Choosing Wisely: How Parents Choose Schools Using Inter- and Intradistrict Choice in a Suburban District

• In Event: The Process and Limits of Choosing Schools

Abstract

In 2017, 33 and 43 states had voluntary or mandatory intra- and inter-district transfer programs, respectively (NCES, 2017). Yet, these types of choice programs receive relatively little attention in the literature (Cowen et al., 2015). Using data from qualitative interviews with 21 parents, I explore parents’ experiences evaluating and selecting schools using inter- and intra-district choice programs in the Mayberry School District, a small, suburban, elementary district located outside of a major city in California. I draw on rational choice theory (RCT) and decision-making theory (DMT) to understand both the preferences and constraints that are important to parents when selecting schools and how parents translate these preferences into behaviors, especially given incomplete information.

Author

• Shira Haderlein, University of Southern California