The National Center on School Choice is funded by the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. The Center exercises national leadership in school choice research, including charter and magnet schools, private school vouchers, teacher recruitment, school management, and state policymaking.

Parent Satisfaction and Involvement in Magnet Schools

Ellen Goldring, Vanderbilt University
Claire Smrekar, Vanderbilt University

Here we are considering parents of magnet school students, studying how committed and satisfied they are in their involvement with these schools both at the initial application phase and in subsequent years. The sample for this study was drawn from the Metropolitan Nashville (TN) Public School District, a countywide system that serves 70,000 students in 129 school buildings. From parents who submitted a magnet school application for at least one of their children for the 2002-2003 school year, a stratified, random sample was selected to respond to a survey on school choice and parental involvement. Interviews with parents are being conducted to further understand parent choice.