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Detroit Parents as Shoppers Research

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Project Team • Practical Political Consulting/Marketing

Resource Group▫Develop sample process▫Do the door to door survey

• Qwaku & Associates▫Research design▫Focus group facilitation ▫Data analysis▫Final report

• Martin Waymire Advocacy Communications▫Coordinate activities

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Research design•Traditional phone survey not possible•Needed to go door to door•PPC developed random sample of 500

census blocks•Screened for children•Survey teams visited 292 blocks during

summer 2011•Gathered data on 1,073 households, 1,699

children•Survey found focus group potentials

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Unprecedented data about family school shopping behavior

•1,073 families; 1,699 school age children•Sample looks much like we would expect

based on census, other sources of information

•Would never have obtained this relevant a sample using any other methods

•Can be broken into zip code, other geographic and demographic cohorts

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Race and Ethnicity DPS

11/2009 Student Census

2010 Census ages

5 -19

Our sample

African American

88 83.9 85.2

Latino 8.3 8.4 8.6White 2.5 4.6 2.6

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Respondents household income

All Assigned DPS

$10,000 or less 27.4% 31.3%

$10,000 - 20,000

25.6% 30.7%

$20,000 - 30,000

15.1% 12.6%

$30,000 - 50,000

21.0% 16.8%

$50,000 or more 10.8% 8.6%

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Respondents education attainment

 All Assigned

DPS

Less than High School 15.3% 20.3%

High School/GED 29.7% 32.1%

Some post secondary/ No degree

29.1% 29.3%

Associates Degree 15.2% 12.4%

Bachelors Degree or more

10.5% 5.9%

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Respondents access to vehicles

Car Access %All or nearly all the time 79.6

Sometimes 13.3

No access 7.1

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Respondents time at address

Time at Current Address %

Less than six months 4.7

Six months to a year 5.6

A year to three years 23.9

Three years to five years 27.2

Five years or more 38.6

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Survey Answered Key Questions:

• How many parents are shopping for schools in Detroit, allowing school managers to efficiently provide options for children?

• What are the socio-demographic characteristics of school shoppers?

• When and how do parents shop for schools?

• What do parents look for in a school?

• What are the likely barriers to shopping for some families?

• How can interested stakeholders better serve all school shoppers?

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How many Detroit households shop?

Shoppers; 71%

Non-shoppers; 29%

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Profile of shoppers•Veteran: Have enrolled child in an

alternative to assigned Detroit public schools in the past and present, and reported that they are highly likely to consider multiple options, public, charter or private.

•Emerging: Currently have a child in an alternative to assigned DPS, but did not report shopping for schools in the recent past.

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Profile of non-shoppers•Potential: Never shopped for

alternatives, but have characteristics that predict future school shopping.

•Unlikely: Never shopped; do not display characteristics that predict school shopping in the future.

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Breakdown of Detroit shoppers

Veteran 59%

Emerg-ing, 12%

Potential 8%

Unlikely, 21%

4 Types of School Shoppers

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What market looks like today

Current school attending

Percent

Assigned Detroit Public School

55.0

Detroit public magnet school 5.1

Public charter school 22.5

Public school outside of Detroit

15.2

Private or home school 2.5

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What market looks like todayCurrent school attending

PreK-5

6-8 9-12

Assigned Detroit Public School

55.2 % 44.1 %

60.4 %

Detroit public magnet school

2.4 9.3 6.6

Public charter school 27.3 26.7 12.8Public school outside of Detroit

13.7 16.5 16.9

Private or home school

1.3 3.4 3.3

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Parents as shoppers

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Who decides about school?

•Mothers 58%

•Fathers 23%

•Students 7%

•Other relative 6%

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When are decisions made? • Parents generally shop for schools

between May and August.

• Most parents begin the school shopping process during the late spring and make their final decision during the summer.

• Non-shoppers begin the process later; many do not make final decision until just before school starts.

What do respondents think about their children’s schools?

