Executive Summary

The National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) provides a comprehensive set of information that may be used to estimate the use of school choice in the United States. Within the United States, school choice is primarily comprised of programs that allow students to attend any public school within or outside of their local school district, a magnet or charter school, a private school, or homeschool. This report examines data from three administrations of the NHES (1993, 1996, and 1999) in which children's parents were asked if their children attended their assigned public schools, public schools that they had chosen, private schools that are church-related, or private schools that are not church-related, and about their satisfaction and involvement with those schools. The report provides information about trends in the use and users of public schools of choice and private schools, and outcomes of these choices—parent satisfaction and involvement, and students’ plans for postsecondary education. The report also provides a brief analysis of homeschooled students. This report cannot answer questions about the availability of public school choice or other school choice programs.

As Figure A below shows, the percentage of children enrolled in public, assigned schools for 1st through 12th grades decreased from 80 percent in 1993 to 76 percent in 1999. The decrease in public, assigned school enrollment was almost completely offset by an increase from 11 to 14 percent in public, chosen school enrollment. Enrollment in private, church-related schools remained relatively stable at 7–8 percent between 1993 and 1999 and enrollment in private, not church-related schools was about 2 percent in each year.

Characteristics of students in public, assigned and chosen schools and private schools
The trend away from public, assigned school enrollment and toward public, chosen school enrollment between 1993 and 1999 was most evident among students from low-income households.¹ Between 1993 and 1999, the proportion of students whose household income was $10,000 or less who were in public, assigned schools fell from 83 percent to 74 percent (this decrease was mostly offset by an increase in public, chosen school enrollment). In contrast, over the same period, the proportion of students from households with incomes of more than $75,000 attending public, assigned schools remained relatively steady at around 70 percent. No differences were detected in the proportion of students in this high income group attending private schools between 1993 and 1999. Students from families with higher incomes were overall more likely to attend private schools than were students from families with lower incomes.

Other student and family characteristics were also associated with school choice. In each of these years, Black students had a higher rate of enrollment in public, chosen schools than did White or Hispanic students in the 1st through 12th grades. Generally, a greater percentage of 1st through 12th grade students living in urban areas attended public, chosen and private schools than did students living outside urban areas.

In all-three survey years, a higher percentage of 1st through 12th grade students living in two-parent households were enrolled in private, church-related schools than were students living in one-parent households. Students whose parents possessed at least a bachelor’s degree had a higher rate of enrollment in private schools, both church-related and not church-related, than students whose parents obtained at most a high school diploma, GED or less. First through 12th grade students with disabilities attended private, church-related schools at a lower rate than did students without disabilities. There were no differences detected between students with and without disabilities for other types of schools.

Characteristics of Homeschooled Children
Homeschoolers are not mirror images of students in either public or private schools, differing from both on a number of characteristics. Homeschoolers differed from students in public schools in that their parents tended to be better educated. Homeschoolers were more likely to be White and to live in two-parent households than were students in assigned or chosen schools.

Homeschoolers differed from private school students in fewer ways than they differed from public school students. Homeschoolers were less likely than private school students to live in households with annual incomes over $75,000. They were also less likely to live in the Northeast and inside urban areas and more likely to live in rural areas.

Differences in parent satisfaction and involvement with their children’s schools²
Choice makes a difference in parent satisfaction. Parents whose children attended either public, chosen schools or private schools were more likely to say they were very satisfied with their children’s schools, teachers, academic standards, and order and discipline than were parents whose children attended public, assigned schools (Tables 3 and 6). Parents whose children attended private schools were more involved in activities at their children’s schools than were parents whose children attended public, assigned and public, chosen schools (Tables 4a, 4b, and 7).

Differences in parents’ expectations for their children’s postsecondary education
According to parent reports, at least nine out of ten 6th through 12th grade students had plans for postsecondary education after high school regardless of school type. However, more students in private, church-related schools were expected by their parents to graduate from a 4-year college than were public school students (Tables 5a and 5b). There were no differences detected in parents’ expectations between public, assigned and public, chosen schools.

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Notes:

¹ Income data are categorical and have not been adjusted for inflation. Hence, they do not reflect the same purchasing power for the three years. Independent analyses not shown here indicate that the patterns found for unadjusted income are the same as those found using a measure of poverty, which adjusts for inflation.

² Please note that questions about satisfaction and parental involvement were asked only of parents of students in grades 3-12 in 1993. For this reason, discussion of satisfaction and involvement is limited to students in grades 3-12.