School Choice: What Parents Choose

Abstract

The educational system in Australia allows parents to have a choice when it comes to selecting a school for their children. Parents have become consumers in an educational market, and schools, including Christian schools, now find themselves operating in a competitive space. The research reported in this two-part article sought to explore the factors that influence parents’ choice of school for their children using a mixed methods approach. Parents with students attending Christian schools in an Australian urban environment completed a total of 102 School Choice questionnaires, and 17 families with children in schools were interviewed.