The Paradox of Choice
Where to send your kids to school?
This post is part of a series by @edpsychprof where I share edited highlights from my K12 guide to education along with additional thoughts and commentary.
School choice. It’s a politically charged topic, but we live in times where school choice options abound. Do I think that is a good thing? Well, school choice has always existed for the wealthy, so I appreciate greater access to choice to those of us with more limited incomes. Choice is one thing; vouchers that go to private, unsupervised schools are another, and I’m not going to get into that debate*. I will say, no matter what side of the political spectrum you are on, parents are looking for school options that best support their kids. We know that schools are the great opportunity provider, and good schools can transform a child’s life, especially for those born in poverty or other difficult life circumstances. I have seen first-hand how changing a child’s school turned their behavior around. Just yesterday, I got a DM from a parent who told me her 4th grader switched schools and for the first time in his life told his mom he loved going to school.
In the U.S., parents have more choice than ever about where to send their children to school (and that is particularly true in my state). And though these options are heavily dependent on additional resources (primarily transportation, time, and money), quite a few families will have access to school choice options other than their child’s traditional “zoned” school. In this week’s post, I illuminate advantages/disadvantages of different school options. Though this week’s post is primarily aimed at parents, it provides a wide lens on school choice options for anyone interested in the topic.
So, here’s what I tell parents when they ask me about school choice and their kiddos.
Research what you have. First, research the quality of the local neighborhood school for which your child is “zoned.” In the U.S., all children are entitled to free public education from kindergarten through high school. You can research your school on sites like niche.com or greatschools.org. Google the school and see what news and information you can obtain. Talk to neighbors in the community. Post a question to your neighbors on the Nextdoor app to ask for feedback on the school. If possible, take a tour of the school and use the checklist in my previous post to evaluate the school. If you have the time, you can watch the local school board meetings, which are usually broadcast live or available for public viewing, to get a sense of the school district’s priorities. Review the school’s website, school newspaper, and Facebook pages. Get a sense for what the school’s mission/vision is and what is valued at that school. If the district subscribes to a school rating system based on standardized test scores, note that such systems are often indicators of the socioeconomic status of the families at the school and can’t tell you anything about the culture or quality of a school, so don’t count on those ratings to tell you if you have found a “good” school for your child.
What choices are available to you? If you are not happy with your zoned school, find out what choices you have available to you. Research your state’s rules on charter schools. Go to your school district’s webpage and search for school choice options (magnet, charter, and other options). See what the criteria is for getting admitted to those schools. Search for the private school options available to you. Check your state department of education to see if scholarships or vouchers are available to attend alternative school options. Do your due diligence to check out each school, using the guidelines in item #1 above (check their website, reviews, talk to parents, and/or visit the school).
Potentially great options. Some of you will be fortunate enough to have access to a school that is aligned with the best practices that I outlined in My Audacious Recommendation. Here are four particularly innovative school options. You can search each site to see if they have a school near you. Note: Finding a school that subscribes to one of the following innovative approaches doesn’t automatically mean the school is a great fit for your child, but it does mean that the school administration is committed to a vision of 21st century learning centered in equity, innovation, and student-centered instruction. So it’s a good start!
Big Picture Learning (BPL). The work that BPL is doing is on the forefront of cutting-edge curriculum and instructional practices. Note that these schools vary in the degree to which they embrace all the BPL principles. The exemplar BPL school is the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (the Met) high school in Rhode Island. I spent a day visiting the Met during my sabbatical tour of great schools; they are doing innovative work in providing true, personalized learning based on students’ needs and interests.
League of Innovative Schools. These schools are committed to both equity and innovation, both of which are essential for schools to be places where students can thrive.
Learn to Start. A creative new approach to high school education that starts with students’ interests to get them “market ready” for life beyond high school.
Next Generation Learning. This is another organization that is focused on school equity and innovation. They provide funding and support for schools to change from within.
Montessori Schools. If you can find an accredited Montessori school near you, it can be a great choice, particularly for early childhood education. Just make sure its accredited by either AMS or AMI.
