The Construction of Choice: How Parents Assemble Information and Make School Choices

• In Event: Roundtable Session 100
  In Roundtable Session: Unpacking the Social Context of School Choice for Parents: Preferences, Information, and Participation

Abstract

Framework and Objectives
The theory of action in market conceptualizations of school choice is that when given a wider choice of schools in which to enroll their children, parents will “shop around” (Schneider, Marschall, Teske, & Roche, 1998), weighing all available evidence and information on curricula, missions, services, etc., available from different schools and then will make an informed decision as to which school best fits with their own educational beliefs and needs that will best optimize the outcomes they desire (Greene, Loveless, MacLeod, Nechyba, Peterson, et al. 2010). However as Schneider (2001) notes, “Scholars know little about the information sources parents’ use, the quality of that information, and how parents use it to choose schools for their children (p. 73).” This paper seeks to inform these points by looking at the types of information sources that parents use, how information usage varies among different types of parents and how parents use information to make decisions to enroll in charter schools in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Data and Methods
This paper uses a mixed methods methodology that presents the results of a quantitative analysis of surveys and qualitative interviews with Indianapolis charter school parents. Using logistic regression models I estimated the independent effect of parent characteristics on the odds of indicating the use of particular information sources. Patterns and themes from the parent interview data help augment and explicate the findings from the survey analyses.

Findings
Preliminary findings indicate that the average charter parent in this sample uses a small number of information sources in making decisions about charter schools. Among the most often used sources are social networks and information from schools. Of all the parent characteristics included in the models, the most consistent statistically significant parent characteristic was if the parent had indicated on the survey that academics were a top priority in characteristics that were important to them in choosing a charter school. These parents had higher odds of talking to social network informants and publicly available media as well as lower odds of indicating that they did not look for information and a higher average number of sources used. Parent interviews indicate that most parents learn about a specific charter school through a person in their social network and followed up this lead with visits to the school and discussions with teachers or principals at that school. If this interaction with the school was positive then parents chose to enroll their children and did not continue searching for information about other charter schools.

Significance
This paper helps us to better understand how parents search for and use information in their decision making about charter schools. This paper points out that while the concept of parents as rational consumers who “shop around” for the best school is a useful device for theory, in the real world, parent search for and usage of information is much more restricted and complex.

Author

• Marc L. Stein, Johns Hopkins University