Charter Schools and "Customer" Satisfaction: Lessons from Field Testing a Parent Survey

Autor/inn/en	Wohlstetter, Priscilla; Nayfack, Michelle B.; Mora-Flores, Eugenia
Titel	Charter Schools and "Customer" Satisfaction: Lessons from Field Testing a Parent Survey
Quelle	In: Journal of School Choice, 2 (2008) 1, S.66-84 (19 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1558-2159
Schlagwörter	Charter Schools; Magnet Schools; School Choice; Field Tests; Educational Change; Educational Facilities; Accountability; Public Education; Surveys; Parent Attitudes; Educational Quality; Teacher Effectiveness + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Charter school; Charter-Schule; Choice of school; Schulwahl; Praxisübung; Bildungsreform; Bildungsstätte; Verantwortung; Öffentliche Erziehung; Survey; Umfrage; Befragung; Elternverhalten; Quality of education; Bildungsqualität; Effectiveness of teaching; Instructional effectiveness; Lehrerleistung; Unterrichtserfolg
Abstract	Since the development of magnet schools in the 1960s--and more recently, the proliferation of charter schools in the last fifteen years--school choice has been a pervasive element on the education reform landscape. With this growth has come the need for information tools to help site-based educators manage, grow, and improve their schools. This is a radical change from traditional public schools. Typically, district administrators decide where students attend school and, consequently, satisfying the "customer" has not been much of a priority in public education. This article reports on both the process of development and the information gained from a field test of a parent stakeholder satisfaction survey for charter schools and other schools of choice. The survey has been designed to assist schools with recruiting and retaining educational consumers by providing information both for external accountability and internal accountability. Preliminary findings from the first stakeholder group surveyed--parents--suggest positive levels of satisfaction with charter schools overall. The findings also reveal that parents, especially those whose children attend new charter schools, are only moderately satisfied with the school facilities and support services offered to students. However, as the charter schools age, these concerns appear to be addressed through school improvement efforts. We conclude with a series of lessons for developing stakeholder satisfaction surveys for charter schools and other schools of choice. (Contains 1 figure and 20 notes.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10