Get your kids involved. After you have identified what choices, if any, you have for school options for your child, consider what the pros and cons are of each approach. If your child is old enough, I strongly recommend including them in this discussion. Be aware, though, that children will often choose to remain with what is familiar to them, stay with their friends, or escape a situation that may have become difficult for them. These are all legitimate options, and even the most ideal school in the world won’t work if your child is resolved to hate it. Honor their perspective and share your own. Encourage them to tour the school. One advantage of district zoned schools is that even if you leave, they must hold a place for your child, so you can try a new school for a while to see if it is a good fit for your child. (Be aware that private schools will most likely make you sign a year-long contract though, so they are more difficult to leave if things aren’t working out for your child.)
District Public Schools. Know that there are good reasons for staying with your child’s local zoned public school. If the school is causing strong adverse effects on your child’s well-being or mental/emotional health, then it’s more urgent to seek other options. But if you want to (or must) remain with your district school, know that there are still many ways you can help your child thrive in school. And there are many positive things about district schools in general:
First, they have more stable funding than many other school options. They also have access to grants and community donations that are less available to other school options.
They also are most likely to retain their teachers as districts are more likely to offer better benefit packages to their teachers and staff than smaller or independent schools.
District schools usually provide free transportation to their families, though whether such transportation is provided for other district options (e.g., magnet schools) varies by district.
District schools are a good option for families who have time or financial constraints that prevent them from seeking other school options.
District schools are generally more diverse than other types of schools
They also offer more extracurricular options, greater technology access, and more variety in electives than many other schools.
They are better equipped to support students with special needs due to the extra support personnel on campus that private schools may not be able to afford.
Public high schools have resources (sports, clubs, college-level classes, certification programs, advanced technology, college support) that private and charter schools often don’t have.
Tradeoffs. Know that there are tradeoffs in attending your locally zoned district school. Because their funding comes from state and federal sources, these schools have the most regulations to follow, have the least local autonomy, and are subject to many forces outside their control. Given that they are beholden to their local school board and area superintendent, personnel changes in those positions may greatly affect how the school operates.
District schools are best for: athletes, those wanting extracurricular offerings especially if private access to such offerings is limited, some students with special needs if the support personnel are excellent, easy-going students, those who want to be part of a traditional school experience, and very outgoing, social students. And district schools, unless they are truly innovative, are not so good for: highly academically gifted or talented students, unless the school is a magnet school in an area of your child’s interest, highly sensitive or quirky students, nonconforming students, students who need extra attention, students who are bored by school or dislike school, and students whose district schools are not safe due to drugs or violence.
Magnet schools. Magnet schools are free public schools that offer much of the same benefits as the district school in your neighborhood zone, with the addition of being targeted toward particular interest areas (performing arts, STEM, business) that might be a real draw to your child. What to watch out for: excess homework, not delivering on what they promise, or a lack of transportation. I know a 9th grader that attended a technology magnet school that seemed to be a good fit for him. The school seemed great on paper, but in practice, the tech offerings were limited, the school was staffed by many substitute teachers, and there were numerous behavioral issues going on with minimal teacher supervision, so this child was a subject of repeated bullying that led to personal trauma for that child.
Charter schools. Charter schools are free public schools that are a school choice option in many U.S. states, but their quality varies so widely from school to school that parents must really research the specific school. A good place to start is with examining its mission/vision and overall approach to learning. Charter schools are overseen by a nonprofit board that is independent of the school district. These boards vary in quality. Check the credentials of the board members to ensure that they have the expertise to provide appropriate school oversight. Review the school’s financial reports to make sure the school is in good fiscal health. Many charter schools are run by charter management organizations (CMOs) that charge the school fees for their services, further reducing the funds available for students. These CMOs generally have a philosophy and approach that influence how their schools run. Independent charter schools do not have to pay a CMO, so more funds are able to be put back into the school. They also have more freedom to design their curriculum and overall approach to learning. Since charter schools are funded by the number of students who attend them, they are always seeking to ensure full enrollment, so you can usually get a tour of the school. Many of the better charter schools have long waitlists though, and there’s usually an enrollment lottery each year to decide who gets to attend the school.
