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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceived value-relevance of open data published by the Dutch Inspectorate of Education in the parents’ choice of Dutch primary schools.

Empirical data were collected through a mixed method strategy including quantitative and qualitative methods: quantitative surveys among parents of pupils in 25 primary schools; and semi-structured in-depth interviews using a topic list.

Parents make little use of the Inspectorate’s website compared to other information sources. The perceived usefulness of this website to parents choosing a primary school is also relatively low. Personal information gathered by school visits, written information from schools and information from other parents are more important sources.

Subjective considerations, such as the atmosphere and ambience of a school, play an important role in parents’ choice behavior. Pragmatic considerations also play a role, such as a school’s nearness. This study shows that it is necessary to rethink the rational assumptions behind publishing performance data.

This study observed a mismatch between the demand and supply of open data about primary schools. The Inspectorate’s publication strategy is based on “hard” and “written” data presented on a website, but parents also appreciate “soft” and personal “oral” data. Parents state that the Inspectorate should not only focus on negative school results for censuring (“naming and shaming”), but also give attention to schools that perform well (“naming and faming”).

Research about parents’ and citizens’ use of quality information in general is scarce. These findings show that parents’ choice behavior is less rational than assumed. Relativistic notions about decision-making processes are recognized in other studies also, but they suggest that highly educated parents are over-represented in the group of parents who actively make school choices, whereas this study found no indications that parents’ educational level affects their choices.

Although school choice programs are expected to alter the traditional roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders involved in the education of children, empirical evidence on differences between principals in schools of choice and traditional schools is scant. Relying primarily on the theoretical frameworks posited by Kerchner and Crow, this study compares self‐reported survey data from principals of magnet schools (i.e. schools of choice) to principals of nonmagnet schools (i.e. traditional neighborhood schools) to ascertain how the principal’s role may differ in choice environments. Despite the predictions of market theorists, collectively, the findings from this study suggest that magnet schools do little, if anything, to alter the role of the principal. Specifically, no significant differences were found in the extent to which the principals of these school types served as entrepreneurial leaders, middle managers, or instructional leaders. Potential explanations for the lack of differences in role are provided.

School choice is a global phenomenon with significant variations in terms of conception, design, and viability. In the city of Buenos Aires, State funding to the private sector of education allows for free choice. The purpose of this study is to analyze the values that are at stake in the family process of school choice. I draw on the theory of cultural evolution (Inglehart, 2018) to analyze the interviews. I interviewed 30 parents who live in the city of Buenos Aires and had to choose school for their children. It was possible to infer four categories that condense the materialistic and post-materialistic values: preeminence of materialistic values relative to security and protection; preeminence of materialistic values relative to academic achievement; preeminence of post-materialistic values relative to socialization and preeminence of post-materialistic values relative to political concerns.

The pattern of racial segregation in U.S. elementary and secondary schools has changed significantly over the last 25 years. This chapter examines the relationship between the racial composition of schools and the choices white parents make concerning the schools their children attend. Restricted access files at the Bureau of the Census allow us to identify each household's Census block of residence and, in turn, suburban public school districts and urban public school attendance areas. We find that the racial composition of schools and neighborhoods are very important in the school and location decisions of white families.

Few states or local school districts mandate a minimum time for lunch. With increasing pressure on schools to maximize instructional time, many US students have witnessed continued reductions in the time allotted to lunch periods and, thus, less time to choose from an increasing number of food options. This study aims to investigate middle and high school students’ preferences regarding the time available for school lunches and whether the amount of time would affect their food choice preferences.

This study investigated students’ self-reported lunchtime constraints and food choice preferences through a paper-and-pencil survey. The categorical and ratio responses were analyzed using ordinal logistic regression.

Students responded that they rarely had enough time to eat school lunch and that the lunch line waiting time strongly or very strongly influenced their food choices. For the students for whom time available for lunch and time in the lunch line influenced what they ate, they were more likely to prefer limited food choices in several categories of the school lunch menu.

Foodservice professionals who wish to actively promote better nutrition might consider practical ways to reduce the foodservice wait time for students. While making healthier default options (e.g. a fruit or fresh vegetable side) could increase service convenience, time required for students to make informed meal choices should not be compromised.

Because lunch line waiting time is related to students’ food choices, schools need to review the number and types of food choices offered in terms of whether they encourage students to make more healthful choices. This study offers a unique perspective on the relationship between time and individual food choices in the school lunch environment and how this relationship affects the quality of children’s diets and their eating behaviors.

The purpose of this study is to investigate information seeking behavior of immigrants in disadvantaged communities in the state of CO, USA, using school choice decisions as a problematic situation. The study investigated the extent to which immigrant families in poor neighborhoods took advantage of school choice policies and the extent to which these decisions were mediated by information seeking activities.

Quantitative study using survey questionnaire was used. The study design used everyday life information seeking behavior (Savolainen, 1995) and information-poverty lived-experiences of poor people (Chatman and Pendelton, 1995) as a framework and theoretical lens, respectively. Parents of school-age children who met the criteria of “poor” based on the federal poverty guideline were recruited to participate in the study.

