Charter Schools: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Parental Choice
and Heuristics in North Carolina
By
Jonathan J. Pullin
A Dissertation Submitted to the
Gardner-Webb University School of Education
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Doctor of Education
Gardner-Webb University
2016
Approval Page
This dissertation was submitted by Student Name under the direction of the persons listed
below. It was submitted to the Gardner-Webb University School of Education and
approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education
at Gardner-Webb University.
Dr. Kelly Clark___________________________
Ed.D.
Committee Chair
________________________
Date
Dr. Adriane Mingo________________________
Ed.D.
Committee Member
________________________
Date
Dr. John Balls____________________________
Ed.D.
Committee Member
________________________
Date
Dr. Steve Laws__________________________
Ed.D.
Committee Member
________________________
Date
Dr. Jeffry Rogers________________________
Ph.D.
Dean of the Gayle Bolt Price School
of Graduate Studies
________________________
Date
ii
Acknowledgements
iii
Abstract
Charter Schools: A Mixed-Methods Study of Why Parents Choose Them Over
Traditional Public Schools. Pullin, Jonathan, 2016: Dissertation, Gardner-Webb
University, Choice/Decision-Making/Heuristics/ Traditional Public School/Parental
Choice
iv
Table of Contents
Page
Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................1
History of Charter Schools...................................................................................................3
Statement of the Problem .....................................................................................................4
Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................................10
Purpose of the Study ..........................................................................................................12
Significance of the Study ...................................................................................................12
Research Questions ............................................................................................................14
Types of Schools ................................................................................................................14
Traditional Public Schools .................................................................................................14
Charter Schools ..................................................................................................................15
Magnet Schools ..................................................................................................................16
Private Schools...................................................................................................................17
Definition of Terms............................................................................................................17
Limitations and Delimitations............................................................................................18
Summary ............................................................................................................................19
Chapter 2: Literature Review .............................................................................................20
Overview ............................................................................................................................20
Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................................20
The Sequential Approach to Decision-Making..................................................................21
The Non-Sequential Approach to Decision-Making .........................................................23
Heuristics and the Decision-Making Process ....................................................................25
Cues....................................................................................................................................27
Endorsement and Visual Heuristics ...................................................................................28
The History of Charter Schools in North Carolina ............................................................29
Traditional vs Charter Schools...........................................................................................32
Reasons for Parental Choice and Attitudes ........................................................................35
The Fedewa Study..............................................................................................................37
Summary ............................................................................................................................38
Chapter 3; Methodology ....................................................................................................39
Overview ............................................................................................................................39
Purpose of Study ................................................................................................................39
Research Questions ............................................................................................................40
Research Design.................................................................................................................40
Confidentiality ...................................................................................................................41
Conflict of Interest .............................................................................................................42
Participants .........................................................................................................................42
Selection of Focus Group...................................................................................................43
Selection of Interviews ......................................................................................................44
Quantitative Instrument .....................................................................................................45
Pilot Test ............................................................................................................................46
Readability of Survey Instrument ......................................................................................47
Qualitative Instruments ......................................................................................................48
Focus Group .......................................................................................................................48
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Interview Instrument ..........................................................................................................49
Data Collection Procedures................................................................................................49
Survey ................................................................................................................................49
Focus Groups .....................................................................................................................50
Interviews ...........................................................................................................................50
Data Analysis .....................................................................................................................51
Summary ............................................................................................................................54
References ..........................................................................................................................55
Appendix A ........................................................................................................................63
Appendix B ........................................................................................................................65
Appendix C ........................................................................................................................73
Appendix D ........................................................................................................................76
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1
Chapter 1: Introduction
Today in the U.S. there are 2.9 million students being served by over 6,700
charter schools across 42 states and the District of Columbia (Charter School Laws,
2015). An average of 239 children are waiting to enter each charter school in America,
demonstrating a 21 percent surge in parental demand for charters over last year (Another
5000 Charter Schools, 2015). Across the country students are on waiting lists – with
most schools reporting waiting lists of nearly 300 students each – and demand continues
to outstrip supply suggesting that charter schools could grow significantly faster to serve
more students if the policy environment were more supportive (Charter School Laws
Across, 2015). In Texas alone, it is estimated that 40,000 children are on waiting lists for
charters schools. In Boston, the number is 8,000 (Another 5000 Charter Shools, 2015).
In theory, parental demand and educational supply should work together to
produce a satisfactory product for the market. The supplying of an abundance of charter
schools will not necessarily improve the demand of satisfaction from parents and students
for better educational services at their institutions of learning (Buckley & Schneider,
2009). In a market setting with only one supplier, consumers have no incentive to search
for choices because there is only a single source. In a market where there is only one
supplier, there is no incentive to improve services or respond to the demands of the
clientele. “Informed consumers (parents) demand that suppliers (schools) improve the
quality of the services (education) they provide to the consumers” (Buckley and
Schneider, 2009, p.42).
In the last 15 years, charter schools have been increasing across the country as
parents are choosing to place their children in an alternative educational setting that is
2
different than a public school (Miron & Nelson, 2001). Charter schools are a hybrid form
of school, combining elements of traditional public schools with those associated with
private schools (Miron & Nelson, 2001). According to the National Charter School
Resource Center, charter schools are publicly funded, independently operated schools
that are allowed to operate with more autonomy than traditional public schools in
exchange for increased accountability (National Charter Resource Center. n,d,). At the
core of the charter school model is the idea that charter schools should be autonomous
and held accountable for student learning (National Charter Resource Center). In an
attempt to achieve acceptable levels of student learning, charter school leaders are being
given freedom to do whatever it takes to help students achieve academically (National
Charter Resource Center). Hence, parents are deciding if charter schools are providing a
better education to their children than assigned traditional public schools. This is a
national phenomenon that is causing the educational system to rethink the approach of
how to provide a quality education to its clientele (National Charter Resource Center).
The National Center for Education Statistics reports that between 1999–2000 and 2011–
12, the percentage of all public schools that were public charter schools increased from
1.7 to 5.8 percent, and the total number of public charter schools increased from 1,500 to
5,700 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012-2013) In addition to increasing in
number, charter schools have generally increased in enrollment size over time (National
Center for Education Statistics, 2012-2013). For instance, the percentages of charter
schools with the largest enrollment sizes (500–900 students and 1,000 or more students)
increased from (11%-22%) 1999–2000 to 2011–12, and the percentage of charter schools
with the smallest enrollment size (under 300 students) decreased from 77 to 56 percent
3
(National Center for Education Statistics, 2012-2013). The most recent data from the
National Alliance for Public Charter School estimates that more than 600 new public
charter schools opened 2013-14 school year. Compared with the 2012-13 school year, an
estimated 288,000 additional students are attending public charter schools in the 2013-14.
History of Charter Schools
It appears that the term charter was a thought from the minds of Dr. Ray Budde and Mr.
Al Shanker. They had the idea of the term charter early, but not as a type of school, but as
a way to develop a platform for developing different schools (Saulny, 2005). Dr. Budde
was assistant professor at the school of education at the University of Massachusetts,
Amherst. He first suggested the term "charter" for use in education in the 1970's to
describe a novel contracting arrangement designed to support the efforts of innovative
teachers within the public school system. He espoused that the charter arrangement could
produce a school giving teachers more curriculum control in exchange for more
accountability over student achievement. In 1988, he wrote the booklet Education by
Charter: Restructuring School Districts (Budde, 1988). Dr. Budde delineated various
ideas using a model school system that allowed groups of teachers to receive charters
from the school board, granting them the authority to manage schools and try new
educational approaches within the existing structure of their home districts (Budde,
1998). In 1988, at a meeting of the National Press Club in Washington, American
Federation President Albert Shanker first proposed the creation of charter schools—
publicly funded institutions that would be given greater flexibility to experiment with
new ways of educating students. His vision included small groups of teachers and parents
that would submit research-based proposals outlining creative ways to educate kids. A
4
panel of local school board members and teachers’ union officials would review
proposals and schools would be left alone for a period of 5 to 10 years (Budde, 1998).
This did occur and lead to the opening of the first charter school in America, City
Academy Charter School in 1992 (Resources on Minnesota Issues, 2015). Schools would
be freed from certain collective bargaining provisions such as class-size limitations being
waived to merge two classes and allow team-teaching. (The Charter School Idea Turns
20, 2008). Shanker’s idea was to use teacher expertise to try new ideas in the classroom.
He wanted teams of teachers making suggestions on how to best educate students (The
Charter School Idea Turns 20, 2008). President Shanker, working with Minnesota
legislators, created the nation’s first charter school legislation in the 1990’s. In 1991,
Minnesota became the first state to pass a charter school law (Resources on Minnesota
Issues, 2015). The idea behind this revolution was to pass a law that granted parents,
teachers and others in the community the opportunity to start and run new public schools
outside the direct control of local school districts (Resources on Minnesota Issues, 2015).
Statement of the Problem
Students are assigned to a local public school annually, but parents are becoming
increasingly more interested in enrolling their children into charter schools (Strum et al.,
2005). Prior to choosing a charter school, some parents are not performing due diligence
on charter schools prior to the enrollment of their children (Strum et al., 2005). If parents
do not research the charter school before enrollment of their children, the possibility
exists that having incomplete information could prove to be detrimental to the learning of
the children (Islandpacket, 2014). The problem is that this could lead to unforeseen
circumstances such as a changing national demographic, pervasiveness of racial
5
separatism, unequal patterns of poverty, the political divisiveness of the educational
system (Meeks, et al., 2000).
Furthermore, as more parents choose charter schools, the traditional public
schools will be increasingly populated with low performing students that come from low
socioeconomic backgrounds. This monolithic population will lack diversity in social
environments and have limited exposure to economic prosperity (Strum, 2005). A major
change in the education system of the United States occurred in 1954 with the Supreme
Court in Brown v. Board of Education (Meeks, et al., 2000) when the Supreme Court
recognized, in a 9-0 decision the important roles that fiscal, sociological, and
psychological factors play in the public schools and their critical place in the
sustainability of a democratic society (Meeks, et al., 2000). As court-ordered
desegregation began to take hold, the avenues of escape for white parents from enrolling
their children in largely minority and poor schools have been identified as choice options
(Meeks, et al., 2000). These avenues include magnet schools; vouchers; privatization of
public schools or charter school, for-profit schools; and home schooling. These choice
options, which were initiated in the 1970s, provided an alternative to forced busing
(Meeks, et al., 2000). They were particularly significant for middle-class families who
could not afford to reside in affluent neighborhoods with well-financed, predominately
white schools nor afford the tuition of private schools (Meeks, et al., 2000). Such
separation in the educational system may cause a change in the economic base of the
country, as well as shifts in the racial composition of communities and cities (Meeks, et
al., 2000).