Secular private schools. Independent private schools are an expensive option that are available for families with the financial means to pay for them. Private schools vary in terms of philosophy and school approach, so you need to do your research to determine if the school is a good fit for your child. Note that just because a school is private does not mean that it is any better for your child than the local district school. Private schools often pay their teachers less than district schools do, so they may not be able to recruit the same quality of instructor. Moreover, their teachers may not be state certified. They may have less resources to provide to students (e.g., sports, electives, arts). Many of them subscribe to a traditional or prep school approach, which is neither student-centered nor designed to help students thrive. They often are less diverse, in socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and disability status of their students. Many of these schools screen out kids who are different because they don’t have the resources or desire to work with students who differ from their desired norm.
Religious private schools. These are schools that are either affiliated with a church community, or they are independent and ascribe to some kind of faith-based approach in their overall mission. Students at religious private schools face many of the same issues as those in #9 above. Some of these schools require families to agree to abide to a particular statement of faith in order to attend the school. Overall, these schools are usually a less expensive private school options for families (but not always), as some of the costs for school operations may be paid for by the affiliated religious community. Curriculum and instruction at these schools is often very traditional, with some schools even adopting classical approaches (see the previous post for more on the pros and cons of religious schools).
Homeschooling options. This model of instruction is based on the parent choosing the curriculum for their children. There’s the traditional homeschool option where a caregiver stays home to teach the children, using a self-created or purchased curriculum. The approach to learning varies widely in homeschooling, from traditional textbook/workbook options, to a classical books approach, to unschooling models. Some homeschooling groups collaborate to meet a few times a week to provide increased social options for students and to share teaching duties among the parents. Parents may choose to homeschool for religious reasons, or to provide a curriculum or instructional approach that differs from available schooling options, or to accommodate a child who spends most of their day committed to a profession or sport (e.g., dance, Olympic training, acting). With the increase in online learning options, homeschooling options have also increased in variety. Although there can be more freedom in homeschooling, its quality is constrained by having a caregiver as a teacher, as many parents are not skilled instructors. Further, the lack of social connection and learning how to navigate social norms can make it difficult for some homeschooled students to interact well with their peers upon leaving the homeschool environment.
Virtual Schools. Some school districts already offered online learning options before the COVID-19 pandemic sent students to their homes to learn. Since the pandemic, virtual learning options for students had to be implemented across the nation. Some districts may continue to offer remote learning options for students. Virtual schools are a blend of homeschooling, since the child is learning at home, and traditional schooling since the curriculum and school schedule are predetermined by the school district. Caregivers have to be involved in assisting younger children with online learning, as early elementary age students can’t be left at home unsupervised, and many kids still need help when computer or internet problems arise, or when an assignment is unclear. Virtual schools may be beneficial for introverted or highly self-motivated students, or students who attend schools where they feel unsafe.
Pods. One new approach inspired by parents’ concerns during the pandemic are “pod” schools where groups of parents pitch in financially to hire a teacher to teach their children in a small group. They may meet at one or more of the families’ homes, or in public spaces, such as libraries or parks. Some pods operate virtually, with kids meeting online in small clusters where they can receive individual attention. Some brick-and-mortar schools, due to the pandemic, offered instruction via pods to keep kids in small groups, meeting outdoors with a teacher a few times a week. Teacher quality and curricular approaches vary widely with pod approaches.
Microschools. Like the “one room schoolhouse” of old, microschools are more formalized than pods, but smaller and less established than private schools. Microschools may consist of larger pods formed by a teacher, or they may be small schools formed by a private company to cater to parents either locally or online. They may offer more individual attention to students, mixed-age classes, and project-based learning with a flexible curriculum.
*I will say, that if I had my druthers, public schools would be locally controlled and empowered to enact their own curricular approach, and teachers would be highly compensated and treated as professionals, like they do in Finland, so school choice would be moot because our neighborhood schools would have the authority and freedom to do what is right by kids.