Parent Stress and the Unequal Burdens of School Choice

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Student Experiences and Family Preferences in Schools of Choice (Table 10)

Abstract

There is a robust body of research on the effects of participating in school choice programs, and on caregivers’ decisions, including what schools they choose and why, yet there is less research on the process of choosing and, in particular, how parents and caregivers experience the psychological burden of school choice. Given the unequal access to high-quality educational opportunities, the findings from this paper have important implications for, as the burden of choosing schools falls disproportionately on low-income Black and Latinx families. Highlighting the voices of Black and Latinx families navigating school systems and enrollment processes in six districts in three states, our work deepens our understanding of how and why administrative burdens have distributive effects.

Authors

• Huriya Jabbar, University of Southern California

• Hanora Tracy, Tulane University

• Shira Haderlein, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc

• Emily Germain, Learning Policy Institute

• Jacob Alonso, University of Southern California

• Sarah Winchell Lenhoff, Wayne State University