Parent Engagement and Satisfaction in Public Charter and District Schools

Using nationally representative parent surveys over a 10-year period, this article asks if there were differences in parent engagement and satisfaction at public charter and district schools. It then examines whether any such differences persisted when accounting for observable school and family characteristics, including whether parents conducted a school search prior to selecting their child’s school. It finds that charter parents volunteered more but, in aggregate, were not more engaged in school-related activities, relative to district parents. In contrast, charter parents reported higher levels of satisfaction than district parents throughout the period. These differences persisted even when accounting for observable ways in which these families and schools differed.