Proving I'm Right: Charter School Policy and Selective Exposure to Information. Issue 6 (September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Blissett, Richard S. L.
• Is Part Of: Educational policy. Volume 34:Issue 6(2020)
• Page Start: 894
• Page End: 917
• Publication Date: 2020-09
• Subjects: politics of education -- charter schools -- information -- political science -- school choice; Education and state -- United States -- Periodicals; Education -- Periodicals; 379.2
• DOI: 10.1177/0895904818802102
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0895-9048

Abstract

Research suggests that individuals may make choices about the information they consume that are influenced by what they already believe. In this study, I investigate this process in a particularly contentious policy arena: charter schools. What kinds of information are important to people as they evaluate charter school policy? Are their choices shaped by their prior beliefs? Overall, I find that indeed people tend to seek out information that aligns with their prior beliefs. Altogether, the results of this study suggest that the dynamics of selective exposure present in the political arena more broadly also exist within education policy.