rich environment choose a school by weighing different options or applying a comprehensive search process (Villavicencio, 2013). Their charter school selection processes ranged from thorough searches and visits to schools to just filling out a one-page application.…”

“…Some parents need more support in finding and navigating the information that is available. Choice sets appear to be smaller and different for Black, Latino, and poor parents because they may not have access to the same sets of information, networks, or resources, which are shaped by social capital and other resources (Villavicencio, 2013). Another study found that New York City’s charter schools enroll a disproportionately higher number of reduced-price lunch–eligible students, about the same overall proportion of free lunch–eligible students, and disproportionately fewer limited English proficient students (Buckley & Sattin-Bajaj, 2011).…”

School choice and post hoc family preference in Spain: Do they match up?

“…In the school choice process, bounded rationality is reflected in parents' different choice sets, the schools that parents actually take into account for their children's schooling (Bell, 2009). The literature has shown that the choice set is also conditioned by the schools parents have access to (economically, geographically, and in terms of information) and by the elements that parents appreciate in the schools, by their preferences (Hastings Kane & Staiger, 2008;Villavicencio, 2013).…”