School reform initiatives and outcomes

¶ … school reform. There is one reference used for this paper.

There are currently efforts being made to improve school quality. It is important to examine an article on this subject to gain a better understanding of this important social issue.

Studies are finding that many parents who are financially able to, will move to areas which they believe provide the best education for their children. The majority of these parents have never actually researched the schools, but instead rely on information provided by people in their social groups. "The assumed quality of the schools was directly associated with the status of the families they served (Holme, 2002)."

These parents believe "low-income students care little about education, and the values and conduct of high-income families are more conducive to a good education (Holme, 2002)."

Studies have also found that white parents are more likely to choose a school that is predominately white, while parents of color will choose a school that has a better representation of their racial and ethnic background. Ironically, "both groups favor the principle of integrated schools (Holmes, 2002)."

Informed Decision

Parents should be concerned about the schools which their children attend. However, they need to not only listen to friends and neighbors who many times have a biased viewpoint, but also check on a school's academic scores. Today, the data on most school's academic records are available via the internet, allowing parents to make an informed decision on what school their child will attend.