Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Access To Better Education: The School Choice Experience Of Families Served By Low-Performing Elementary Public Schools In Miami-Dade County, Letania Severe

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public school choice education policy attempts to create an education marketplace. Although school choice research has focused on the parent role in the school choice process, little is known about parents served by low-performing schools. Following market theory, students attending low-performing schools should be the primary students attempting to use school choice policy to access high performing schools rather than moving to a better school. However, students remain in these low-performing schools. This study took place in Miami-Dade County, which offers a wide variety of school choice options through charter schools, magnet schools, and open-choice schools.

This dissertation utilized a …