Why They Come and Go: Comparing Special Education and General Education Students in Cyberschools

• In Event: School Choice and School Safety

Abstract

Research explores drivers of parental choice of brick and mortar schools, but few works address reasons for attending (and leaving) cyber schools, and how student characteristics affect those reasons; hence this study’s unique contribution. Here we tested whether students with designated special education status differed in their reasons for attending and leaving a national cyber charter school network (n=39,353 students). Proportion tests indicated that parents of special education were relatively more likely than others to cite academic, bullying, and health concerns as driving their choice of schools. Only 39.4% of parents indicated that they will definitely keep their children in National Cyber, with those citing academic reasons for choosing the school no more likely to do so.

Authors

• Robert A. Maranto, University of Arkansas

• Dennis E. Beck, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

• Bich T. Tran, University of Arkansas

• Thomas A. Clark, Clark Consulting