Parent Resource Centers: An Innovative Mechanism for Parental Involvement in School Choice Decisions

Autor/inn/en	Wao, Hesborn; Hein, Vanessa L.; Villamar, Roger; Chanderbhan-Forde, Susan; Lee, Reginald S.
Titel	Parent Resource Centers: An Innovative Mechanism for Parental Involvement in School Choice Decisions
Quelle	In: Journal of School Choice, 11 (2017) 3, S.334-356 (23 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1558-2159
DOI	10.1080/15582159.2017.1286426
Schlagwörter	School Choice; Parent Participation; Parent Materials; Resource Centers; School Districts; Semi Structured Interviews; Information Dissemination; Outreach Programs; Mass Media; Agency Cooperation; Barriers; Program Effectiveness; Qualitative Research; Florida + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Choice of school; Schulwahl; Elternmitwirkung; Elternbrief; School district; Schulbezirk; Informationsverbreitung; Jobcoaching; Massenmedien; Qualitative Forschung
Abstract	This qualitative investigation reports on the use of Parent Resource Centers (PRCs) as a mechanism for parental involvement in public school choice decisions. Interviews with parents and staff at seven PRCs in Florida revealed that PRCs employ multiple strategies to communicate choice information to parents: community-, school- and media-based outreach; outreach to hard-to-reach parents; and collaboration with other agencies. Personalized assistance and provision of choice materials are also highlighted as useful strategies. Results indicate that there is low level of awareness about school choice options among parents and thus clear and consistent communication of choice information is needed. While PRCs hold promise for increasing parental engagement in school choice, structural and systemic barriers to exercising choice decisions such as transportation and collaboration between schools and PRCs should be addressed. Methodologically, this study illustrates the power of triangulating data from parents and PRCs to illuminate our understanding of how parents make choice decisions. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01