How Low-Income Parents Assess Higher-Performing, Lower-Poverty Schools

• In Event: Tracking, School Choice, Public Funding, and Horizontal Stratification From a Global Perspective

Abstract

Low-income families disproportionately enroll in lower-performing, higher-poverty schools. Researchers and policymakers assume that helping low-income families access high-performing, low-poverty schools is an important avenue for addressing educational inequality. However, some research suggests that low-income parents may not perceive such schools as providing a good sense of fit for their children. This study uses interviews with parents who enrolled in higher-performing, lower-poverty schools through a housing intervention to examine the criteria they use to assess different school contexts. Findings show that parents largely assessed these schools positively, citing improvements in instructional quality, access to educational resources, and instrumental family supports. Drawing upon these criteria, parents perceived these schools as more capable of providing individual attention to their children’s needs.

Author

• Joseph L. Boselovic, College of William & Mary