Item Very Sat

Sat Dis Very Dis

In General34.9 %

51.8 %

7.6 % 5.6 %

Teacher Quality 34.8 53.3 7.5 4.4Academic Performance

38.048.4 9.4 3.7

Safety & Discipline 38.6 45.0 10.9 8.1Interaction with Parents

38.146.3 10.1 5.4

Accommodate student needs

35.0 49.0 10.4 5.7

Extracurriculars 35.4 47.7 10.5 6.4Location/Transportation

40.546.1 8.6 4.8

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What do parents shop for? “Top 3” characteristics combined

Characteristic %Academic performance 61.3Safety and discipline 49.9Academic program 45.3Extra-curricular activities 37.2Convenient location 32.8School and class size 16.1Transportation 12.4

Other 33.3

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What do parents shop for? Most important characteristic

Characteristic %Academic performance 39.8Safety and discipline 14.8Academic program 12.9Convenient location 10.0Extra-curricular activities 9.0School and class size 5.7Transportation 3.3

Other 4.5

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What do parents shop for?What can help your child succeed?

Characteristic %None: Children are doing their best 11.0Better quality teachers 17.2Better quality school 15.8Extra tutoring 14.9Smaller class sizes 8.9After school/extracurricular program 9.2Improved discipline 9.2Better school facilities 7.4Language assistance 3.2Other 3.2

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High School Students Influence Shopping Decisions •11.7 percent of high school students were the

primary decision maker about the school they attend

•High school students value a school’s theme, advanced placement courses or programs, a college-readiness focus, internships or workplace visits and safety.

•Receiving literature in the 8th grade, attending open houses motivated them to choose schools.

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Sources of information when shopping•61% of respondents said they spoke to

other parents when choosing a new school for their child.

•49% said they said considered school performance (reputation)

•38% said they attended a school fair •31% said they obtained information from

some other source such as a website or school guide

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Willingness to travel

Farthest distance willing to travel

%

Up to a mile 19.0

Up to three miles 27.3

Up to eight miles 24.0

Eight miles or more 28.9

Other 0.8

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Focus group conversations

•Combined “Veteran” and “Emerging” shoppers into an “Ever” shopper category

•Potential•Unlikely

•Did a separate group with Latino parents in SW Detroit

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Ever shoppers

•Tend to look at three or more schools before making a decision

•Start shopping process earlier (May/June) and complete earlier (August)

•Reputation counts highly, particularly among long-time residents

•Use friends, family, other parents as info sources

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Ever shoppers

•Emphasize importance of teachers and connection with them

•Test scores/grades not as important

•Homework can be as important a measure as grades or test scores

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Some parents know what they want

•Ever and potential shoppers knew the kind of school they wanted for their child before or during selection process

•Unlikely shoppers tended to figure it out after child was enrolled

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Defining quality? All said:

•Safe and secure environment; good discipline

•Active communications with parents

•Good teachers

•Small class sizes/one-on-one attention

•High academic standards and performance

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Some interesting comments

•2/3rd of Potential/Unlikely focus group participants said union representation important▫Only 1/3rd of Ever shoppers

•Security is tricky▫Some parents said metal

detectors/uniformed guards are off-putting

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Resources that might help

•Widespread feeling little up-to-date objective information available

•Web is a tool – but not meeting needs

•School visits seen as important, but appointments a problem

Barriers to Shopping: Two Types of Non-Shoppers

• Those who are unhappy with their children’s schools but were not aware of or confident in the other options available to them.

• Those who are generally aware of other options and who are not particularly satisfied with their child’s current school but are either very loyal to DPS or face resource constraints that prohibit them from pursuing alternatives.

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Recruitment Challenge: Loyalty to Failing Schools

•High degree of satisfaction with current school

•Fear that high achieving schools won’t prepare students to be tough enough for city living.

•Loyalty to teachers unions

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What Will Help Parents Shop?

•Parents want to have mentors who can help them navigate the shopping process. We should connect veteran shoppers with emerging and potential shoppers.

•Potential shoppers were especially interested in visiting schools and observing teaching and learning.

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•Wolf Stewart page 5

Opportunities Challenges

Veteran

59%

These families are eager to find the best educational opportunities for their children. New school operators must help this group better understand quality schools.

Emerging

12%

Potential

8%

With better information about quality educational options for their children and adequate support to pursue them, these families are very likely to consider new school options.

Unlikely

21%

For a variety of reasons, including lack of reliable information, transportation and family resources, and loyalty to DPS, most members of this group currently lack motivation and wherewithal to pursue new school options for their children.

These families appear to be eager to shop, particularly for public schools. They conduct a limited search and seek schools with characteristics commonly associated with private or high performing public schools – small class sizes, high academic standards and safety.

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Detroit Parents as Shoppers Research