The literature supports and continues to draw attention to the fact that there are
6
also racial disparities in charter schools. Evans and Renzulli (2005) state that whites get
social status from their neighborhoods and the schools that their children attend. The
authors studied the circumstances surrounding why charter schools enroll a high
percentage of white students. They researched how the distribution of nonwhite students
in a school district influenced the patterns of white enrollment in charter school. They
argue that racial competition in school districts result in white flight into charter schools.
Evans and Rezulli (2005) posit that national statistics tell us very little about (1) the local
concentrations of whites and nonwhite in charter schools and (2) how the racial
composition and distribution of charter schools compare with composition and racial
distribution of local schools. The relative ease in which whites can find a mostly white
educational district, suggests that white flight is positively related to the presence of
lower minority populations in a district, even though this may be obtained at a higher
residential cost and increased commute to work (Evans & Rezulli, 2005). This is
important because white flight could promote segregation of the educational system (both
charter and public) and prevent cross-cultural learning between various ethnicities of
students. Evans and Rezulli (2005) found that segregated school districts are prime
targets for segregated charter schools since they have a larger percentage of non-white
students.
In Minnesota, the percentage of students of color in charter schools were higher
than the hosting school districts by 20 percent, while in Mississippi charter schools were
almost 60% whiter than hosting school districts (Twin Cities, 2008). In each of these
instances, a segregated school system is apparent to the casual observer. The Twin Cities
report found that by 2002, more than half of the charter schools were non-white
7
segregated, compared to only 18% of traditional public schools. The charter school
integration numbers remained about the same through 2008, while the public school
numbers increased to 39% (Twin Cities, 2008). In the Twin Cities, in 2008, 89% of
black charter school students were in segregated settings in comparison to 38% black
traditional public school students. Hispanics and students of color were twice as likely to
be located in a segregated charter school setting when compared to a traditional public
school (Twin Cities, 2008). In St. Paul, 88% of all students of color in charter schools
attended non-segregated schools compared to 73% of students of color in traditional
public schools. In Minneapolis, over 96% of all students of color in charter school had a
segregated environment compared to 80% in traditional public schools (Twin Cities,
2008). Student poverty rates were higher in the charter schools when compared to
traditional public schools in the Twin Cities area (Twin Cities, 2008). In Minnesota,
almost all white-segregated charter school were located in white suburban school
districts, while non-white segregated charter schools were located in either urban school
districts or racially transitioning inner suburbs (Twin Cities, 2008).
Work by Frankenburg and Lee (2003) point out the following factors that
influence the segregation of charter schools by race; (1) many charter schools recruit
students they believe would be successful or adopt their mission. They have screening
procedures that are not permitted in the public school sector (as public schools must
provide an education to all students).
Evans and Rezulli state that urbanicity is key because those students that are
likely to relocate to a charter school often live in areas that have subpar performance.
Evans and Rezulli also point out that the type of curriculum or attributes of a school may
8
impact minority enrollment. Specialized curricula may include marine biology or fine arts
while others may offer direct instruction or “Back to the Basics” curricula. Evans and
Rezulli (2005) point out that the type of curriculum or attributes of a school may impact
minority enrollment. Specialized curricula may include marine biology or fine arts while
others may offer direct instruction or “Back to the Basics” curricula.
Bifulco, et al. (2008) found similar results in their analysis of charter school
transfers in North Carolina. Black students, on average, transferred to schools that were
proportionally more black, while white students, on average, transferred to schools that
were more white. Customary attendance patterns- feeder systems or schools previously
attend by siblings- also impact school choice; one study found that customary attendance
patterns of middle class parents tend to include higher quality schools than those of their
lower-income counterparts (Bell, 2006). According to American Renaissance, charter
schools in North Carolina tend to be either overwhelmingly black or overwhelmingly
white–in contrast to traditional public schools, which are more evenly mixed
(American Renaissance, 2015). “When researching student grades 4-8, it was found
that the regular public school population in North Carolina has become less white
over the past 15 years; from 64.1 percent white to 53 percent white while the charter
school population has grown more white (from 58.5 percent white to 62.2 percent
white” (American Renaissance, 2015). “At the national level, seventy percent of black
charter school students attend intensely segregated minority charter schools (which enroll
90-100% of students from under-represented minority backgrounds), or twice as many as
the share of intensely segregated black students in traditional public schools. Some
charter schools enrolled populations where 99% of the students were from underrepresented minority backgrounds. Forty-three percent of black charter school students
9
attended these extremely segregated minority schools, a percentage which was, by far,
the highest of any other racial group, and nearly three times as high as black students in
traditional public schools. Overall, nearly three out of four students in the typical black
student’s charter school are also black. This figure indicates extremely high levels of
isolation, particularly given the fact that black students comprise less than one-third of
charter students” (Frankenburg, et al., 2010).
Latino students are also impacted by the demographics of charter schools.
According to a study by the Center for American Progress, Latino students continue to
lag behind their non-Latino counterparts in most educational indicators of success despite
a rooted history and growing presence in the United States. The underperformance of
Latino students and their staggering dropout rates have galvanized the civil rights
community to take action and rally support behind comprehensive and transformative
school initiatives. The prolific growth of charter schools in the Latino community is one
outcome of this reformative action (Next Generation Charter Schools, 2010). In the
Southwestern portion of United States, there is a large Latino population. A report by the
organization Quality Charters states that English Language Learners (ELLs) may be
from homes where a language other than English is spoken or where English is spoken
with difficulty. ELLs may speak any one of more than 400 languages, although Spanish
is the most widely spoken native language, accounting for 75 percent of all ELL students.
Latinos represent the greatest number of ELL students nationwide, with first- and secondgeneration students from North, Central, and South America (Charter Schools and ELL,
2014). The report goes on to discuss the fact one-fifth of all children in the Midwest are
born into homes where the parents don’t speak English (the vast majority Spanish-
10
speaking), and a tenth of all students are classified as English language learners (ELL)
students (Frankenburg et al., 2010) This selection bias could have a positive impact on
the academic performance of a charter school (Frankenburg & Lee, 2003), yet limit the
number of minority student that are enrolled into the school. (2) Charter schools often
lack the expertise to teach English Language Learners students and students with Special
Needs. This is important because these students (ELL and Special Needs) tend to score
lower on standardized tests and without their tests scores, the academic statistics of the
school tend to be higher than traditional public schools.
Furthermore, if the charter school does not have an ELL program (which may not
be required by the charter), this further re-segregates the student population and promotes
racial imbalance among charter schools (Gill, 2001). The absence of an ELL program
will eliminate the enrollment of Hispanic/Latino students, thereby limiting the
multicultural exposure and interaction between different demographics of students (Gill,
2001). An additional critical factor that may influence school demographics includes the
attributes of a charter school and its urbanicity.
To place emphasis on the problem, a seven percent growth in the number of
operating charter schools and 13 percent growth in charter school student enrollment are
demonstrations of parents’ demand for high-quality educational options (Estimated
number of Charter Schools, 2014). The problem is that a continued increase in the growth
charter schools could result in demographic shifts within K-12 education, racial
separation among K-12 student populations and political division among parents, which
may result in the resegregation of society.
11
Theoretical Framework
A heuristic is a mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems and make
judgments quickly and efficiently. These rule-of-thumb strategies shorten decisionmaking time and allow people to function without constantly stopping to think about their
next course of action (What is a Heuristic, n.d.). While heuristics can speed up our
problem and decision-making process, they can introduce errors (What is a Heuristic,
n.d.). Just because something has worked in the past does not mean that it will work
again, and relying on an existing heuristic can make it difficult to see alternative solutions
or come up with new ideas (What is a Heuristic, n.d.). Decision theory is all about
studying how decisions are made (Shah & Oppenheimer, 2008). It focuses on only some
aspects of human activity. In particular, it focuses on how we use freedom. Our choices,
in many situations, are goal-directed activities. Hence, decision theory is concerned with
goal-directed behavior in the presence of options ( Shah & Oppenheimer, 2008).
According to Buckley and Schneider, little is known about how parents (1) gather
information about schools; (2) use that information to find an appropriate school for their
child and (3) allow demographic factors such as race and socioeconomics influence
resulting patterns of parental choice behaviors. They argue that information gathering
from local schools is expensive, the nature of the good is more complex and the quality
of the product is more difficult to assess. They continue this line of reasoning by writing
that rather than exhaustively gathering information about local schools, parents often take
shortcuts to collecting information or heuristics (Buckley &Schneider, 2009). This study
will consider if parental choice was based upon them performing due diligence on the
12
selected charter school, or by determining that it was an easily available educational
option.
Purpose of the Study
The primary purpose of this mixed methods research is to investigate why
parents, who have no previous experience in the educational system (other than their
own), are choosing to enroll their kindergarten children into charter schools over assigned
traditional public schools. The secondary purpose of this research is to determine if
parents use heuristic decision-making behavior when selecting a charter school for their
children. Attitudinal data (e.g., aesthetic and facility features of the charter school and
classroom size) will be examined to determine the level of importance parents placed on
selection factors when choosing a charter school. This quantitative data will be collected
using a survey instrument and analyzed for frequency. The study will incorporate
quantitative and qualitative data collection methodologies in order to gain a deeper
understanding of the decision-making processes behind parental selection of charter
schools over assigned traditional public schools. These two forms of data will give a
richer and more inclusive description of the phenomenon of parental choice and
heuristics under study. Additionally, multiple sources of data will strengthen the validity
of the study by providing layers of evidence that can corroborate reported findings.
