Parent Involvement and School Responsiveness: Facilitating the Home–School Connection in Schools of Choice

Abstract

School choice advocates maintain that parents who choose their schools will be involved. This study asks: (a) What are the characteristics of families who prefer different types of choice arrangements and what are their reasons for choosing? (b) How are parents involved in their children’s education under different types of choice arrangements? (c) How do schools respond to parents under different types of choice arrangements? Findings reveal that religion, income, and ethnicity are important in understanding parents’ reasons for school choice and that school type is a major factor in understanding the relationships between parent involvement and school responsiveness.