What's in Your Portfolio? How Parents Rank Traditional Public, Private, and Charter Schools in Post-Katrina New Orleans’ Citywide System of School Choice

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane A. Lincove ◽  
Joshua M. Cowen ◽  
Jason P. Imbrogno

We examine the characteristics of schools preferred by parents in New Orleans, Louisiana, where a “portfolio” of school choices is available. This tests the conditions under which school choice induces healthy competition between public and private schools through the threat of student exit. Using unique data from parent applications to as many as eight different schools (including traditional public, charter, and private schools), we find that many parents include a mix of public and private schools among their preferences, often ranking public schools alongside or even above private schools on a unified application. Parents who list both public and private schools show a preference for the private sector, all else equal, and are willing to accept lower school performance scores for private schools than otherwise equivalent public options. These parents reveal a stronger preference for academic outcomes than other parents and place less value on other school characteristics such as sports, arts, or extended hours. Public schools are more likely to be ranked with private schools and to be ranked higher as their academic performance scores increase.

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-231
Author(s):  
Tamgid Ahmed Chowdhury ◽  
Ishrat Jahan Synthia

PurposeThis paper aims to identify the determinants of school choice and factors that define the success of a school as perceived by the parents and then compare “Public” and “Private” schools with respect to the explored criteria to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the institutions.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on 1,121 quantitative data collected through survey questionnaire from the parents living in urban areas of Bangladesh. The school choice model was developed and validated by applying structural equation modeling.FindingsThis paper offers a statistically significant, robust and reliable five-dimensional 23-item school choice model that includes both school characteristics and preferred outcomes as perceived by the parents. Characteristic-wise comparisons in terms of characteristics revealed that public schools are superior to private institutions in fulfilling several choice criteria such as parents–teacher relationships, performance of the teachers, offerings of special programs, safety assurance in the campus and in having bigger campus with playground. On the other hand, private schools dominate in providing better educational environment, arranging training to the teachers, ensuring satisfactory library services and delivering information effectively to the parents. Among outcome determinants, government schools are well ahead in creating self-discipline, morality and good work habits among students. Private schools are superior in developing critical thinking skill of the kids.Originality/valueThere is a gap of comprehensive empirical study on school choice in South Asia region that includes both school characteristics and outcomes. Therefore, this paper contributes significantly to the relevant literature.


1997 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Rubin Glass

School choice is the most controversial education policy issue of the 1990s. John Chubb and Terry Moe's Politics, Markets and America's Schools stimulated this investigation. They concluded that teacher and administrator autonomy was the most important influence on student achievement. They assumed that the organization of private schools offered greater autonomy resulting in higher student achievement and that the bureaucracy of public schools stifles autonomy limiting student achievement. The research undertaken here elaborates, elucidates, and fills in the framework of teacher and principal autonomy in public and private secondary schools. Interviews of more than thirty teachers and administrators in six high schools, observations, field notes, and analysis of documents collected in the field form the empirical base of this work. The sites included three private, independent, nondenominational secondary schools which are college preparatory and three public secondary schools noted for high graduation rates and offering numerous advanced placement courses.The feelings expressed by both public and private school participants in this study testify to equally high degrees of autonomy. Issues that emerged from data analysis in this study which mitigate and shape autonomy include the following: conflicting and contradictory demands, shared beliefs, layers of protection, a system of laws, funding constraints and matters of size of the institution. These issues challenge oversimplified assertions that differences of any importance exist between the autonomy experienced by professionals in public and private high schools. This study reveals the complexity of the concept of autonomy and challenges the myth that teachers and principals in private schools enjoy autonomy and freedom from democratic bureaucracy that their public school counterparts do not.