Significance of the Study
Mindful of the purpose of the study, as noted above, the researcher hopes to
provide an in-depth understanding of the most important selection factors and associated
decision-making processes involving parental choice of charter schools over traditional
public schools. According to current research educators, elected officials, business
13
leaders and parents are not producing 21st Century citizens that will be able to compete in
the global economy (Balls, Eury & King, 2011). Research shows that charter schools
have become one of the fastest developing public education sectors (National Center for
Education Statistics, 2013-2013). In her dissertation, Green (2012) explored various
influences that may drive a parent to select the charter school as their educational site of
choice. Her study found sufficient evidence that the charter school phenomena could be
attributed to like characteristics in the responding families rather than to differences
based on income or race/ethnicity. There were no significant differences in satisfaction
when the data was stratified using income and ethnicity characteristic factors. However,
she did not study data on the parental decision-making process of when choosing a
charter school (Greene, 2012). A study by the Cowen Institute for Public Education
researched the accuracy of parental information, selection criteria and the prioritization of
preferences when choosing a charter school in New Orleans (Spotlight on Choice, 2013).
The study found that the parents in the study obtained most of their information and made
school choice based on information from friends, and that misinformation about the
schools was rampant. Selection criteria and prioritization were based on school reputation
and proximity to home, while race was also a consideration (Spotlight on Choice, 2013).
This study hopes to make a significant contribution to the body of knowledge by
providing information on why parents are making school choices within the context of
providing the best available education for their children so that they can compete in the
global market upon completion of their secondary education. This study is significant
because it will examine whether or not heurism plays a role in the decision making
processes of reasons why parents are choosing to enroll their children into charter schools
14
as opposed to assigned traditional public schools. Furthermore, if parents are not
performing their “due diligence” when selecting a charter school, this could prove to be
detrimental to the learning of the child and increase the disillusionment of parents with
the entire educational system (Braddock, 2009). There is a paucity of information in this
area, and there is a need for mixed methods research to explore the decision-making
process of parents when they choose to enroll their children into a charter school over an
assigned traditional public school.
Research Questions
1. Which selection factors (e.g., academic quality; administrative factors and
program elements) are most influential in parental choice of charter schools?
2. How do cues, endorsement and visualization heuristics play a role in the
decision-making process when a choosing Charter School for the first time?
3. How are parental attitudes influencing the choice of Charter Schools over
Traditional Public Schools?
Types of Schools
Parents can select from a variety of public school choice options beyond their assigned
educational facility (Hoffman, 2005). School choices include traditional public school
choice plans, charter schools, private schools and magnet schools (Hoffman, 2005).
Charter schools are public schools that to provide free elementary or secondary education
to students (Hoffman, 2005). A magnet school is typically designed to attract students of
different racial/ethnic backgrounds or to provide an academic or social focus on a
particular theme (Hoffman 2005). Private schools (religious or secular) and home schools
offer parents an alternative choice of education for students (Hoffman, 2005).
15
Traditional Public Schools
Tuition is free. Traditional public schools are funded by federal, state, and local tax
dollars. These schools (elementary, middle and high schools) must be aligned with state
guidelines in curriculum, instruction and methods of student/teacher evaluation standards
as determined by each state (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2012-2013). In
fall 2014, about 49.8 million students will attend public elementary and secondary
schools. Of these, 35.1 million will be in prekindergarten through grade 8 and 14.7
million will be in grades 9 through 12. An additional 5.0 million students are expected to
attend private schools (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2014). In 2011–12,
there were about 13,600 public school districts with over 98,300 public schools,
including charter schools. (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2012-2013).
Charter Schools
Charter schools are free. Charter schools reflect their founder’s varied philosophies,
programs, and organizational structures, serve diverse populations and are generally
committed to improving education (Hadderman, 1998). Charter schools are not under the
same restrictions as traditional public schools and are reimbursed by the state for each
student that attends (National Conference of State Legislatures). The charter schools are
then expected to achieve (usually within 3-5 years) prescribed achievement outcomes or
face having their charters revoked by the authorizer (National Conference of State
Legislatures).
In North Carolina, charter schools receive funds from the federal government, state
and the school districts where their students reside (National Conference of State
Legislatures). As publicly funded schools, charter schools receive money for the students
16
they enroll. When a student enrolls in a charter school, the money follows him or her
from the resident school district. A main difference between charter schools and
traditional schools
is that charters are granted budgetary autonomy in exchange for educational results
(National Conference of State Legislatures).
Magnet Schools
Magnet schools are free public elementary and secondary schools of choice that
are operated by school districts or a consortium of districts. Magnet schools are typically
more hands on – minds on and use an approach to learning that is inquiry or
performance/project based. They use state, district, or Common Core standards in all
subject areas which are taught within the overall theme of the school. Most magnet
schools do not have entrance criteria, but rather, embody the belief that all students have
interests and talents that families and educators believe are better cultivated in a magnet
school. They often use a random computer-based lottery system for admission. Diversity
is an important element of a magnet school. Since student interest in a theme is the only
eligibility criteria to attend a magnet school, students from a wide array of backgrounds
attend magnet schools. As a result, they promote higher level cognitive and social
learning. Curriculum is also clear and transparent for families so they can more fully
engage in the learning of their students. Magnet schools serve all students including
English learners as well as students receiving Special Education services. Transportation
is typically also provided for no cost to families (Magnet Schools of America).
Private Schools
Private schools are tuition driven. Sources of tuition include parents, grants,
17
donations, endowments, alumni, businesses, and community organizations. If the school
is associated with a religious organization, the organization itself may be the primary
source of funding. In some jurisdictions with a voucher system, some private schools are
funded by tuition paid for by a voucher from the state. Tuition can be expensive. Some
K-12 boarding schools approach the cost of some private universities. A survey of over
1,100 schools belonging to the National Association of Independent Schools found that
the national average tuition for day schools is about $19,100. Tuition tends to be lower in
elementary grades and higher in high school. Boarding schools where students live and
attend school charge a much higher premium, about $45,400 on average, but can range
up to $60,000 or more. Private schools are free to offer religious education, or curriculum
not regulated by state standards (Public vs. Private. vs. Charter Schools, n.d.).
Limitations and Delimitations
There are several limitations to this study that inhibit the drawing of broad-based
conclusions from the findings of the data. This research is a modification of previous
work by Fedewa, 2005. This study is limited to the selection of participants which
consists of parents with first time enrollment of a child into any school. No parents from
home schools, private schools or parochial school will be asked to participate in the
study. A delimitation of the study is the selection of three schools located in the Piedmont
Region of North Carolina. Due to small sample population, this study may not be
generalizable. Despite the above limitations and delimitations, this study hopes to provide
a more in-depth understanding of parental choices and the heuristic decision-making
behavior associated when choosing a charter school over their assigned traditional public
school.
18
Definition of Terms
Charter: A performance contract that details the school’s mission, its program
and goals, the population served, and ways to assess success or failure. (Buckley &
Schneider, 2009).
Charter School: These are publicly funded entities that operate free from either
some or most of the regulations that apply to most traditional public schools (Vergari,
2014).
Decision Theory: Concerned with goal-directed behavior in the presence of
options (Hansson, 2005).
Heurism: Describes the simple processes that replace complex algorithms (Shan
& Oppenheimer, 2008).
No Child Left Behind Act: The legislation was proposed by President George
W. Bush on January 23, 2001. The act requires states to provide “highly qualified”
teachers to all students. Each state sets its own standards for what counts as "highly
qualified". No Child Left Behind requires all public schools receiving federal funding to
administer a state-wide standardized test annually to all students. This means that all
students take the same test under the same conditions. (U.S. Department of Education,
No Child Left Behind Act, 2001).
School Choice: Any policy designed to break the link between residential
location and school attendance zones in order to reduce the geometric constraint inherent
in traditional public schooling. (Goldhaber & Fide, 2002).
Parental Involvement: Parenting behaviors directed towards children’s
education. (Gonzales-DeHass, Williams & Holbein, 2005).
19
Public School: Elementary or secondary schools supported by public funds.
They provide a free and appropriate education for all children in the United States. These
schools are organized by public authorities and provide public access without regard to
race, sex, creed or religion (Public Schools of North Carolina, n.d.).
Summary
Charter schools continue to grow across the United States (Estimated number of
Charter Schools, 2014). The ideas of Dr. Budde and Al Shanker continue to inspire
parents and educators to experiment with improving the educational system. The problem
that will be addressed in this study is that charter populations are increasing at a greater
rate than in past years. The primary purpose of this mixed methods research is to
investigate why parents, who have no previous experience in the educational system
(other than their own), are choosing to enroll their kindergarten children into charter
schools over assigned traditional public schools. Heuristics are the theoretical framework
that will be used in this study; specifically cues, endorsement and visual heuristics. The
significance of this study will hopefully explain the decision-making processes involved
when parents are selecting an educational facility for their children.
20
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Overview
The presence of charters schools is increasing on a national basis. The ideas of Dr.
Ray Budde and Al Shanker are continuing to flourish in different communities parents
are not satisfied with the local educational system. Parents view charter schools as an
affordable alternative to private schools and in some cases, they avoid the lottery system
that is associated with magnet schools. However, parents that do not perform due
diligence a charter school prior to enrolling their children risk may risk possibility of
being disappointed and frustrated with the organization. Issues such as academics, school
administration, demographics, free lunch, transportation and ELL services could be very
important in the successful education of a child (Strum, 2005). The primary purpose of
this mixed methods research is to investigate why parents, who have no previous
experience in the educational system (other than their own), are choosing to enroll their
kindergarten children into charter schools over assigned traditional public schools. This
research hopes to find whether parents are making heuristic decisions or performing
research on charter schools before enrolling their children.
Chapter 2 will discuss the theoretical framework for study, which includes (1)
decision-making processes, (2) parents and information and (3) heuristics and the
decision-making process. It will review the impact of charter schools on traditional
public schools, parental attitudes toward public schools, and summarize the current state
of charter schools in North Carolina.
21
Theoretical Framework
When discussing parental choice, the theory on cognitive heuristics or “mental
shortcuts” that people use when making complex decisions (Sturm et al., 2005) is of
particular interest in this study. Behavioral-based decision theory is about making
decisions (Hansson, 2005). A major part of daily life is about making decisions such as
whether or not to eat breakfast. Decision theory, according to Hanson, is concerned with
goal-directed behavior in the presence of options (Hansson, 2005). Hansson also
discusses two decision theories; normative and descriptive. Normative theory involves
how a decision should be made in order to be rational. Descriptive theory discusses how a
decision is actually made by an individual. Normative issues include questions about
making a decision when a person is unsure how to proceed due to insufficient
information, how a person can synchronize decisions, and how groups can socially
coordinate their decisions. Descriptive issues revolve around making decisions with
empirical data (Hansson, 2005).