The study found that only 21 per cent (24 families out of 113) participated in school choice programs. Within the smaller group of parents that took advantage of school choice policy, 72 per cent gathered information before choosing a school, and of this group, about 80 per cent asked friends followed by school visit and a phone call to schools as information sources. Library use as sources of information was also selected by 61 per cent of the respondents. One important finding of this study is that although a majority of the families are aware of school choice policy, their level of participation is low and that is largely due to their economic and life circumstances.

Access to quality education is widely investigated and multiple entities have a stake in it, including parents, policymakers, researchers and school districts. The social implications of this study are significant in that the mere presence and awareness of school choice policy did not translate into increased participation by parents from disadvantaged communities for whom the policy was designed to benefit. Consistent with findings in the extant literature, parents in low socio-economic status also value quality education for their children. To address the issue of low participation in school choice, cities need to work toward strengthening schools and library systems in poor neighborhoods instead of diverting resources away.

Based on two theoretical accounts – i.e. the information-poverty lived-experiences of poor people, or the outsiders, (Chatman, 1999, 1996), and theory of everyday life information seeking (Savolainen, 1995) – this study investigated how immigrants and disadvantaged communities seek, acquire and use information to navigate school choice policy in the city of Aurora, CO. The findings of this study are relevant for educators, policymakers, libraries, school districts, cities, counties and parents to determine the necessary policy measures that are required to increase school choice participation by immigrants and disadvantaged communities.

Federal involvement with closing the achievement gap was inspired by the failed local efforts in the 1960s. To aid in closing the achievement gap the federal government has promoted the busing of African American students in sometimes hostile white schools and financially supported educational/social programs such as Head Start. Currently, we are faced with yet another federal effort to close the achievement gap due to the failed attempts by local and state districts. Many school districts across the nation are participating in public school choice programs in response to the choice mandate in No Child Left Behind. The use of school choice, along with testing and accountability measures, is a major mechanism employed by the Bush administration to close the gap. As desegregation has shown, the transfer of students from one facility to a seemingly better facility is not enough. When looking at the majority population served in America's urban schools, we need to continue to raise the question, how do we best serve the needs of those who are most in need and have been historically and systematically placed in need?

The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze individual level determinants of Italian secondary school graduates’ educational choices.

The authors rely on data provided by a large survey carried out by the Italian National Institute of Statistics. While previous contributions specifically focus on individual determinants of university enrollment, the authors model graduates’ choice as emerging from a comparison of three alternative options: stop studying in order to enter the job market, continue studying at University and attend a post-secondary professional course. Therefore the multinomial logit estimates enable to define the profiles of high school graduates making different post-secondary educational choices.

On the one hand, the authors find that having a good family background, with highly educated parents who hold prestigious professional positions, is associated to a preference for enrollment at university rather than stopping studying. This correlation is both direct and through the choice of academic-oriented secondary school track. On the other hand, the choice of attending professional courses rather than stopping studying seems to arise mainly from the type of secondary school track attended even if some family background characteristics influence the probability of stop studying instead of attending a professional course. Overall the results show that family background significantly affects post-secondary educational choices.

This paper is different from previous contributions because – more realistically – considers the Italian secondary school graduates as having three alternative options available: put themselves on the job market, continue studying at university or enroll on professional course.

In Arizona’s mature, market-based school system, we know little about how school leaders make meaning of school choice policies and programs on the ground. Using ethnographic methods, the author asked: How do school leaders in one Arizona district public school and in its surrounding community, which includes a growing number of high-profile and “high-performing” Education Management Organisation (EMO) charter schools, make meaning of school choice policies and programs? The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The author analysed 18 months of qualitative fieldnotes that the author collected during participant observations and six semi-structured school leader interviews from both traditional district public schools in the area (n=4) and leaders from EMO charter schools (n=2).

School leaders’ decision-making processes were influenced by competitive pressures. However, perceptions of these pressures and leadership actions varied widely and were complicated by inclusive and exclusive social capital influences from stakeholders. District public school leaders felt pressure to package and sell schools in the marketplace, and charter leaders enjoyed the notion of markets and competition.

As market-based policies and practices become increasingly popular in the USA and internationally, a study that examines leaders’ behaviours and actions in a long-standing school choice system is timely and relevant.

This study uniquely highlights school leaders’ perceptions and actions in a deeply embedded education market, and provides data about strategies and behaviours as they occurred.

College climate has been defined as the collective personality of a college. The University of Cyprus, being a new institution, wanted to find out the kind of climate which exists four years after it was established. The personal assessment of the university climate survey was used. The purpose of the survey was to obtain the perceptions of employees concerning the university climate and examine this climate in conjunction with Likert’s systems theory of management. The following areas were found in most need of improvement: wider dissemination of information across the institution; more effective interaction of the leadership with personnel; more use of group problem‐solving methods across and within departments and administrative services; and more need for feedback on their work from both faculty and administrative staff.