How Parents’ Perceptions of Public Schools Influence School Choice
Abstract
This is a qualitative study regarding a rural fringe school district in North Carolina.
Initial
interest for this study involved analyzing the State School Report Card ratings and
the impact of
these ratings on parental perceptions and school choice. For the purpose of this study,
interviews
were conducted with parents, principals, and teachers from elementary and middle schools.
In
North Carolina, each school’s grade is calculated using student proficiency and growth
data with
80% of the school grade based on student achievement and 20% on school growth as measured
by the Education Value-Added Assessment System used by the state. This school grading
system
has become controversial among education advocates across the state, especially as
research has
revealed that school grades are highly correlated to family income, with schools with
greater
poverty scoring more Cs, Ds, and Fs than schools with less poverty. This current study
examines
to what extent parents use school report cards when making school choice decisions.
Findings
reveal that parents held very little consideration for school report cards when considering
school
choice decisions. The results overall showed factors such as: (a) teacher satisfaction,
(b) school
location, (c) school focus and philosophy, (d) availability of services, and (e) the
local political
climate were most influential in decisions around school choice. Parents felt these
areas were
better indicators of the climate within a school, and thus were the drivers of parents’
school
choice decisions because of how these factors may affect their child’s education.
Type
Capstone projectDepartment
Graduate Liberal StudiesPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/21081Citation
Farr, Tiffany (2020). How Parents’ Perceptions of Public Schools Influence School Choice. Capstone project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/21081.Collections
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Rights for Collection: Graduate Liberal Studies
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