School Choice is a topic that finds itself at the top of school reform and political agendas across the United States, while also being a significant focal point in the educational literature. However, little attention in the debate has been placed on private, independent school choice – including private religious school choice – despite that data that shows “seventy-nine percent of all private schools had a religious affiliation in 1999– 2000: 30 percent . . . affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, and 49 percent with other religious groups” (U.S. Department of Education, 2002, p. 3) and that “initial research on school choice that concentrated on private schools did acknowledge that many parents are likely to choose a private school for religious values” (Bauch and Goldring, 1995). This study focuses on examining the choice behaviors of families who choose independent, nondenominational Christian education, including the reasons they choose to exit before graduation and including the central role of information sources in making such choices. The study uses Rational Choice Theory and Hirschman’s Exit, Voice and Loyalty Theory as theoretical frameworks in order to couch the findings. The conclusions of this study are further couched in a bi-modal framework that posits choice involves “foundational factors” necessary for further investigation of potential schools and “factors of ethos” that, in essence, “break the tie” in the choice process – leading families to choose one particular school over others. The findings of the study, similar to the findings within other school choice literature, show that word-of-mouth information sources – predominant in informal/relational connections – are clearly the “most helpful” and “most important” sources of information in the choice process. However, the importance of web-based sources and achievement test scores also are found to be significant information sources for families who choose private, nondenominational Christian Education. In addition, in this study the differences between exiters and families that reenroll are not shown to be statistically significant and, therefore, the author suggests that theories focused on the ongoing relationships between constituents and organizations, instead of theories related to exit such as Hirschman’s Exit theory, may be more beneficial in the ongoing school choice and school reform debates.

本研究主要探討國內家長學校選擇權發展情形及實施現況，並深入瞭解臺北縣公立國中現行之學區分發入學制度，以建構臺北縣公立國中開放學區入學的決策準則。研究方法部分，先以文獻分析歸納臺北縣開放學區決策準則五大構面與二十四項準則項目，再以模糊德菲術問卷進行調查。模糊德菲術調查樣本為三十八位教育行政官員、校長、教師及家長代表，本研究透過三角模糊數整合專家對準則重要性之看法並以適切性篩選準則項目，最後以歸一化之方式求得各構面以及各項目權重，完成臺北縣開放學區決策準則建構。根據研究之結果與分析，歸納主要結論如下： 1. 「開放學區」是臺北縣公立國中學區制度未來發展可行且具重要性的政策。 2. 臺北縣實施「開放學區」的五項第一層級決策準則構面依序為：「學校因素」、「配套措施」、「交通因素」、「教育設施」、「地理環境」。 3. 「校園安全」、「交通安全」、「學校招生過多或不足的解決方式」、「學生學業成績表現」、「降低班級學生數」是臺北縣實施「開放學區」優先考慮的五項第二層級決策準則項目。 4. 改變現行學區劃分制度，仍需民間單位及家長提出更多家長選擇 權的需求。 / The purpose of this study is to construct a set of standards for the decision-making of open enrollment in Taipei County. To achieve this purpose, this study adopts three methods, including literature analysis, questionnaires investigation and Fuzzy Delphi method. First, the literature review is used to obtain initial indicators; then Fuzzy Delphi method is used to collect opinions from experts in open enrollment, which are to examine the degree of importance and suitability of initial indicators. The practical decision criteria suitable for open enrollment are therefore produced. The conclusions of this study are as follows: 1. Open enrollment policy is feasible and important for the development of school district system of public senior high schools in Taipei County. 2. The decision criteria of open enrollment include five areas : school, supplementary measure, traffic, facilities and environment. 3. The most important five indicators for decision-making of open enrollment are: safety in campus, traffic safety, the solution of shortage of students or over, academic performance, reducing the number of students in a class. 4. It needs parents to bring up the demand of “parents’ choice” to change current school district system.

The study was an investigation of parental decision-making regarding preschool programs for their children. Data indicated that parents investigated a preschool program beyond a conversation with the preschool director and that non-educational aspects of preschool programs were important considerations in the selection of a preschool program by parents. Parents educational preferences tended to coincide with the educational programs of the preschools they selected, although parents indicated favorable opinions of more educational variables than any of the preschools surveyed offered. Levels of education attained by mothers appeared to have little effect on educational preferences, and parents whose first child was attending preschool had educational preferences similar to those of parents whose older children had attended preschool.

