Criteria and Obstacles in Choice-Making: Examining the Interaction of Priorities in Choosing Schools With Barriers to Making Effective Choices

• In Event: Parents' Perspectives and Concerns With School Choice

Abstract

Parents’ criteria in choosing schools and obstacles they face in making effective choices are critical components in the school choice process, but they have been studied independently. Relying insights from research on decision-making, we examine how criteria and obstacles mutually interact in the choice-making process. Using data from a large, open-enrollment district, we test the effect of choice criteria on obstacles and, concurrently, the effect of obstacles on choice criteria. Certain obstacles shape parents’ criteria in choice-making while others are inconsequential. Also, the perception of certain obstacles change based on the specific criteria parents adopt. The findings offer new insights on choice and set the stage for deeper examination of criteria and obstacles in choice-making.

Authors

• Argun Saatcioglu, The University of Kansas

• Anthony Snethen, The University of Kansas

• Karin Chang-Rios, University of Kansas, Institute for Educational Research and Public Service