Differences Between Schools of Choice and Traditional Comprehensive Schools in Their Grade 9 Academic Performance

This study was conducted to determine the differences between schools of choice and traditional comprehensive high schools in terms of their Grade 9 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) End-of-Course (EOC) exams in Biology, English 1, and Algebra 1 during the 2017-2018 school year. Inferential statistical analyses revealed the presence of a statistically significant difference between the two types of schools on their EOC exam passing rates in all three content areas for students who were not at-risk and for students who were not in poverty. In contrast, statistically significant differences were not revealed between the two types of schools in terms of the EOC exam passing rates of their CATE and Non-CATE students. Knowing that students who have choice appear to perform better academically, policymakers are encouraged to study the feasibility of channeling more funding to help school districts expand their school choice programs to (a) motivate more students to find the school that fit their needs and their future college and career aspirations, and (b) to solicit more support from parents and community businesses to invest in their communities to improve schools through taxes. Given that the data for this research were gathered for only 16 school districts in South Texas, researchers are encouraged to conduct a study that will involve all school districts in the whole state and possibly the whole nation to reach more conclusive evidence on the differences between schools of choice and neighborhood schools.

Parental Empowerment, Involvement, and Satisfaction: A Comparison of Choosers of Charter, Catholic, Christian, and District-Run Public Schools

Purpose: This study investigates parental empowerment, involvement, and satisfaction in charter, Catholic, Christian, and district-run public schools. The analyses of these indicators across school types also differentiate parents who chose district-run public schools through residential selection from those who did not. Research Design: A survey of 1,699 parents residing in Indiana was linked to school-level administrative data for the analyses. Parents in schools of choice were first compared with parents in district-run public schools using controls for demographic, school, and geographic characteristics. Parents in schools of choice were then compared with parents who chose district-run public schools through residential selection. Findings: Patterns were largely consistent with charter, Christian, and Catholic schools exhibiting greater parental empowerment, involvement, and satisfaction relative to district-run public schools. However, when parents in these schools of choice were compared with parents who chose district-run public schools through residential selection, these differences decreased. Strong negative relationships with parental empowerment, involvement, and satisfaction were observed for parents who did not choose district-run public schools through residential selection. Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of parental selection into district-run public schools through choice of residence—a typically unobserved form of school selection in the literature. In district-run public schools, results suggest that deliberate strategies may be needed to support nonchoosers. Findings also indicate a need for future research on possible approaches that leaders use in different school types that contribute to greater parental empowerment, involvement, and satisfaction.

Race-Making in Schools of Choice: Teacher Narrative Construction of the Black Interloper

Background Blacks are commonly targeted as a population that will benefit from school choice. Drawing upon market theory, school choice advocates argue that educational opportunity will increase for Blacks and other underserved populations when schools are required to compete for students. With choice, the historically underserved can presumably opt into schools that will provide their children higher quality education that confers better educational outcomes. To date, the promise of choice remains unfulfilled. Purpose/Objective We examine one underexplored factor that may contribute to the unfulfilled promise of school choice: how professionals make meaning of the very students who are expected to most benefit (in this case Black students) and how this meaning-making may compromise the prospect of greater educational opportunity via choice. In particular, we explore the stories teachers tell about Black students in the course of making meaning of Black underperformance as a professional “problem” and their own role in resolving this problem. Of special concern is how teachers racialize Black students via their narration of the status and experience of these youth and the consequent implications for all Black students in one choice context. Research Design The data for this study was collected as part of a multi-year, multi-method study of Black students in three demographically distinct school districts participating in an inter-district school choice system in the Midwest. Relying primarily on focus group interviews with teachers, we evaluated teachers’ narratives within and across districts to determine the discourse patterns that were germane to and differed across districts. Findings In the same way that Blacks are not often readily imagined as both Black and American, the Black students in the districts under study were constructed by teachers as interlopers—not readily imagined as both Black and full members of the school communities in which they were enrolled. In blurring these boundaries, teachers 1) rationalized their own sense of professional inefficacy in facilitating the academic success of Black students; and 2) normalized perspectives and practices that situate Black students and their families as deficient. Conclusion/Recommendations School choice was not articulated in these districts via professional perspectives and practices that increased Black educational opportunity, but was reconfigured as a trope that rationalized Black exclusion and underperformance. Unless teachers are supported in constructing radically different narratives than those reported herein, they are unlikely to cultivate personal practical knowledge that facilitates Black educational access and opportunity in schools of choice or elsewhere.

At the Margins of Canada: School Choice Practices of Aboriginal Families in a Settler-Colonial City

Little is known about the school choice practices of Aboriginal families in settler-colonial societies, where they have been removed from their ancestral lands and/or have been subjected to discriminatory educational policies. Through the lens of settler-colonial theory, this study elucidates the spatially positioned school choice practices of Aboriginal families in a Canadian city. It explores their desires to choose schools and identifies their sociospatial constraints that result from historical marginalization and racism. It delineates how racial segregation in schools increased, as Aboriginal families’ school choice has been limited primarily to low-income, racialized parts of the city that face school closure due to low enrollment. In addition, this article analyzes the exclusion of Aboriginal students from prestigious schools-of-choice programs in the public education system. The study concludes that the neoliberal policy of school choice offers limited options to Aboriginal families, especially given the settler-colonial context of the city where they reside.

Students with Disabilities and School Choice

School choice is one of the primary education reforms currently sweeping the United States. School choice systems create unique challenges for students with disabilities and schools of choice in serving such students. While there are a variety of school choice systems, this chapter focuses on three types of school choice models—charter schools, portfolio school districts, and voucher programs—and the unique policy and legal challenges they present for students with disabilities. Specifically, this chapter examines the interplay of these school choice reforms with the United States laws regarding students with disabilities: the Individuals with Education in Disabilities Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504), and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The challenges, barriers and problems are examined and solutions are proposed that consider both the laws regarding students with disabilities and the structures of the choice programs.

Have you Heard? Newsworthy items from the field

Students from low-income families are disproportionately assigned to special education programs. The Aspen Institute releases a new report offering six recommendations for supporting students’ social, emotional, and cognitive growth. Teachers who promote products on social media need to be aware of ethical questions about the practice. NPR is holding a competition for student podcasters. A study shows schools of choice are less likely to respond to inquiries from parents of children with special needs.