Survey Identifies Why Parents Choose Private Schools - Council for ...

December 2013 ? Number 390

outlook Council for American Private Education

Voice of America's private schools

Survey Identifies Why Parents Choose Private Schools

Consider it a reason to press the pause button in the push to judge schools

reasons why families send their children to a private school rather than to a public

their top five reasons. "These results should dissuade law-

solely by test scores. A new survey of par- school. Please select each of the following

makers from forcing standardized tests

ents shows that assessment results are not

reasons you had for sending your child

on private schools, including those with

even among the top ten reasons why fami- to a private school (you may mark as

school choice students," Benjamin Scafidi,

lies choose private schools.

many or as few reasons as applied to your co-author of the Friedman report and pro-

Released last

situation)." Re-

fessor at Georgia College & State Univer-

month by the Friedman Foundation for Educa-

Reason for Choosing a Private School for Their Child

spondents were given 21 possible reasons.

sity, said. "Parents want to evaluate schools based on their children's needs, not the government's."

tional Choice, the survey of parents

Better learning environment

According to the report, more

Asked what information they would seek to help them decide which private

participating in the Georgia

Better education

than 85 percent of parents said

school to choose, 84.2 percent of parents identified the "ratio of students per teacher

GOAL Scholar-

Smaller class sizes

they chose a

and the average class size" as important.

ship Program found, "Student

More individual attention

private school for a "better

Other factors identified as important included "school accreditation (70.2

performance on standardized test

Religious education

learning environment" for their

percent), curriculum and course descriptions (69.9 percent), college acceptance

scores is one of the least impor-

Better preparation for college child, whereas Photo: Roobcio/ 81.3 percent

rate (61.3 percent), and the availability of religious instruction (56 percent)." In ad-

tant pieces of

said the choice

dition, 52.8 percent of respondents identi-

information upon which parents base their was made for a "better education." The

fied "average performance on standardized

decision regarding the private school to

next two most common responses were

tests" as important.

which they send their children."

"smaller class sizes" (80.5 percent) and

The Friedman report called the sixth-

Since 2013, parents in Georgia have

"more individual

place ranking of

been able to take advantage of scholarships offered by student scholarship organizations (SSOs), contributions to which are

attention for my child" (76.4 percent). Other

Information Parents Want About Private Schools

standardized tests on this question "a somewhat low

eligible for state tax credits. The GOAL program is the largest of the state's SSOs,

reasons cited by a majority of

Student-teacher ratio

ranking relative to the disproportion-

accounting for roughly 32 percent of all taxpayer contributions to scholarship

parents were "religious education"

Accreditation

ate emphasis that many educators,

organizations. In 2013, surveys were dis-

(64.1 percent),

Curriculum and courses

politicians, policy-

tributed to 2,685 families receiving GOAL scholarships, and 754 of those families

"better preparation for college"

College acceptance rate

makers, business leaders, and the

completed all the questions in the survey. One question asked parents about their

(62.9 percent), "better student

Religious instruction

media are placing on national stan-

level of satisfaction with the private school they had chosen. As the report puts it,

discipline" (61.7 percent), "more

Standardized test results

dards and stan-

Photo: Roobcio/ dardized testing."

"Surveyed parents were overwhelmingly

responsive teach-

More Than

satisfied with their private school choice,

ers and administrators" (60.3 percent), and Scores: An Analysis of Why and How Par-

with 98.6 percent of parents being `very

"improved student safety" (52.9 percent)." ents Choose Private Schools is available for

satisfied' or `satisfied' with their decision to

"Higher standardized test scores" was

download from the Friedman Web site at:

send their children to a private school."

the 15th highest-rated reason, with only

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