As found in the work of Hansson (2005), the French philosopher Cordecet
discussed the three stages of the decision making process. In stage one, a person
examines the principles and various aspects of the issue. In stage two, the question being
discussed is clarified, various opinions combine to a small number of alternatives. In
stage three, an actual choice is made from the alternatives (Cordecet, 1847). Prior to an
individual making a choice, a decision-making process occurs.
The Sequential Approach to Decision-Making
Herbert Simon has been called the “father of the sciences of decision” and he won
the Nobel Prize in economics in 1978 (Pomerol & Federic, 2004). Simon coined the term
22
satisficing, a portmanteau of satisfy and suffice, in 1956 to explain the behavior of
decision makers under circumstances in which an optimal solution cannot be determined
(Simon, 1977).
In 1977, Simon wrote that decision-making consists of four principal phases:
intelligence, design, choice and review (Simon, 1977). Simon was clearly interested in
the mechanics of the decision making process, in that he considers how a decision maker
evaluates all the consequences and compares them with each other. He observed that
decision is a matter of compromise; i.e., all decision makers have several more or less
contradictory objectives in mind (Pomerol &Federic, 2004). Thus, Simon was the first to
stress the multicriterion aspect of decision making (Pomerol & Federic, 2004). The work
of Cordecet, Simon and Brim are each noted for advancing the idea that decision-making
occurs in sequential orderly steps. Brim et al. (1963) “describe the relevance of decisionmaking studies to the investigation of social and personality variables and the
significance of a sociological approach to the study of the decision process” (p. 202-203).
Brim further delineated Simon’s three decision processes into six phases:
1. Identification of the Problem
2. Obtaining necessary Information
3. Production of possible Solutions for Performance
4. Selection of a Strategy for Performance
5. Evaluation of such solutions (Stopping Rule)
6. Actual performance of an Action or Actions and Subsequent Learning and
Revision (Brim, 1963)
23
This is the opposite of heuristic decision-making. Heuristics involves making a
decision without process. Sequential decision making describes a situation where the
decision maker makes successive observations of a process before a final decision is
made. In most sequential decision problems there is an implicit or explicit cost associated
with each observation. The procedure to decide when to stop taking observations and
when to continue is called the stopping rule. The objective in sequential decision making
is to find a stopping rule that optimizes the decision in terms of minimizing losses or
maximizing gains, including observed costs (Diederich, 2002).
The Non-Sequential Approach of Decision-Making
There is research that disputes the sequential order of decision-making. In 1972,
Witte examined decision-making and offered further insight into the process. He argued
that “a more realistic model should allow the various parts of the decision process to
come in different order in different decisions” (Witte, 1972). He believes that humans
cannot collect information without simultaneously immediately evaluating alternatives.
This process forces humans to make a decision and represents the total decision-making
process (Witte, 1972). This process is more aligned to heuristics. Mintzberg,
Raisinghani, and Théorêt (1976) proposed a non-sequential model in which decisionmaking occurred in interconnected phases and routines rather than in linear progression.
24
.
Figure 1. MRT Nom-Sequential Model for Decision-Making Process (Mintzberg,
Raisinghani, and Théorêt. Reprinted from The Structure of “Unstructured” Decision
Processes (p.253). by Mintzberg, Henry., Raisinghani, Duru., & Theoret, Andre. (1976,
June). Administrative Science Quarterly, Volume 21. Number 2. Pages 246-275.
They renamed Simon’s three phases as identification, development and selection,
each with multiple routines. The authors posit that in the identification phase there are
two routines. The first routine consists of the “identification of problems and
opportunities through verbal data received by the decision makers " (Mintzberg, et al., p.
253). During the second routine a diagnosis, or "the tapping of existing information
channels and the opening of new ones clarify and define the issues of concern"
25
(Mintzberg, et al., p. 254).
In the second phase, development, options are defined and clarified by the
decision-makers. The two routines in this phase are search and design. The search routine
seeks to discover ready-made solutions, and the design routine seeks to discover new
solutions or modifying ready-made ones (Hansson, 2005). This is the phase that is most
closely related to heuristics.
The third phase introduced by Mintzberg, et al. (1976) is the selection phase
which has three routines. First, the screen routine is applicable only when "when search is
expected to generate more ready-made alternatives than can be intensively evaluated" (p.
257). Secondly, the evaluation-choice routine is the actual choice between the
alternatives. The final routine, authorization, seeks approval for the solution selected
(Mintzberg, et al., 1976).
Heuristics and the Decision-Making Process
In discussing the decision-making process, the term “heuristic” was brought to
wide attention in psychology when A. Newell and Simon (1972) used the word to
describe simple processes that replace complex algorithms. A heuristic is a mental
shortcut that allows people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and
efficiently. It is a rule-of-thumb strategy or mental shortcut that shortens decision-making
time and allows people to function without constantly stopping to think about their next
course of action (What is a Heuristic, n.d.). By definition, heuristics must allow decision
makers to process information in a less effortful manner than one would expect from an
optimal decision rule (Shah & Oppenheimer, 2008). According to Shah and
Oppenheimer, heuristics are methods for arriving at satisfactory solutions with modest
26
amounts of computation, suggesting that people seek to reduce the effort associated with
decision processes. “Heuristic processing is conceptualized as a more limited mode of
information processing that requires less cognitive effort and fewer cognitive resources.
Such processing is not predicated on message comprehension, and it suggests an
orientation in which people rely primarily on that subset of incoming information that
enables them to use simple decision rules to form their judgments” (Ratneshwar &
Chaiken, 1991. p. 53). Shah and Oppenheimer also mention that in judgment and
decision making, a complex algorithm (weight additive rule) is used to obtain optimal
decisions and judgments (Shah & Oppenheimer, 2008). This weight additive rule
requires a lot of effort and cognitive ability from people (Shah & Oppenheimer, 2008).
Therefore, heuristics permits people to make either a decision or choice using rule of
thumb techniques (Shah & Oppenheimer, 2008). As the demands on limited cognitive
resources increase, people may employ methods or strategies that reduce the effort they
expend on computation.
Heuristics can be referred to as methods that use principles of effort-reduction and
simplification (Shah & Oppenheimer, 2008). “At its core, the weighted additive rule
describes how decision makers use and integrate relevant information” (p. 208). The
authors posit that the heuristics people use will reduce their cognitive demands in the
decision-making process. The literature discusses many related areas of heuristics that are
centered on the decision making process. To name a few, the idea of attribute substitution
discusses how people make judgments and decisions by using a limited amount of
information. This idea states that decision makers may substitute a piece of readily
available information for information that might be difficult to access but more likely to
27
yield accurate judgment; hence they use the answer to an easy question to solve a related
problem (Kahneman & Frederick, 2002). Brand name heuristics states that people more
favorably evaluate products with positively intrinsically attractive brand names
(Maheswaran, Mackie, & Chaiken, 1992).
The endorsement heuristic suggests that people will find messages more
convincing if a positively regarded organization endorses them (Forehand, Gastil, &
Smith, 2004). The expertise heuristic states that experts will convince people more
effectively than novices (Ratneshwar & Chaiken, 1991). Shah and Oppenheimer posit
that all the framework of heuristics depends on one or more of the following:
1.
Examining fewer cues.
2.
Reducing the difficulty associated with retrieving and storing cue values.
3.
Simplifying the weighting principles for cues.
4.
Integrating less information.
5.
Examining fewer alternatives (Shah and Oppenheimer, 2008).
They continue to hypothesize that people may use them, even if they are not
consciously aware of having adopted the heuristic framework. Shah and Oppenheimer
indicate that such a framework allows us to understand heuristics by highlighting the role
of reducing the effort required by a task, thus simplifying the decision-making process.
Because heuristics provide cognitive efficiency, they should be relied upon more heavily
in more cognitively complex situations, and/or for decisions that involve more difficult
choices (Lau, Richards and Redlawsk, 1991).
Cues.
The decision-making process is typically based on available information or a cue.
28
The traditional definition of a “cue” is a piece of information (Shah &Oppenheimer,
2008). According to Kahneman and Frederick (2002) cues can be broken down into
subparts. Shah and Oppenheimer use the example of sportscasters that refer to the
“athleticism” of players in various sports. They state that this cue (or piece of
information) can be broken down into more basic elements or subsets of cues such as
speed, strength, and height. They posit that in many cases only a subset of the available
cues is actually used when making a decision, and this behavior could be described as
heuristic.
Endorsement and Visual Heuristics.
Endorsements are a type of information that has heuristic value which can weaken
the correctness of decision-making. A person could learn of a relevant interest group’s
endorsement for a particular issue and rely on that endorsement in making a decision,
thus deferring the required tough cognitive effort and entrusting it to others prior to
making a decision. (Lau & Redlawsk, 2001). However, that decision may not have the
heurist’s desired results. Another example of endorsement heuristics would be visual
images. Appearances or visual images can be heuristically important when making
important decisions. “Visual images are so pervasive in the social world that researchers
rarely consider their heuristic value. A single picture or image provides a tremendous
amount of information including gender, race, and age, and often general likableness,
which immediately brings many social stereotypes into play (Lau & Redlawsk, 2001).
Visual images can illicit emotions and therefore judgments about various situations; this
can sometimes be misleading in the determination of accuracy and value of information.
When certain images become disproportionately available even otherwise reliable
29
personal judgments could be mistaken (Lau & Redlawsk, 2001). Hence, appearances or
visual images have the potential to cause a person to make an inaccurate heuristic
decision regarding an important decision, such as choosing an educational facility for a
child. Cues, endorsement and visual heuristics are the focus of this study due to the
decision(s) being made by parents.
