School Choice Decision Making Among Suburban, High-Income Parents. (7th January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Altenhofen, Shannon; Berends, Mark; White, Thomas G.
• Is Part Of: AERA open. Volume 2:Number 1(2016)
• Publication Date: 2016-01-07
• Subjects: school choice -- parent decision-making -- socio-economic status; Education -- Research -- Periodicals; 370.7205
• DOI: 10.1177/2332858415624098
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2332-8584

Abstract

Parents' decision making about whether to send their children to a traditional public or charter schools has been studied mostly in urban, low-income areas. Few studies have focused on the decisions of high-income, suburban families. In a sample of Core Knowledge charter schools in a predominantly White and socioeconomically advantaged set of suburbs in Denver, Colorado, we are able to examine both the closed- and open-ended responses of parents who reported the importance of various factors in the decision-making process. Similar to findings from urban, low-income areas, we find that parents rely on their social networks in choosing schools and report the importance of effective teachers, distance to school, and academic quality, which our open-ended responses reveal means different things to different parents. Contrasting previous research, we also find that high-income parents "do their research" on schools to which they are applying.