Switching Schools?: A Closer Look at Parents' Initial Interest in and Knowledge about the Choice Provisions of No Child Left Behind

Autor/in	Howell, William
Titel	Switching Schools?: A Closer Look at Parents' Initial Interest in and Knowledge about the Choice Provisions of No Child Left Behind
Quelle	In: Peabody Journal of Education, 81 (2006) 1, S.140-179 (40 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	Weitere Informationen
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0161-956X
DOI	10.1207/S15327930pje8101_7
Schlagwörter	Federal Legislation; Private Schools; School Choice; Educational Policy; Interests; Parent Attitudes; Public Schools; Parent Participation; Underachievement; Parent Child Relationship; Enrollment Rate; Nontraditional Education; State Surveys; Massachusetts + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Bundesrecht; Private school; Privatschule; Choice of school; Schulwahl; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Bildungsinteresse; Elternverhalten; Public school; Öffentliche Schule; Elternmitwirkung; Performance deficiency; Leistungsschwäche; Parents-child relationship; Parent-child-relation; Parent-child relationship; Eltern-Kind-Beziehung; Non-traditional education; Alternative Erziehung; Master-Studiengang
Abstract	Whether public and private school choice initiatives usher in widespread enrollment changes or whether they cater to a small niche of students critically depends on the decisions that parents make on behalf of their children. Thus far, participation rates in most programs have proved disappointing. This article focuses on parents' knowledge of and interest in the choice provisions under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), for which a miniscule percentage of qualifying students nationwide have enlisted. Drawing from a survey of Massachusetts public school parents completed in the summer of 2003, 18 months after NCLB's enactment, two basic findings emerge. First, although parents claimed to be familiar with NCLB, the vast majority of those who in fact qualified for the act's choice provisions did not know that their child's school was on the state's list of underperforming schools. Second, parents with children in underperforming schools were especially interested in pursuing alternative schooling options. This interest, however, did not derive from pointed dissatisfaction with their current schools, and it was regularly directed toward options that NCLB does not afford-specifically, private schools. An essential point underscores these findings: If advocates of NCLB are to boost participation rates, and if scholars are to accurately predict the likely scope of other kinds of school choice programs, parents require considerably greater attention than they have received up until now. (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10