The purpose of this study was to examine a school district's responses to charter schools operating within its boundaries. The selected district was the only one in the state with two large academically competitive charter schools for at least two years. Four questions guided the research: In terms of instruction, finance, communication, and leadership, how has the traditional district been impacted due to charter school existence? The exploratory research was timely since charter schools are proliferating as tax-supported public choice schools. While many have speculated about free-market effects of charter school competition on systemic educational reform, the debate has been chiefly along ideological lines; therefore, little empirical research addresses this issue. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used to present a comprehensive case study. Twenty-six school officials and teachers were interviewed; 159 teachers and 1576 parents were surveyed. District, community, and state education department documents were analyzed. Since charter schools have existed in the district, numerous activities have taken place. Instructional initiatives included a high school academy, expanded technology, gifted and talented, tutoring, and dropout prevention. All elementary and middle schools required uniforms. The district's state accountability rating improved from acceptable to recognized. A leadership void was perceived due to students leaving to attend charter schools initially. The district was perceived as making efforts to improve communication with the community. The financial impact of charter schools was neutralized due to the district's student population increase, property wealth, and state charter funding structure. The data supported all of the hypotheses in terms of the impact of charter schools in the district on these activities: free-market effects of charter school competition were not established as the primary reason for internal organizational changes that occurred in the district. Anecdotal evidence suggested that charter schools may have played some role, but primarily they seemed to reinforce trends already occurring in the district.

Ph.D. (Marketing Management) / The ability of independent schools to survive and grow would be enhanced by knowledge of what motivates parents when selecting independent schools in order to assist these schools in better targeting their marketing efforts (McGovern, 2011:16). The primary objective of the study is to recommend marketing guidelines for independent schools and was achieved to identify the choice factors influencing parents’ selection of independent primary schools, identifying the most important choice factors and demographic differences regarding the importance parents attach to choice factors. The external factors influencing the selection of independent schools, the relative importance of price, school facilities and the enrolment process were determined. The usefulness of the sources of information used in the decision-making process was investigated. Both exploratory (qualitative technique) and conclusive (quantitative technique) research designs were followed. For the qualitative technique, dept interviews with ten parents from different independent schools in Gauteng were conducted. For the quantitative technique, a non-probability judgement sample of 669 grade one parents from thirty (30) independent schools in Gauteng participated in the study. The findings of the study identified 29 different choice factors with small class size ranked the highest as choice factor. Previous interactions with the school are the highest ranked external factor influencing the decision-making process of parents and they prefer discount when two or more children from the same household are enrolled. With regard to school facilities, a computer centre is the most important for parents, and a science laboratory is less important. Parents prefer an interview with the principal when enrolling their child and the school open day and school website are the most valuable sources of information for prospective parents. Social media are not considered to be particularly a valuable source of information …