The History of Charter Schools in North Carolina
Rep. Steve Wood (R–Guilford) and Sen. Wib Gulley (D–Durham) introduced
charter school legislation in 1994. The North Carolina Family Policy Council (NCFPC)
focused on the ineffective education policies including substantial increases in public
education funding that failed to raise test scores or lower illiteracy rates (North Carolina
Primer on Charter Schools, 2010). Over the next year, parents and conservative leaders in
the state called for education reforms and parental choice. The NCFPC worked with
Senator Wib Gulley and Representative Steve Wood and developed charter school
legislation acceptable to the leadership of the North Carolina House and Senate. A
compromise proposal, which included a 100-school cap was drafted in 1996 and
Republican Speaker Harold Brubaker and his counterpart in the Senate, Democrat
President Pro Tempore Mark Basnight, agreed to the provisions in the bill, and North
Carolina’s charter school legislation passed on June 21, 1996 (North Carolina Primer on
Charter Schools, 2010). The 100-school cap was reached in 2001 and during that time,
the state’s Charter School Advisory Board recommended raising the cap by 10% each
year. In 2002, the State Board of Education asked the General Assembly to raise the cap
by 10 schools. During the 2001-2002 session of the General Assembly, Representatives
John Blust (R-Guilford) and Leo Daughtry (R-Johnston) introduced a bill to eliminate the
30
cap altogether. However, anti-charter school forces such as the North Carolina
Association of Educators (NCAE) worked successfully to block this and similar bills
(North Carolina Primer on Charter Schools, 2010). Between 2002 and 2007, parents
began to increasingly seek charter schools as an alternative to traditional public schools
(http://johnlocke.org/acrobat/policyReports/10yrsncchartersexcellence.pdf).
Parents welcomed the educational opportunities, diverse curriculum and instructional
methods offered by the state’s charter schools. Parents were more satisfied by the
disciplinary policies at charter schools and felt that they were safer that public schools
(Ten Years of Excellence, 2007). Also, NC DPI’s 2005-06 Annual Study of Suspensions
and Expulsions revealed that short-term suspensions in charter schools decreased by 30
percent from 2004-05 to 2005-06 (Annual Study of Suspensions and Expulsions, 2007),
Specifically, short-term suspensions received by black students in charter schools
decreased 34.3 percent, and suspensions received by white students decreased 19.9
percent (Annual Study of Suspensions and Expulsions 2007). These factors helped to
promote the increased presence of charter schools in
North Carolina. In the 2007 study by Robert Bifulco and Helen Ladd (Bifulco & Ladd,
2007), it stated that charter school students lag behind public school students on end-ofgrade tests and the 2007 report by the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research
(Bifulco & Ladd, 2007) came to a similar conclusion. NCCPPR also warned that charter
schools were racially imbalanced. They reported that more than one-third of North
Carolina charter school students are black and that fourteen charter schools have a
student body that is more than 95% black (Bilfulco & Ladd, 2007). This has led critics
like Bifulco and Ladd to accuse charter schools of resegregation (North Carolina Primer
31
on Charter Schools, 2010).
Presently, there are 148 charter schools in North Carolina, according to the North
Carolina Department of Public Instruction. In January, 2015, the State Board of
Education granted final approval to 11 charter applications at its regularly-scheduled
January meeting. These charter schools will be opening to serve students in August 2015:

Charlotte Lab

Excelsior Classical

Ignite

KIPP: Durham Preparatory

Winterville Charter Academy (formerly Patriot Academy)

PAVE SE Raleigh

Piedmont Classical

Queen City STEM

Shining Rock Classical

VERITAS Community School

Youngsville Academy
In February 2015, the State Board of Education granted final approval to the two
applications for the Virtual Pilot Program at its regularly-scheduled February meeting.
These charters will be opening to serve students in August 2015:

NC Connections Academy

NC Virtual Academy
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In March 2015, the State Board of Education granted final approval to the
following accelerated charter application at its regularly-scheduled March meeting. This
charter will be opening to serve students in August 2015.

Northeast Academy of Aerospace and Advanced Technologies
Traditional versus Charter Schools
A Nation at Risk indicated that our students and school systems were
academically behind our international competitors and that our educational system must
change in order for our students to compete globally (A Nation at Risk, 1983). According
to Buckley and Schneider (2009) charter schools are expected to create innovative
educational programs in order to meet the challenge of global competition. In February,
2015, President Obama unveiled his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2016, which
includes $375 million for the Charter Schools Program – a 48 percent increase over the
$253.1 million included in the FY2015 Omnibus Appropriations Act (National Alliance
Applauds President Obama, 2015). This showed that the Obama administration supported
the growth of charter schools by providing additional financial support for this sector of
education in the United States. Charter schools are changing public and private school
enrollment patterns across the United States (Buddin, 2012). “Charter schools are likely
to have their most direct effects on traditional and private schools with students in similar
grades. A new charter elementary school is likely to have a more direct effect on
enrollments at nearby traditional and private elementary schools, but charter competition
may also have indirect effects on other schools as well. For example, the success of an
elementary school charter may encourage groups to start charters at the middle or high
33
school level. Similarly, if charters are deemed successful in one community, then parents
might promote new charters in their own community” (Buddin, 2012, page 5,). Buddin
found that while most students are drawn from traditional public schools, charter schools
are also taking significant numbers of students from the private education market and
present a serious impact on the private education market (Buddin, 2012). He found that
the shift of students from private to public schools represents a significant shift in the
financial burdens for education from the private to the public sector (Buddin, 2012). In
his dissertation, Cedric Stone stipulates that class size, academic performance, attendance
rates, suspension rates, student-to-teacher ratio and teacher ratio have caused great alarm
in the academic community (Stone, 2010). Parents may believe that the Charter school
atmosphere is more conducive to enhancement of their child’s academic performance.
School attendance is another important comparison point between traditional public
schools and charter schools. According to Hoffman, Llagas and Snyder (2003) when
absenteeism increases the learning opportunities for students decrease. This is a critical
point since the school environment is a primary place where children learn the
importance of obtaining an education. If a child does not attend classes, then it becomes
more difficult for that child to achieve academically. In a 2015 report, the website Public
School Review listed the 10 major challenges facing public school. These include the
following:
1. Classroom size. Classroom sizes are increasing as budgets are being cut. Most
teachers indicated that they cannot effectively teach if the population in the
classroom exceeds 30 students.
34
2. Poverty: Students that get less sleep or not enough to eat are less likely to
perform at a high academic level. These students typically have a high
dropout rate.
3. Family factors: What is going on at home will impact student performance.
Divorce, domestic violence, drugs and other concerns are things that students
bring with them to the classroom on a daily basis and will impact academic
performance.
4. Technology: Technology at school is not keeping pace with what students are
learning. Also, some students do not have access to technology at home.
5. Bullying: Technology has given bullies even more avenues to torment their
victims – through social networking, texting and other virtual interactions.
Cyberbullying has become a major issue for schools, as evidenced by the
number of suicides that can be directly traced to bullying events.
6. Student Attitudes and Behavior: Many public school teachers cite student
attitudes, such as apathy and disrespect for teachers, as a major problem
facing schools.
7. No Child Left Behind: Although the current Obama Administration is
working to reform NCLB policies, the focus in education on both the national
and state level continues to be on the testing process. Student test scores are
now being used by a number of states as a way to evaluate teacher
performance, putting even more pressure on faculty in schools to teach to the
tests.
8. Parent Involvement: Some parents won’t be seen for the entire school year, no
35
matter what sort of issues might arise. Others never seem to go away,
hovering over the child and teacher and interfering with the education process.
9. Student Health: Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S., and the
same poor eating habits that led to the obesity problem may also be
contributing to lower student achievement. Obesity also increases a student’s
risk for other conditions, like diabetes and high blood pressure, which could
result in higher absenteeism and more academic issues.
10. Funding: have created huge problems for most public schools in recent years.
Less funding means smaller staffs, fewer resources and a lower number of
services for students (10 Major Challenges, 2015).
Charter schools are seemingly addressing most, if not all of these critical parental
concerns as this sector of the educational systems continues to grow nationally (Stone,
2010) . Some charter schools have smaller student to teacher ratios, they have modern
technology, some require parental involvement and funding is provided through student
enrollment. Parents are responding, positively, by making the decision to enroll their
children into charter schools (Stone, 2010).
Reasons for Parental Choice and Attitudes
In theory, parents will choose a school that provides the best available and
affordable education for their children. Hence, market forces should prompt traditional
public schools to implement changes to improve their student outcomes and avoid losing
students (Twin Cities, 2008). This argument assumes that parents are motivated. School
choice is irrelevant if parents do not act to move their children from failing schools;
expanded choice options are not important in such a scenario (Twin Cities, 2008).Only
36
one in three percent of the 3.5 million parents that had the choice to move their children
from failing school in the No Child Left Behind Act have actually done so (Bell, 2005).
The argument also assumes that parents make school choices based upon academic
achievement (Twin Cities, 2008). When parents choose schools based upon income and
race, as opposed to academic achievement, it leads to segregation rather than improved
academic outcomes (Schneider & Buckley, 2007).
But if parents are making choices based on limited information or bad information
they run the risk of becoming disappointed with the entire educational system. It is
important to understand, as this research hopes to show, why parents are choosing charter
schools and the heuristic behavior associated with their choice. The 46th Annual
PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitude toward the Public Schools (2014) found the
following facts:
1. 32% of Americans believed that lack of financial support is one of public
school’s biggest problems.
2. A majority of Americans reject using student scores from standardized tests to
evaluate teachers.
3. 12% Americans would give their public school the grade of A, 38% a grade of
B, 31% a grade of C , 11% a D and 6% a grade of E (The Public’s Attitude
toward the Public Schools, 2014).
This poll is conducted on an annual basis. The goal of this poll was to elucidate
the opinions of Americans, 18 years and older, about the nation’s educational system.
During telephone interviews, 1,001 adults were surveyed with at 95% Confidence
Interval with a sampling error of +/- 4.6%. More than 70% of Americans said new
37
teachers should spend at least a year practice teaching under the guidance of a certified
teacher before assuming responsibility for their own classrooms (The Public’s Attitude
toward the Public Schools, 2014). More than 80% of Americans said teachers should pass
board certification in addition to being licensed to practice, similar to professions like
medicine and law (The Public’s Attitude toward the Public Schools, 2014). Four of 10
Americans agree that the school year should be longer and include a shorter summer
break with longer breaks at other times of the year. About three of 10 Americans support
a longer school day (The Public’s Attitude toward the Public Schools, 2014). Six of 10
American public school parents agree that their child’s school supports higher levels of
well-being, and over half said their child’s school encourages their child to build strong
relationships with friends and family members (The Public’s Attitude toward the Public
Schools, 2014). This is indicative of the various reasons why parents are choosing charter
schools over traditional public schools.
