This study examines the movement of students in suburban Detroit through open enrollment, or inter-district school choice. We examine whether absolute levels and changes in the district enrollment of Black, economically disadvantaged, and nonresident students are perceived as racial threats by suburban families, leading them to exit their local…

Charter schools are promoted as a contemporary American invention. But the documented history reveals that charter schools actually evolved over the centuries in England, structured to reflect the highly stratified British class system. The last stand to hold onto the charter-school system in England was waged by Margaret Thatcher under the banner…

"Meredith v. Jefferson County/Parents Involved v. Seattle" ruled that K-12 public-school districts could no longer use the race of an individual student for placement in schools, which resulted in districts adopting new "race-neutral" assignment plans. This qualitative research study on school assignment and school choice…

School performance measures are published annually in England to hold schools to account and to support parental school choice. This article reviews and evaluates the 'Progress 8' secondary school accountability system for state-funded schools. We assess the statistical strengths and weaknesses of Progress 8 relating to: choice of pupil outcome…

Many school districts with centralized school choice adopt strategyproof assignment mechanisms to relieve applicants of the need to strategize on the basis of beliefs about their own admissions chances. This paper shows that beliefs about admissions chances shape choice outcomes even when the assignment mechanism is strategyproof by influencing…

At a time of bitter national polarization, there is a critical need for leaders who can help us better communicate with one another. In "A Search for Common Ground," Rick Hess and Pedro Noguera, who have often fallen on opposing sides of the ideological aisle over the past couple of decades, candidly talk through their differences on…

School vouchers are state-funded programs--often called scholarship programs--that allow students to use public monies to attend a private school. The state provides a set amount of money, typically based on the state's per-pupil amount, for private school tuition. There are currently 27 voucher programs in 16 states and the District of Columbia.…

This chapter explores the concept of a Dominant Language Constellation (DLC) in a Canadian context and links it to family language policy (FLP) and language of schooling. The focus is on the province of Ontario where English is the majority language and French a minority language, along with various other minority languages, including…

This dissertation is composed of three studies. The first and second examine the U.S. private tutoring industry which heretofore has gone largely undocumented by academic research. I show that not only has the industry grown precipitously within the last few decades, but that a disproportionate amount of that growth has taken place among areas…

Forty-four states and Washington, D.C. have passed legislation to expand school choice options for students and families (Cardine, 2019). In addition to a student's assigned neighborhood school, one may enact choice by way of tax credits, charter schools, vouchers, relocation, and through other means, depending on where one lives. The act of…

The study, conducted amidst the war in Ukraine in 2023, assesses the impact of schools' decisions on families' choices upon returning to the country. It involves surveying and analyzing data from interviews with parents of a Ukrainian private school. Findings highlight factors like child-centric approaches, fostering independence, and transparent…

Should religious schools be an option? Should they receive public funding? Are they bad for community cohesion? What should we make of the charge that they indoctrinate? How should they be regulated? People disagree on the answers to these questions. Some maintain that religious schools should not be permitted. If parents want to raise their…

"Brown v. Board of Education" held that the educational systems of seventeen states that mandated segregated schools violated the Constitutional guarantee of equal protection. The decision helped set off the civil rights revolution. However, after so many years of backlash, schools of the South are dramatically less segregated than what…

May 17, 2024 marks the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court decision that ruled segregated schools were "inherently unequal." At the time, North Carolina was one of 17 states that enforced de jure segregation, that is, segregation by law. The state of North Carolina and the school districts within…

Parents weigh many factors when searching for and choosing a child care option for their child. While research typically examines factors such as the cost and availability of care within a specific location, families may have additional priorities and preferences for their family's child care arrangement. This brief examines families' access to…