[pt] A dissertação Escolha de escola pelas camadas populares e nova classe média é resultado da pesquisa desenvolvida junto a famílias cujos filhos estão matriculados no sexto ano do Ensino Fundamental em duas escolas, uma pública e uma privada, em um município vizinho do Rio de Janeiro. Essas escolas são consideradas de prestígio na cidade. Através de um questionário aplicado a 100 pais da escola pública e 60 pais da escola privada (o retorno foi de 83 questionários) e realizadas 20 entrevistas, 18 junto aos pais e 2 à equipe pedagógica da escola pública, foi possível perceber os motivos de escolha de escola, as concepções que as famílias possuem a respeito da qualidade de ensino e as expectativas que têm em relação ao futuro que advém do processo de escolarização de seus filhos. Um dado que emergiu como significativo foi a importância de valores morais e éticos transmitidos pela escola, dado esse encontrado nas falas de pais católicos e evangélicos, os quais por prezarem tais valores esperam que a escola os transmita aos seus filhos. / [en] The dissertation School choice by popular class and the new middle class is the result of a research carried out with families whose children are enrolled in the sixth year of elementary school within a public and private school and in a neighboring municipality of Rio de Janeiro. These schools are considered prestigious in the city. Through a questionnaire administered to 100 parents of public school students and 60 parents of private school students (83 returned questionnaires) and conducted 20 interviews, being 18 interviews together with the parents and 2 interviews with teaching staff of the public school, it was possible to see the reasons for school choice, the concepts that families have about the quality of teaching and the expectations they have for the future that comes from the schooling process of their children. Significant information that emerged was the importance of moral and ethical values transmitted by school as the one found in the statements of Catholic parents and evangelicals, who cherish such values and expected the school to transmit to their children.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-12-12T09:27:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciana Nogueira de Souza.pdf: 1181252 bytes, checksum: 7fccb0004ed918df72fea0e75e082939 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-12T09:27:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciana Nogueira de Souza.pdf: 1181252 bytes, checksum: 7fccb0004ed918df72fea0e75e082939 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-11-06 / The study commences with the finding - based on the School Census (Censo Escolar Inep/MEC) data in recent years – that there is an ever-increasing rate of enrolment in and expansion of the numbers of private primary and private secondary schools in Brazil, and this trend is equally applicable to the state of São Paulo and the city of Guarulhos. However, there are few studies which focus on the choosing of education within the private education sector in our country, especially with regards to the less wealthy population. It is within this context that the present study aims to understand the strategies which families adopt when choosing a private school in the city of Guarulhos. To this end, nine families, which had enrolled their children in the first year of secondary school in 2017, were selected, since the latter education level had the largest number of enrolments. The methodology followed was the use of semi-structured interviews with the families, which were later analysed and categorised from the standpoint of analysis of the discussion arising out of the interviews. The study showed that the procedure used in selecting an education institution is influenced by the perception of what constitutes a good school, as formed by the various life and social experiences undergone by the families. It was shown that the strategies used by the family group in the selection of a school are limited, since they are adopted as a means of avoiding public schools and are restricted by the family's financial situation. Nevertheless, some strategies stood out throughout the school selection process, namely: pedagogical issues, family financial situation, academic environment, geographic location, school staff, infrastructure, and information gathered about the education establishment and its extra-curriculum activities / Este estudo parte de constatação, baseada nos dados do Censo Escolar Inep/MEC dos últimos anos, de que há uma expansão contínua do número de matrículas e de escolas particulares da educação básica no Brasil, bem como no estado de São Paulo e na cidade de Guarulhos. No entanto, ainda são poucos os estudos voltados à educação privada sob o prisma da escolha de escola no País, principalmente no que tange à população menos abastada. Diante desse contexto, o presente estudo teve como objetivo compreender as estratégias que as famílias lançavam mão no processo de escolha de escola por uma unidade particular de Guarulhos. Para tanto, foram selecionadas nove famílias que haviam matriculado os filhos no sexto ano do ensino fundamental em 2017, visto que esse nível de ensino foi o que teve o maior número de novas matrículas. O procedimento metodológico pautou-se pelo uso de entrevistas semiestruturadas com as famílias, sendo, posteriormente, analisadas e categorizadas sob a ótica da análise do discurso. Os resultados evidenciaram que o processo de escolha de estabelecimento de ensino é influenciado pela concepção de boa escola, através de experiências vivenciadas e socialmente construídas pelas famílias. Verificou-se que as estratégias utilizadas pelo grupo familiar na escolha de escola são limitadas, uma vez que se dão mediante o evitamento da escola pública, mas que esbarram nas condições financeiras da família. Contudo, algumas estratégias se destacaram ao longo do processo de escolha da escola, a saber: questões pedagógicas; questões financeiras da família; o ambiente escolar; a localização geográfica da escola; a sua infraestrutura; os seus funcionários; as informações obtidas sobre o estabelecimento de ensino; e as atividades extraclasse ofertadas na instituição

