In a new report, "Never Going Back: An Analysis of Parent Sentiment on Education," the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools examines results from a survey of more than 5,000 parents conducted by The Harris Poll in May 2022. Survey results provide deep insights into how parents feel about education, whether and why they've made…

In the ever-shifting world of school choice, what began as a homegrown charter-school network's small experiment in microschooling stands out as unique -- and as a uniquely promising model for replication. Gem Prep, a network of seven brick-and-mortar K-12 charter schools in Idaho, anchored by a longstanding and high-performing online school,…

The COVID-19 crisis caused the educational system's sudden and drastic upheaval as parents were forced to decide where their children would attend school and how they would get there. These decisions were complicated by the uncertainty surrounding what type of online or hybrid schooling districts would offer, the health risks of different…

Studies of charter closure rates typically focus on year-to-year closures. While important for researchers, such studies provide little guidance to families seeking to understand the risk of enrolling their child in a charter school. That is because studies determining how many schools close each year provide no information on how long the school…

Massive online user review platforms, with their star ratings and text reviews, are reshaping the information available for consumer and public service decisions. We study the leading K-12 schooling platform, GreatSchools, applying machine learning (Natural Language Processing, NLP) to 600,000 reviews that encompass the vast majority of the…

This poll was conducted between February 13-14, 2023 among a sample of 2,200 adults. The interviews were conducted online and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on gender, educational attainment, age, race, and region. Among the key findings are: (1) Support for ESAs, school vouchers, charter schools, and open…

Policies that expand school choice aim to empower parents by giving them the opportunity to choose the school that best fits their child. Publicly funded school choice has increased considerably in recent years, helped by a variety of initiatives, including public charter schools, transfer options for students under the No Child Left Behind Act…

The COVID-19 crisis caused the educational system's sudden and drastic upheaval as parents were forced to decide where their children would attend school and how they would get there. These decisions were complicated by the uncertainty surrounding what type of online or hybrid schooling districts would offer, the health risks of different…

Enrollment in school choice programs is growing, so is overall support for school choice. Many have analyzed what demographic characteristics impact attitudes towards school choice. This article adds to the literature by exploring the interaction between personal decisions regarding school choice and broader support for school choice programs.…

Against a background of failure on the part of the focus of this case study to adhere to its founding charter in terms of enrollment, the purpose of this study was to explore how and why rural parents choose charter schools over traditional public schools. Using data collected through individual and focus group interviews, field observations, and…

This poll was conducted between April 21-April 23, 2022 among a sample of 2,200 adults. The interviews were conducted online and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on gender, educational attainment, age, race, and region. Among the key findings are: (1) Americans do not agree on who should decide whether or not a…

This study seeks to understand the role the Black church plays in the creation of community based charter schools, in shaping Black parents' perceptions about the charter school movement and their own choices in where to enroll their children, and in helping Black parents navigate the school choice landscape. A predominantly Black church in the…

This poll was conducted between December 14-December 21, 2021 among a sample of 435 Black school parents. The interviews were conducted online. Results based on the Black school parents sample have a measure of precision of plus or minus 5.2 percentage points. Among the key findings are: (1) Black, white, and Hispanic parents all have similar…

In the United States, long-standing school choice policies and practices in Arizona have developed into a market-based system of schooling for many residents in the state, especially in the larger cities. In this study, I analyze qualitative data gathered from school leaders and parents in one Arizona district public school who discussed marketing…

The purpose of this "Equity by Design" research brief summarizes a study that examined how Black and Latinx parents of students with dis/abilities living in the city of Chicago decided to avoid or leave neighborhood schools and instead chose to enroll their child(ren) in charter schools.