2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna J. Egalite ◽  
Jonathan N. Mills ◽  
Patrick J. Wolf

The question of how school choice programs affect the racial stratification of schools is highly salient in the field of education policy. We use a student-level panel data set to analyze the impacts of the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) on racial stratification in public and private schools. This targeted school voucher program provides funding for low-income, mostly minority students in the lowest-graded public schools to enroll in participating private schools. Our analysis indicates that the vast majority (82%) of LSP transfers have reduced racial stratification in the voucher students’ former public schools. LSP transfers have marginally increased stratification in the participating private schools, however, where just 45% of transfers reduce racial stratification. In those school districts under federal desegregation orders, voucher transfers result in a large reduction in traditional public schools’ racial stratification levels and have no discernible impact on private schools. The results of this analysis provide reliable empirical evidence on whether or not parental choice harms desegregation efforts in Louisiana.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Cohen-Woods ◽  
Rachel Laattoe

Background: School uniform options such as skirts and dresses can impact physical activity and psychological wellbeing of girls. Restrictions that exclude trousers/pants or shorts as uniform options for girls can promote inequality in comfort and engagement in school activities. The South Australian Department of Education and Child Development (DECD) School Dress Code Procedure mandates school dress codes provide flexible uniform options with the right to choice, regardless of gender. This review examines public school adherence to DECD guidelines, and compares girls’ uniform options between public and private school sectors.Method: The proportion of girls shorts and pants/trouser options provided in school uniform policies collated in 2018 were compared across 486 public and 193 private primary, secondary, and combined schools within South Australia. Policies were grouped based on the choice they provided girls for shorts, and separately for trousers/pants. The groups were gender specific choice/open choice, unisex choice, restricted choice, or no option.Results: Overall, 98.6% of public and 26.4% of private school policies included shorts as a uniform option for girls. Of these schools, about nine in ten public, and just over half private, policies listed gender-specific or open choice shorts options. All public primary and high schools, and a majority of combined schools (98.8%) provided girls pants/trouser options, with 93.4% providing gender specific or open choices. This compared to 34.2% of private school policies including girls’ pants options. In total less than 1.0% of public, and 45.5% to 66.7% of private schools provide no opportunity for girls to wear shorts every day. Similarly, 56.0% of private schools do not provide any trouser/pant option.Conclusion: The results highlight a small proportion of public schools fail to follow mandated uniform policy procedures set by the DECD, specifically in context of shorts. Moreover, this report clearly demonstrates the discrepancy in girls’ uniform options between the public and private school sectors. We present suggestions and recommendations with the aim to improve current policy, as well as a need to advance adherence to policy and South Australian anti-discrimination legislation in public and particularly private schools.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Nevin Gündüz ◽  
Tuğçe Taşpinar ◽  
Nurdan Demiş

The purpose of this research is to determine what the game means from the perspectives of children studying at public and private schools. Four questionnaires were applied to all the third grade parents of four schools; two public and two private schools in Ankara, and questionnaires were completed and sent back by 212 parents. A total of 32 volunteer students from four schools, 4 girls and 4 boys, who were determined according to the results of parents surveys consist of our student research group. Qualitative data were obtained by semi-structured interview technique. Content analysis technique was used for qualitative data and six main themes were created.As a result, children at private and public schools have described as ‘’the meaning of the play’’ theme, as ‘’having fun, being happy, having a good time with friends, ’learning new rules, being healthy and doing sports’’. In the research, they also stated that they play game types such as ’’rope, hide, hide and seek’’ which do not require materials in public schools while they indicated they play games such as ‘’ball, dart, taboo and technological games’’ in private schools. Children indicated that they play at school competitive games prepared by teachers in physical activities lessons. It is concluded that, there is not too much change in the meaning of the game in terms of children who study at private and public schools. Children’s type of game and materials especially change for both girls and boys and schools. Although there are purpose of "enjoy" for both of the two groups, but materials and games that used and played are different.