This dissertation entitled “Educational choice and educational space” aims to explore the confluence of constructed space and geographic space using a supply-side context for New Zealand’s public school system of quasi-open enrollment. In Part I, New Zealand’s state and state-integrated school system across four urban areas is analyzed spatially and analytically in an attempt to learn about supply-side motivations of individual schools for selecting students. Since 1999 there has been a gradual encroachment on the open enrollment initiative due to excess demand for certain schools altering the landscape of choice. Most studies of school choice examine household motivations to choose schools- what is referred to as the demand-side dynamic of the education market. The contribution of this study to educational choice literature is provided by the opportunity presented by New Zealand’s public education system to examine the supply-side dynamic. School motivation for choosing students is warranted by the fact that individual schools are funded on a per-pupil basis and they are able make operational decisions that include defining their own catchment areas (home zones) when oversubscribed. In order to test the hypothesis that schools are behaving selectively, I leverage boundary discontinuity design (BDD) (Bayer, Ferreira, & McMillan, 2007) and meta-analysis techniques and use census data that reflects neighborhood composition closely linked to the time at which the home zone was drawn. Household characteristics as represented by 2006 census data are within 5 years old at the time the home zone was drawn in 53-percent of cases, and range to a maximum of 7 years for the full sample of schools used in the analysis. The result is a truly unique opportunity to examine evidence of school selective behavior while accounting for logistical, geographic and market features. Across a sample of 886 publicly funded state and state-integrated schools in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin I evaluate 372 schools that implemented enrollment schemes with geographically defined home zones as of the 2009 school year. I find that schools are engaging in selective behavior across one or more household socioeconomic or demographic characteristics – with indicators of deprivation and minority status consistently maintaining significance in boundary and zone discontinuity. Between 37 and 52-percent of schools sample-wide are estimated to be participating in gerrymandering in small to large ways (discontinuities were greater than 0.2 standard deviations, favoring households with affluence and non-minority status). Cases of medium to large discrimination (standardized mean differences of >0.5) are evident in 12 to 26-percent of schools. Schools are zoning out households that contain higher proportions of minorities with an emphasis on non-indigenous (Māori) minorities, in particular the Pasifika group. When examining schools separately by city, sector, gender and school student body socioeconomic status I find heterogeneity in school behavior. Findings corroborate and expand upon previous work regarding New Zealand’s policies of enrollment schemes and their adverse effects. Part II expands the implications of school-level selective behaviors to the macro setting of the metropolitan area education market. Because school zones are not mandated to be mutually exclusive or completely exhaustive of the metro area they serve, it is possible that home zones overlap in some areas and provide no coverage in others. School choice is modeled using an ordered probit approach where the number of home zones claiming the household (census meshblock) is the dependent variable. I also calculate meshblock-level schooling opportunity sets (SOS) for the primary and secondary sectors using methods developed by (Gibson & Boe-Gibson, 2014). The SOS factors household-school proximity with school performance into a summary estimate of educational opportunity for each meshblock. The determinants of each meshblock’s choice set and SOS are modeled as a function of household characteristics, with controls for geographic and market influences. I find evidence that both the size and quality of household educational opportunities are statistically significantly associated with socioeconomic status and racial composition. Affluence is a strong predictor of additional choices and higher quality school access while racial composition continues to be negatively associated with both. The “lay of the education landscape” is then considered for each metro area using the Index of Dissimilarity and mapping techniques. The exercise reveals helpful insight into each of the four education markets. The dissertation concludes with a discussion on the implications and relevance of this work to educational reform discourse and planning for both New Zealand and abroad.

This study examines American and British middle class expats’ educational strategies in Berlin, Germany, from a Bourdieusian perspective. I argue that globalization and an increased mover population make it necessary to study the expat population, a social group that has been largely neglected in sociological research. The study explores the elementary school choices expats make for their children in the host country and how their educational strategies relate to the expats’ inherited and acquired cultural capital. Information was gathered through the statements of six American and British interviewees, interviews which were conducted in fall 2018. The interviewees were asked questions about their elementary school choices, their educational priorities, pastime activities and their own upbringings. The educational strategies were similar to those of specific middle class groups that, according to previous research, are characterized by high cultural capital. The interviewees in this study did however prove to be more idealistic than those specific middle class groups, and they made adjustments to their educational strategies to cater for their expatriatism. The prevalence and importance of liberal values had been passed on to the interviewees by their parents. In terms of choosing schools for their children they valued individuality, independence and cultural diversity. They also valued cosmopolitanism. The interviewed expats did not necessarily see themselves as bound to one country or nationality and they wanted the same perceived freedom for their children. They primarily chose local public schools for their children in attempts to acquire cultural capital, to ensure that their children integrated culturally and developed a fluency in German. Local public schools was the natural choice for expats with German partners, while expats with expat partners often found it difficult to decide against private international schools due to their struggles with cultural integration.

Increasing numbers of Florida parents are withdrawing their children from traditional public schools in highly-rated school districts to enroll them in tuition-free, startup, charter schools. Since not all parents have equal access or are as equally motivated to elect school choice alternatives, the fiscal sustainability of the traditional public school system is at risk. Using Schattschneider's policy feedback process as a model, the purpose of this research was to gain an in depth understanding of the role policy perception plays on the decision-making process by parents. Data for this qualitative single-case study were collected through interviews with 8 charter school parents residing in a single top-performing Florida public school district. All data were inductively coded and then subjected to a thematic analysis procedure. Key findings indicated that participants elected school choice based on perceptions that diminished curricular rigor and diminished classroom safety are the direct result of the classroom compositions found in a general education classroom in a traditional public school. The participants opined that the inability of traditional public schools to adequately accommodate for the diverse abilities of students placed in general education classrooms in accordance with current policy results in higher-achieving students being disenfranchised. The social change significance is showing how parental perception of existing policy impacts school choice election, thus providing guidance to lawmakers about legislative reforms that could limit the school choice migration and secure the viability of traditional public schools for those children limited in school choice options.