1. How did parents of students with IEPs navigate the forced school choice that came with school closings?
2. What were their reasons for choosing schools, and what barriers did they face?
Research has shown that students with individualized education programs (IEPs) and their families are less likely to engage in school choice, but we know little about why and about how a child’s disability factors into families’ decisions. If school choice is to work for students with IEPs, as proponents argue, policymakers and school leaders need to know how families of students with IEPs navigate their process and decisions, including:
- The factors they desire and need in schools,
- How they prioritize school and program qualities, and
- What barriers they face in enrolling their children within desired schools.
This study specifically looked at school choice for 29 families after Chicago Public Schools (CPS) closed 49 elementary schools in 2013, and asked:
- How did parents of students with IEPs navigate the forced school choice that came with school closings?
- What were their reasons for choosing schools, and what barriers did they face?
- All parents in our sample had visions for what an ideal learning environment would look like for their child: a school that was safe and supportive, with a strong academic environment which provided their children with the supports and services they needed within an inclusive climate.
- Yet many parents of students with IEPs did not have viable options to engage in school choice. This was partly because:
- Many parents perceived the short list of school options they received from school- or district-based officials (including their designated “welcoming” school) as the only schools available for their child to enroll.
- Parents struggled to find information on how, if at all, their child’s IEP would be implemented in potential new schools.
- A school’s (in)ability to implement their child’s IEP was the first factor in parents’ enrollment decisions, and a lack of clarity or confidence in a school’s ability limited parents’ opportunities to choose schools based on characteristics other than ability to implement the IEP.
- Parents’ choices were constrained by fears for their child’s safety and a lack of transportation. While parents of students without IEPs often shared similar concerns, many parents we interviewed noted particular safety and transportation concerns that were intricately linked to their child’s disability.