2021 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-13
Author(s):  
Sigal Ben-Porath

Historically, debates about educational choice have wrestled with big, unresolved tensions that lie at the heart of American life, having to do with individual rights, community obligations, public and private interests, religious freedoms, and more. But in recent years, school reformers have tended to talk about choice as though it referred only to vouchers and charter schools, which provide benefits to a small number of individual children, while doing precious little for the larger community. Further, these approaches leave the greatest amount of choice in the hands of affluent parents, who are able to choose their schools by moving to exclusive neighborhoods. Vouchers and charter schools do nothing to address this imbalance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-7
Author(s):  
Teresa Preston

In this monthly column, Kappan managing editor Teresa Preston explores how the magazine has covered the questions and controversies about school choice. Although many authors across the decades objected to the use of vouchers to pay private school tuition, those same authors lent support to the idea of choice among public schools. Advocates of public school choice have endorsed various models for providing choices, from alternative schools, to magnet schools, to charter schools.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yazen Mahmood ◽  
◽  
Saif Younis ◽  
Tala Saeed ◽  
◽  
...  

This research aims to Identify the Total Quality Management standards and the ability to implementation theses standards in educational institutes of Kurdistan region (KRG) in Public and Private schools by ask a question : what is the reality of implementation the standards of Total Quality Management (TQM) in educational institutes of (KRG). The study take 100 sample (Sava private school and AL-Khouwa public school) and use the excel program for analysis the data and the result showed there are difference in implementation the standards between the Public schools and Private schools. The study recommended the need of sharing and disseminating concepts of implementation the standards of (TQM) between the workers in the educational sector.


Author(s):  
Haifeng (Charlie) Zhang ◽  
Lorin W. Anderson ◽  
David J. Cowen ◽  
Lisle S. Mitchell

Despite years of research and debate, household choice between public and private schools is not well understood. This article investigates factors associated with parental choice between public and private schools using unique census-based school enrollment data for school districts in South Carolina and for neighborhoods in the Columbia Metropolitan Area. This study extends the existing literature by examining patterns of public-private school choice for whites and blacks separately in order to control racial disparities in school choice. Results of multiple regression analyses for the whole population and subdivided racial groups generally support the assumption that public-private school enrollment rate is subject to socioeconomic status, racial proportion, and public school quality. Findings of this study not only suggests the reconciliation of the market-based theory and the racial preference theory, but also provides insights into education policies in terms of stemming white enrollment losses and fostering public school education in the United States.


Author(s):  
Richard J. Murnane

The previous chapter argues that comparisons of the performance of public and private schools can be misleading. This chapter examines in detail recent research providing such comparisons with the goal of clarifying what lessons can be drawn. The chapter also explains why the recent comparisons have puzzled, and in some cases infuriated, many public school educators. I begin by providing background on the best known of the recent studies. On April 7, 1981, at a conference attended by more than four hundred educators and the press, James Coleman announced the findings of research that he had conducted with Thomas Hoffer and Sally Kilgore on public and private high schools in the United States. Their principal finding was that Catholic schools and non-Catholic private schools are more effective in helping students to acquire cognitive skills than public schools are. Coming at a time of widespread criticism of public education and presidential support for tuition tax credits for families that use private schools, this finding was widely reported in the press and evoked a range of spirited reactions. Critics and supporters responded to Coleman, Hoffer, and Kilgore’s (henceforth CHK) work with articles and editorials with lively titles such as: “Coleman Goes Private (in Public),” “Lessons for the Public Schools,” “Coleman’s Bad Report,” and “Private Schools Win a Public Vote.” Over the succeeding months CHK’s work remained visible as critiques of their research and reanalyses of the data they used appeared in a variety of journals, in some cases accompanied by lengthy responses by CHK. Another wave of interest was sparked by the publication and subsequent reviews of CHK’s High School Achievement: Public, Catholic, and Private Schools Compared, in which they presented their final research findings. As a result of the wide range of responses to CHK’s work and the numerous symposia in which CHK have debated their critics in print, there is now ample material available to any reader interested in forming a judgment about the quality of the research that produced their main conclusion.


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