School Choice, Stress, and the Limits of Choice Architecture in Reducing Inequality

• In Event: New Directions in School Choice Research: Mechanisms, Processes, and Interactions

Abstract

Public school choice policies are designed to give parents agency in selecting the school that is the best fit for their family, regardless of whether it is the closest school to their home. This agency has been characterized as “empowerment” by some advocates who see choice as an equity imperative to ensure that all students have access to great schools (Feuerstein, 2015; Jackson & Cooper, 1989). However, the responsibility for selecting from among hundreds of school options has the potential to create stress and anxiety among parents, which could result in disengagement from the choice process and diminished satisfaction in school. These effects may be disproportionately experienced by the least advantaged families, exacerbating existing race and class inequities in school enrollment and family health outcomes.

In this paper, we ask:
1. How stressful is the school choice process?
a. How does school choice stress vary by socioeconomic circumstances?
b. How does school choice stress vary by grade level?
2. What factors shape school choice stress?
a. How does school choice architecture shape stress?

We explore the issue of school choice stress through the psychological theory “paradox of choice.” A choice paradox can come about when consumers want to select from many options but they are not able to adequately assess their merits, and they experience stress about making the right choice, anxiety after making a selection, and reduced satisfaction due to unrealistically high expectations and fear that they selected incorrectly (Schwartz, 2004a, 2004b; Schwartz et al., 2002). This study reports on the second stage of a mixed methods study of school choice stress in Detroit, Michigan. In 2021, drawing on student contact records from a Detroit school district, we created a stratified sample based on race (Black and non-Black) and income (at or above median income and below median), and we interviewed 40 Detroit parents about their school choice experiences, including 18 with children in kindergarten and 22 with children in 8th grade. We transcribed the interviews, wrote summary memos on each, and deductively coded them. Coded excerpts were then organized into a matrix with participant characteristics to identify patterns by race and class.

Our findings show that stress in the school choice process varied by socioeconomic circumstances. Families with the highest incomes did not experience much stress because they had sufficient resources to both engage in the choice process and opt out if they did not achieve their desired outcome. Families with moderate incomes experienced the most stress and were the most actively engaged in the school choice process as designed. The lowest income families experienced low stress and engaged in the school choice process less than higher income families, as the choice architecture was least aligned to their interests, needs, and resources. In this paper, we show evidence of these patterns and demonstrate how the material and social resources available to families, the choice architecture in Detroit, and some opportunity hoarding among higher income families led to disparate experiences with stress that have implications for creating more equitable school enrollment systems in high poverty cities.

Authors

• Sarah Winchell Lenhoff, Wayne State University
  Presenting Author

• Huriya Jabbar, University of Southern California
  Non-Presenting Author

• Gloria Stout, The University of Texas Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Alejandro Madrigal, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Eliza Epstein, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author