Complicating School Choice for Middle-Class Parents: Identity, Ideology, and the Search for a “Good School”

• In Event: Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: Patterns and Consequences of School Choice

Abstract

School choice has emerged as a popular strategy for school reform. Proponents of the “market hypothesis” of school choice assume parents will choose among schools in a rational manner, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of various options. This qualitative study of parents at three schools explores why middle class parents who are usually predisposed to select out of poorer city schools would choose urban public schools. Our findings complicate our understanding of educational decision-making. While prior research has established the important role of educational choices and background factors such as social class in school choice, we illustrate how, ideology, identity and a desire for connection and community are also important factors in the decision-making process for some middle class parents.

Authors

• Erin McNamara Horvat, Temple University

• Maia B. Cucchiara, Temple University