The Fedewa Study
Michael Fedewa’s dissertation, North Carolina Charter School Choice: Selection
Factors and Parental Decision-Making (2005) illuminated and isolated those qualities
that parents sought and desired in their children’s charter school. His quantitative study
was designed to examine the decision-making process used by parents who selected
charter schools. He investigated the 16 selection factor including curriculum, class size
and school size (Fedewa, 2005). He employed these 16 factors as research questions and
showed that parents organized these selection factors into three categories: (1) academic
quality; (2) administrative factors and (3) program elements. He also found that the race
of the parent, income of the parent and education level of the parent could influence the
38
decision of the parent (Fedewa, 2005). Sixteen charter schools in North Carolina were
invited to participate and thirteen agreed to participate in his study. They represented the
piedmont, central and western regions of the state and were kindergarten to grade eleven.
He distributed 2,325 surveys with 903 being completed; a return rate of 39%. He found
that a large number of respondent’s children had not attended school prior to enrolling in
a charter school. He also found that school size and the perception that charter schools
had better teachers were chosen most frequently by parents as most important to them in
the selection of a charter school. Of the 16 factors elucidated above, parent indicated that
teacher quality was most important, followed by academic standards, and the amount of
individual attention provided by teachers (Fedewa, 2005). These data support the
research by Noblit & Corbett (2001) and Vanourek, e. al,. (1997) which found that
parents felt charter schools were better than other types of school options relative to class
size (69%), individual attention by teachers (69%) and school size (68%). Fedewa’s
research helps to explain the growth of charter schools in North Carolina but does not
address the role of heuristics in the parental decision making process in the selection of a
charter school to educate their children, which this study hopes to address.
Summary
This chapter will introduce the theoretical framework of the decision-making
process. It will delineate the various aspects of heuristics and the role it has in how a
person makes decisions. Next, the history of charter schools in North Carolina will be
discussed and a description of how the legislative process evolved that led to the eventual
lifting of a cap on charters schools. An explanation of charter schools versus traditional
schools will be explored which included how parents feel about public schools and how
39
charter schools are addressing different areas of parental concern. Finally, the Fedewa
study will be discussed which provided qualitative reasons why parents choose charter
schools.
40
Chapter 3: Methodology
Overview
Chapter 1 discussed the increasing national presence of charter schools on a
national basis. Parental due diligence and the ideas of Dr. Ray Budde and Al Shanker
were delineated relative to the idea of parental due diligence in choosing a charter school
over a traditional public school. Academics, school administration, demographics, free
lunch, transportation and ELL services were explored as potential factors in the long-term
impact that charter schools could have on society.
Chapter 2 will discussed the theoretical framework for study, which includes (1)
decision-making processes, (2) parents and information and (3) heuristics and the
decision-making process. It will review the impact of charter schools on traditional
public schools, parental attitudes toward public schools, and summarize the current state
of charter schools in North Carolina.
This chapter will discuss the selection of participant, focus groups and
interviewees. It will delineate instrumentation and readability of the survey, research
design as well as the procedures for data collection and analysis.
Purpose of Study
The primary purpose of this mixed methods research is to investigate why
parents, who have no previous experience in the educational system (other than their
own), are choosing to enroll their kindergarten children into charter schools over assigned
traditional public schools. The researcher is investigating how cues, endorsement and
visual heuristics played role (if any) in their decision-making process.
41
Research Questions
1. Which selection factors (e.g., academic quality; administrative factors and
program elements) are most influential in parental choice of charter schools?
2. How do cues, endorsement and visualization heuristics play a role in the
decision-making process when a choosing Charter School for the first time?
Research Design
The research methodology selected for this study is an explanatory mixed methods
design. “This approach involves a two-phased project in which the researcher will collect
quantitative data in the first phase, analyzes the results and the uses the results to plan (or
build on) the second, qualitative phase. The quantitative results will inform the types of
participants to purposefully selected for the qualitative phase and the types of questions
that will be asked of the participants. The overall intent of this design is to have the
qualitative data help explain in more detail the initial quantitative results” (Creswell,
2014, page 224). This approach is appropriate for this study because the researcher hopes
to inform the quantitative phase (survey) using qualitative data (focus groups and
interviews). This two-phased study will begin with a quantitative data collected through a
web-based survey and followed by qualitative data collected through focus groups and
interviews to elaborate on the quantitative data (Creswell, 2014). Phase I of this study
will use a web-based program to conduct a survey with parents that have a child enrolled
in a charter school. The purpose of the survey is to identify the frequency associated with
various selection factors when choosing an educational facility for a parent’s child.
42
Parents will be asked to choose the selection factors in terms of importance in choosing a
charter school. Phase 2, focus groups and interviews with parents, will explore the
decision-making actions that led to frequency of the selection factors by parents when
choosing a charter school. The focus group and interview questions will provide rich
details not available in the quantitative surveys. The focus groups and interviews will
delve deeper into the decision-making processes of the parents, and determine if either
cues, endorsement heuristics or visual heuristics were was a part of their selection
process. This research is a modification of previous doctoral work performed by Michael
Fedewa in his dissertation entitled “The North Carolina Charter School Choice: Selection
Factors and Parental Decision-Making” (2005). The current researcher did obtain written
permission from Fedewa to modify his dissertation (see Appendix A). In his work,
Fedewa quantitatively explored parents’ decision-making processes and those items that
attracted them to enroll their children into a charter school. He performed data analysis
on information collected from thirteen charter schools located in various counties across
North Carolina. The schools included grade levels kindergarten to eleventh grade, they
were racially mixed and varied in student population. Fedewa did not perform any
qualitative analysis of the survey respondents. The addition of qualitative analysis (focus
groups and interviews) to Fedewa’s research will be the primary modification to his
work, as this will increase the body of knowledge surrounding why parents made their
choices and the heuristics involved during the decision-making process.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality will be maintained on the online survey by aggregating all of the
responses to identify trends in intervention selections. Focus group and interview
43
participant names will be kept separate from reporting forms and data will be recorded in
the database according to a numerical identification code. Focus group and interview
participant data will be reported by a lettering system to maintain anonymity. For
example, the schools will be lettered A, B and C while focus group and interview
participants will be assigned a distinctive number. Survey, focus group and interview
confidentiality will be maintained during the reporting phases of this research by storing
the recordings and the researcher notes on an encrypted USB device in a secure location
inaccessible by any unauthorized person.
Conflict of Interest
The researcher worked as the Director of Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics for a charter school for six months. The Conflict of Interest could be the fact
that the researcher has previously worked in a charter school and may view the data,
interviews and focus groups with bias. This bias will be overcome by having an SME
review the survey instrument, focus group instrument and interview instrument.
Participants
The selection of survey participants for this research will be done using
purposive selection. According to Creswell, “…to purposefully select participants or sites
means that qualitative researchers select individuals who will best help them understand
the research problem and the research question” (Creswell, 2014, page 246). In this
study, three charter schools will be purposively selected from the Piedmont area of North
Carolina. In order to provide anonymity, a limited general description of the schools is
provided in this study. The schools will be selected based upon having, at a minimum, a
kindergarten grade level. The schools will have been in operation for at least 2 years. The
44
schools will have different demographics, socioeconomics and curriculums. This is
critical to the study, since all parents will be enrolling their kindergarten children into
school for the first time. Parents will meet the following specific criteria: (1) their
children will be enrolled in the selected charter school; (2) parents had the option of
choosing an assigned public school to enroll their child; (3) the parent had no previous
experience with either charter schools or traditional public schools. The surveys will be
sent to approximately 300 participants with an expected return rate of 32% or 96
participants. Demographic data of the participants will be provided in Chapter 4.
Selection of Focus Group
Focus group members will be randomly selected from convenience samples.
Randomization helps ensure a nonbiased cross-section, essentially giving everyone in the
pool an equal chance of selection. Randomization is an effective strategy to minimize
selection bias. A convenience sample is simply one where the units that are selected for
inclusion in the sample are the easiest to access (Convenience Sampling. n.d.). The
researcher will draw names out of a hat to select from a list of parents from the principal
of the school. This process will be repeated until 6 names have been selected. Those
participants will be contacted in the same manner as the survey in an email that will be
blind-copied. This will be done at the design of the researcher to minimize participant
knowledge of focus group members. The researcher will give the requested participants
5 business days to respond, then will send a follow-up email. If no response is returned
within 2 additional business days, another name will be selected using the original
selection procedure. This procedure will be repeated, as necessary, until a focus group
composed of 6 parents who have no previous experience in the educational system, other
45
than their own has been attained or all participants have been exhausted. Focus groups
will be conducted at three charter school sites between 1-4 weeks after the end of the
survey. The focus groups will last between 45 minutes and one hour. The researcher will
request, from the school administrator, a conference room at each school that will be used
to provide a comfortable environment for the parents. This space will allow participants
to sit comfortably and still create an intimate environment for discussion among the
participants. The researcher will facilitate the discussion among the participants using
questions and protocol generated by the researcher. The researcher will take notes during
the session. Audio recordings of the sessions will be taken on a recording device to
ensure that all information will be captured for review by the researcher.
Selection of Interviews
Parents will be randomly selected from convenience samples via a list provided
by the principal of the school. According to Creswell (2013), sample size depends on the
qualitative design being used. He suggests that for interviews four participants is
sufficient (Creswell, 2014) Hence, the researcher will interview four parents from each
school for this study. The interview will last between 45 minutes and one hour. The
researcher will request, from the school administrator, a conference room at each school
that will be used to provide a comfortable environment for the parents. This space will
allow participants to sit comfortably and still create an intimate environment for
discussion among the participants .Interviewees will meet the following specific criteria:
(1) their children will be enrolled in the selected charter school; (2) parents had the option
of choosing an assigned public school to enroll their child; (3) the parent had no previous
experience with either charter schools or traditional public schools. Interview questions
46
will be developed after coding focus group data for themes. The researcher will take
notes during the session. Audio recordings of the sessions will be taken on a recording
device to ensure that all information will be captured for review by the researcher.
