A Family-centered Inquiry: Why Parents of Children with Disabilities Use School Choice Scholarship Programs

• In Event: Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

Despite ample literature examining school choice programs (e.g., Burke & Bedrick, 2018; Greene & Forster, 2003; Winters & Greene, 2011), little is known about why parents use them (Weidner & Herrington, 2006). Even less is known for parents of students with disabilities (SWD), who are more likely to face additional barriers to learning (Greene & Forster, 2003). School choice programs were designed to improve schools (Wong, 1993) and to empower parents in guiding their children’s education (Greene & Forster, 2003). However, research on the relationship between parents and schools suggests that the input of parents of SWD tends to be dismissed (Turnbull et al., 2010). Further, policymakers and educators have a dearth of systematic insights into how parents actually experience these opportunities and make decisions and whether their choices are constrained by a variety of barriers (e.g., geographic, social, economic; Bell, 2009). The current study presents an in-depth qualitative analysis of why and how parents of SWD use the McKay or Gardiner Scholarship programs, two statewide “school choice programs” in Florida that specifically serve SWD, to improve the educational experience of their children.
The study uses interview data collected from 69 parents of SWD in Florida (13% Black, 12% Hispanic, 59% White, 13% Other; 54% Gardiner, 22% McKay, 22% both scholarships) from November 2019 to February 2020. The interviews asked about: 1) how parents learned about the scholarships and why they decided to use them, 2) their experiences using it, and 3) feedback on the scholarship programs.
All interviews were recorded and transcribed. The research team is conducting a mixture of inductive and deductive coding (Fereday & Muir-Cochrane, 2006) using Dedoose. The codebook, which aims to capture the lived experience of parents who navigate the school choice scholarships for SWD, will be applied to all 69 transcripts by four coders. In addition, the research team will create qualitative profiles for all participants, which will include demographic information and trajectories of family school choice journeys (e.g., specific diagnosis, how many schools attended, moves). Final analyses will be completed by January 2021, but preliminary analyses suggest that parents used the scholarship programs for more one-on-one attention from a smaller teacher student ratio, individualized curriculum, sense of community, and religiosity in their SWD's education. McKay parents used the funds on tuition, while Gardiner parents used it also in other ways such as therapies, school supplies, and curriculum.
Florida was one of the earliest states to implement statewide school choice programs for SWD. As more states follow Florida’s example, it is imperative to understand how parents of SWD use school choice scholarships, why they use them, and the trajectories they take to find the right school. Further, at a time when schools and parents need to partner and be more aligned than ever, findings from this study can infuse the parent perspective into discussions about how to reduce inequities for SWD, a conversation that primarily occurred among the professional community between researchers, educators, and policymakers (Hess et al., 2006; Kalyanpur & Harry, 2004).

Authors

• Yawei Huang, Boston University
  Presenting Author

• Anna Skubel, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Shea Martin, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Shannon Mary Varga, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jonathan F Zaff, Boston University
  Non-Presenting Author