Quantitative Instrument
The data collection instruments will be designed specifically to facilitate the
development of credible, valid, and reliable findings that would address the research
questions. The first instrument is a survey. Respondent fatigue is a well-documented
phenomenon that occurs when survey participants become tired of the survey task and the
quality of the data they provide begins to deteriorate. It occurs when survey participants'
attention and motivation drop toward later sections of a questionnaire. Tired or bored
respondents may more often answer "don't know," engage in "straight-line" responding
(i.e. choosing answers down the same column on a page), give more perfunctory answers,
or give up answering the questionnaire altogether (Respondent Fatigue, 2008). To
address this threat, the web-based survey will be designed to take 30 minutes or less to
complete. This will address the tendency of participants to not complete the survey or to
answer the questions without careful consideration. A quantitative web-based survey will
be used to determine the selection frequency of following parental choice factors: (1)
curriculum, (2) individual attention by teachers, (3) class size, (4) school size, (5)
program elements, (6) other extracurricular activities, (7) administrative qualities (8)
people running the school, (9) opportunities to participate, (10) how much the school
expects from parents, (11) academic standards for students, (12) academic quality (13)
quality of teaching, (14) academic standards for students, (15) technology, (16) school
facilities, (17) transportation/location of school (18) food (19) accessibility and openness.
47
Fedewa’s survey instrument is a modified version of the original 1997 national study
entitled “Charter Schools in Action” (Vanourek, e. al., 1997). The survey instrument used
in this study is located in Appendix B. As modified by this researcher, Fedewa’s survey
instrument was redesigned to determine the selection frequency of various choice factors,
by parents, when deciding on an educational facility for their children. The instrument
survey will ask the participants to select each factor in their decision to enroll their
student into a charter school using a 5-point Likert scale. Text boxes for each selection
factor will gather data on how important these factors were when parents were making an
enrollment decision. To ensure validity and reliability, the survey instrument will be
validated by two SMEs in charter administration. The validation will focus on
insufficient definitions, variable measures, and whether the data collected will provide
the information needed to answer the research questions (Creswell, 2014). Feedback from
the two SMEs on the survey will help reduce the threats to the validity and increased the
reliability of the instrument.
Pilot Test.
Tracking undeliverable emails will inform the sampling procedure and response
rate (Kaplowitz, 2004). The pilot test was conducted by the researcher meeting with the
principal to explain the purpose of the research and asking for permission the survey
kindergarten parent population at the school. The principal agreed and asked that the
researcher to email the survey to his office so that he could distribute it to the
kindergarten parents. The survey was emailed via SurveyMonkey to the principal and he
forwarded it to 100 parents and 60 responded. Thus, the pilot study generated a 60%
response rate. This is unusually high for an online survey, but could be attributed to the
48
fact that the researcher is a parent at the charter school where the pilot survey was
conducted. According to the website Super Survey.com, an acceptable response rate is
32% (Response Rates, n.d.). The researcher will expect at 32% response rate for this
study, since the researcher will have no historical affiliation with the schools. Emails will
be sent (via school administration) to announce the survey in advance, to explain the
purpose of the survey, and to identify the benefits of participation. Emails will also be
used as reminders to complete the survey. The survey will be conducted using a webbased program to collect quantitative data on the relative importance parents place on
certain categorical factors regarding school choice. For those parents that do not have
access to the internet, but volunteer to participate in the study, surveys will be
administered and collected at the school by administration.
Readability of the Survey Instrument.
The researcher determined the readability of the survey instrument since
understanding the questions being asked will be essential to eliciting honest and complete
responses. The researcher’s implementation of this specific readability assessment was
influenced by the continued use by the U.S. Department of defense and U.S. Navy
(Flesch Ease Readibility, (n.d.). According to the website ‘The Writer” the FleschKincaid Reading Ease Score is the most widely used readability checker when compared
to other readability tests like the Gunning Fog Score and the SMOG (Simple Measure of
Gobbledygook) (The Writer, n.d.). The Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease Score provides a
numerical score on a scale of 1 (low readability) to 120 (high readability) and an
associated grade level (K-12) that a parent would need to be at in order to clearly
understand the quantitative phase of this research project. (Plain Talk, n.d.). According
49
to the results of Dr. Flesch’s research, 83% of Americans scored in the range of 60-70
(Flesch, 1946). In order to determine the readability of the survey instrument used in this
study, the current researcher performed a readability test to ensure that his questions
would be understood by a universal audience of parents that have children enrolled at
charter schools. The current researcher inserted the instrument into the Reading Ease
Assessment (this is an online process) and obtained as score of 59.1. This readability
score indicates that parents who participate in the qualitative portion of this research will
have an education level equivalent to the 8th-9th grade level (Readibility Score, n.d.).
Based upon the readability score of the survey instrument that will be used in this
research, parents should be able to read and comprehend the questions being asked in
Phase I of this study.
Qualitative Instruments
Focus Group.
The focus group questions will be constructed from the answers provided in the
survey instrument. The researcher will ask the participants to comment on their responses
to the survey instrument used in the quantitative phase of this study. The focus group
instrument will include the heuristic decision-making processes of cues, endorsement and
visualization. This is appropriate because since they completed the survey, these parents
will represent the characteristics being studied and will be able to contribute to the goals
of the study (Arcury & Quandt, 1999). The survey will provide data regarding the
frequency of parental selection factors. The focus groups will explore the role cues,
endorsement and visual heuristics played in the decision-making process. To ensure
validity and reliability, the focus group instrument will be validated with a SME in
50
charter administration. The validation will place emphasis on insufficient definitions,
variable measures, and whether the data collected will provide the information needed to
answer the research questions (Creswell, 2014). The Focus Group Protocol and Consent
forms are located in Appendix C.
Interview Instrument.
The researcher will ask the participants to comment on responses from the focus
groups. The interview instrument will include the heuristic decision-making processes of
cues, endorsement and visualization. This is appropriate because interviewees will be
able to expound on the views of a similar population and provide a deeper understanding
of parental choices and heuristics. To ensure validity and reliability, the focus group
instrument will be validated with a SME in charter administration. The validation will
place emphasis on insufficient definitions, variable measures, and whether the data
collected will provide the information needed to answer the research questions (Creswell,
2014).The interviews will last between 30 minutes and 45 minutes. The Interview
Protocol and Consent forms are located in Appendix D.
Data Collection Procedures
Survey.
Providing the participant with information about the purpose of the study and
targeting the survey to people with salience has been shown to increase survey response
rates (Bean & Roszkowski, 1995). The data will be collected using a web-based program.
The participants will be emailed a link to the survey by the principal of the school. The
information provided to the participants will explain that individual responses are
confidential and that results will be reported only in an aggregate form. In addition, the
51
information will assure participants that the web-based survey should take no longer than
30 minutes to accurately complete. Upon completion of the survey, the participants will
submit their survey via the web-based program. To increase the response rate, two
reminder emails with the link to the survey will be sent by the principal of the school to
the participants over the subsequent two weeks (Heberlein & Baumgartner, 1978).
Focus Groups.
Focus group questions will be designed to gather pertinent data from the
participants in an effort to answer the research questions that guided this study. Focus
groups will be used as a means to conduct a systematic search for meaning (Hatch, 2002).
The researcher will conduct the 3 focus groups which will include 6 participants per
focus group. The semi-structured focus groups will follow an open framework and
encourage conversational communication (Spradley, 1979). The focus groups in this
study will consist of questions that are both open-ended and structured. This will allow
for questions to be rephrased, added, or emphasized as needed during the interviews. The
focus groups will be recorded using a digital audio recorder in combination with
handwritten notes. The digital recordings will be transcribed, as suggested by Merriam
(1998), and saved as a Microsoft Word document. Handwritten notes will be recorded in
a notebook by the investigator during focus groups. Focus group sessions will last 30-45
minutes. Transcriptions from the focus groups will be used to identify emerging topics
and themes important to this study.
Interviews.
Interview questions will be designed to gather pertinent data from the participants
in an effort to answer the research questions that guided this study. Interviews will
52
be used as a means to conduct a systematic search for meaning (Hatch, 2002). The
researcher will conduct 4 parent interviews per school. The information collected
from interviews will be analyzed to identify reoccurring themes, discover
relationships, develop explanations, and generate theories related to parental
selection of charter schools as opposed to traditional public schools. Interviews
with individual parents will be conducted to gather pertinent data from the
participants in an effort to answer the research questions that guided this study.
The interview questions will be developed from the answers provided in the
survey instrument and focus groups. The semi-structured interviews will follow
an open framework and encourage conversational communication (Spradley,
1979). The interviews in this study will consist of questions that are both openended and structured. This will allow for questions to be rephrased, added, or
emphasized as needed during the interviews. The interviews will be recorded
using a digital audio recorder in combination with handwritten notes. The digital
recordings will be transcribed, as suggested by Merriam (1998), and saved as a
Microsoft Word document. Handwritten notes will be recorded in a notebook by
the investigator during interviews with each parent to assist with pattern
identification and reflection of communications with school leaders. Interviews
will last 30-45 minutes. Transcriptions from interviews will be used to identify
emerging topics and themes important to this study.
Data Analysis
According to Creswell quantitative and qualitative databases are analyzed
separately in the Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Design (Creswell, 2014). He
53
also indicates that because analysis proceeds independently for each phase of the
research, it can be easier to accomplish for the researcher since the data builds upon the
other and collection can be spread over time (Creswell, 2014). The survey instrument
response options on the 5-point Likert Scale will be given the following numbers; 1strongly agree; 2-agree; 3-neutral, 4-disagree; 5-strongly disagree. Descriptive statistics
will be used in this study to measure the frequency of selection. Descriptive statistics is
the term given to the analysis of data that helps describe, show or summarize data in a
meaningful way such that, for example, patterns might emerge from the data
(https://statistics.laerd.com/statistical-guides/descriptive-inferential-statistics.php). The
Likert scale responses will be measured at a 0.5 significance level (or p-value of 0.5)
using chi square. The measure of central tendency the researcher will be using in this
study will be the mode. The mode is the most frequently occurring score or value
(http://www.fgse.nova.edu/edl/secure/stats/lesson1.htm). The mode is used for
categorical data when a researcher wants to know what is the most common category
(https://statistics.laerd.com/statistical-guides/measures-central-tendency-mean-modemedian.php). Data computation and analysis will be conducted using the SPSS statistical
package. This data will be used as a launching pad for the study (focus groups and
interviews).
The researcher will use the following seven (7) steps in determining codes and
themes that emerged in this study (via surveys, focus groups and interviews), as
postulated below by Creswell (2014).
1. Raw Data: The researcher will collect of field notes, transcripts, images, etc.
54
2. Organizing and Preparing Data for Analysis: The researcher will transcribe
interviews, optically scanning material, typing field notes, cataloging and
sorting and arranging data into different types.
3. Reading through all Data: The researcher will read each transcript and review
hand written notes in order to determine what general ideas are participants
saying; what is their tone; what is the overall depth, credibility and use of the
information.
4. Coding the Data: The researcher will color code words and phrases that were
repeated during the interview process with parents. Data will be organized by
chunks or brackets and writing a word that represents a category.
5. Theme and Discussions: The researcher will use the coding process to
generate a description of the setting or people as well as categories or themes
for analysis: (description means a detailed explanation of information about
people, places or events in a setting). The researcher will generate major
themes that will be used as major headings in the Findings sector of this
document. Each theme will be supported with diverse quotations and specific
evidence.
6. Interrelated Themes/Description: The researcher will use figures, tables, etc.
to convey the findings of the analysis. This will be accompanied with a
discussion of themes, specific illustrations, multiple perspectives from
individuals and quotations.
55
7. Interpreting the Meaning of Themes/Descriptions: The researcher will ask
“What lessons were learned?” “What questions need to be asked?” (Creswell
2014, page 197 ).
The insights obtained from the focus groups will provide richer details about why
parents frequently chose specific selection factors identified in quantitative phase of the
explanatory mixed methods design, and what role did heuristics play a role during their
decision-making process. Triangulation of data (e.g., surveys, focus groups and
interviews) will be used to establish valid themes once they have been coded. A
triangulation approach to the mixed methods design will assist the researcher in
identifying relationships or links between the data and draw complementary patterns and
themes of the phenomena being investigated through comparing and contrasting of
quantitative results and expand on the qualitative data (Creswell, 2014).
Summary
A survey instrument will be employed in this study to gain a deeper
understanding of why parents, with kindergarten-aged children, are choosing charter
schools over assigned traditional public schools. These quantitative results will hopefully
provide a better understanding regarding what parent’s value most when considering the
education of their children. Three schools were chosen from the Piedmont area of North
Carolina. Participants for the study were randomly selected from a convenience sample.
Instrumentation for the study will include a pilot test, survey, focus groups and
interviews. The mixed methods research design will provide a modification the research
preformed by Fedewa and hopefully improve the understanding of the decision-making
process of parents when selecting an educational facility for their children.
56
57
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Appendix A
Fedewa’s Permission
66
Jonathan Pullin
<[email protected]>
6/16/14
to
Michael
Hello Dr. Fedewa:
My name is Jonathan Pullin and I am a doctoral candidate at Gardner-Webb UniversityCharlotte Cohort.
I am interested in replicating your dissertation; taking you suggestion for further research
implications (#5) and applying your study to several small charter local charter schools
located within the Charlotte regional area.
My cell number is 980-829-7304 if you would like to discuss my research interests further.
Thank you for your time and consideration of my request.
Mike Fedewa
<[email protected]>
to
me
Sure Jonathon. Feel free. Good luck.
Mike Fedewa.
Sent from the iPhone of
Dr. Michael J. Fedewa
6/16/14
67
Appendix B
Survey Instrument
68
Parental Choice Survey Instrument
1. How important was "Curriculum" in your decision to enroll
your child into a Charter School?
How important was "Curriculum" in your decision to enroll your child
into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not Important
Not Very Important
2. How important was "Individual attention by teachers" in your
decision to enroll your child into a Charter School?
How important was "Individual attention by teachers" in your decision
to enroll your child into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not important
Not very Important
3. How important was "Class size" in your decision to enroll
your child into a Charter School?
How important was "Class size" in your decision to enroll your child
into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not important
Not very Important
69
4. How important was "School size" in your decision to enroll
your child into a Charter School?
How important was "School size" in your decision to enroll your child
into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not Important
Not Very Important
5. How important were "Programs" in your decision to enroll
your child into a Charter School?
How important were "Programs" in your decision to enroll your child
into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not important
Not very Important
6. How important were "Extracurricular activities" in your
decision to enroll your child into a Charter School?
How important were "Extracurricular activities" in your decision to
enroll your child into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not Important
Not very Important
7. How important were "Administrative Qualities" in your
decision to enroll your child into a Charter School?
How important were "Administrative Qualities" in your decision to enroll
your child into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not important
Not very Important
70
8. How important were "People running the School" in your
decision to enroll your child into a Charter School?
How important were "People running the School" in your decision to
enroll your child into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not important
Not very important
9. How important were "Opportunities to participate" in your
decision to enroll your child into a Charter School?
How important were "Opportunities to participate" in your decision to
enroll your child into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not important
Not very Important
10. How important was "School expectations of the Parent(s)" in
your decision to enroll your child into a Charter School?
How important was "School expectations of the Parent(s)" in your
decision to enroll your child into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not Important
Not very Important
11. How Important were "Academic standards for students" in
your decision to enroll your child into a Charter School?
How Important were "Academic standards for students" in your
decision to enroll your child into a Charter School? Very important
Important
Neutral
Not Important
Not very Important
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12. How important was "Academic quality" in your decision to
enroll your child into a Charter School?
How important was "Academic quality" in your decision to enroll your
child into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not Important
Not very important
13. How important was "Quality of teaching" in your decision to
enroll your child into a Charter School?
How important was "Quality of teaching" in your decision to enroll your
child into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not Important
Not very Important
14. How important was "Technology" in your decision to enroll
your child into a Charter School?
How important was "Technology" in your decision to enroll your child
into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not important
Not very Important
15. How important was "Transportation/ School Location" in your
decision to enroll your child into a Charter School?
How important was "Transportation/ School Location" in your decision
to enroll your child into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not Important
Not very Important
72
16. How important was "Food" in your decision to enroll your child
into a Charter School?
How Important was "Food" in your decision to enroll your child into a
Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not Important
Not very Important
17. How important were "Accessibility and Openness" in your
decision to enroll your child into a Charter School?
How important were "Accessibility and Openness" in your decision to
enroll your child into a Charter School? Very important
Important
Neutral
Not Important
Not Very Important
18. How important were "School facilities" in your decision to
enroll your child into a Charter School?
How important were "School facilities" in your decision to enroll your
child into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not Important
Not very Important
19. How important were "Academic Standards" in your decision to
enroll your child into a Charter School?
How important were "Academic Standards" in your decision to enroll
your child into a Charter School? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not Important
Not very Important
73
20. How important was the name of the School in your selection
process?
How important was the name of the School in your selection
process? Very Important
Important
Neutral
Not Important
Not very Important
21.
As a Parent, at what grade would you consider moving your child to
another school if their present school was not working out? Elementary
School
Middle School
High School
Other (please specify)
22. Do you consider a Charter School education equivalent to a Private
School Education? Please comment below.
23. If you had the opportunity, would you like to join the Board of
Directors of a Charter School? Please comment below.
74
24. Would you, as a Parent, prefer to be informed on a regular basis
about financial status of this Charter School? Please comment below.
25. In your opinion, what is the top reason Charter Schools are failing?
Please comment below.
26. Are there any comments or concerns that you have which were not
addressed in this survey? Please comment below.
Done
75
Appendix C
Focus Group Protocol and Consent
76
Focus Group Protocol and Consent Form
Thank you for coming today. The purpose of this focus group is to further explore the
reasons you chose to enroll your child into a charter school as opposed to a traditional
public school, and to examine the role of heuristics (rule of thumb) in your decisionmaking process. We need your input and want you to share your honest and open
thoughts with us.
We've brought you together so that we can learn from each other about what is
really going on in in charter schools This is a `'no holds barred" discussion. We want to
know what you're seeing, even if it looks bad. That is the only way we are going to learn.
Of course, we also want to know where things are going well, but where they are not
going well we really need to hear that message.
We are focusing on your selection criteria and decision-making processes prior
enrolling your child into a charter school. However, if you have comments or concerns
that span a longer time period, please do not hesitate to bring them up.
We are taping this session so that we can study what you have said, but it goes no
farther than this group. Anything you say here will be held in strict confidence; we won't
be telling people outside this room who said what. When you have something to say,
please repeat your name each time. When we are listening to the tape again we will not
be able to see who is speaking, and we'll need to be able to relate comments you made at
different times.
77
By signing this consent form, you are indicating that you fully understand the above
information and agree to participate in this Focus Group.
Participant's signature: ___________________________________________
Printed name: ________________________________________
Date: _____________________________________________
If you have any questions or concerns about this study, please contact Jonathan Pullin at
[email protected]].
78
Appendix D
Interview Protocol and Consent
79
Interview Protocol and Consent Form
Thank you for coming today. The purpose of this interview is to further explore the
reasons you chose to enroll your child into a charter school as opposed to a traditional
public school, and to examine the role of heuristics (rule of thumb) in your decisionmaking process. We need your input and want you to share your honest and open
thoughts with us.
We've brought you together so that we can learn from each other about what is
really going on in in charter schools This is a `'no holds barred" discussion. We want to
know what you're seeing, even if it looks bad. That is the only way we are going to learn.
Of course, we also want to know where things are going well, but where they are not
going well we really need to hear that message.
We are focusing on your selection criteria and decision-making processes prior
enrolling your child into a charter school. However, if you have comments or concerns
that span a longer time period, please do not hesitate to bring them up.
We are taping this session so that we can study what you have said, but it goes no
farther than this group. Anything you say here will be held in strict confidence; we won't
be telling people outside this room who said what. When you have something to say,
please repeat your name each time. When we are listening to the tape again we will not
be able to see who is speaking, and we'll need to be able to relate comments you made at
different times.
80
By signing this consent form, you are indicating that you fully understand the above
information and agree to participate in this Interview.
Participant's signature: ___________________________________________
Printed name: ________________________________________
Date: _____________________________________________
If you have any questions or concerns about this study, please contact Jonathan Pullin at
[email protected]].
81
82
83