Students' choice of schools for their children: Logistic regression analysis on contributing factors

School choice has been an issue in the education systems where parents are given the autonomy to select schools for their children. Previous research suggests that parental decisions are affected by demographic, financial, and value-related factors. This study investigated variables including: demographic and socio-economic background, motivation, quality of school curriculum, quality of school life, and classroom environment as factors contributing to secondary students' choice of schools for their own children. The sample comprised 8,265 secondary students from 70 Catholic schools in New South Wales, Australia. Analysis of variance and logistic regression were used to identify contributing factors of school choice. Findings suggested that students' expectations of schools, quality of school curriculum, quality of school life, and the classroom environments they experienced all contributed to their intention to send their own children to the same schools, after controlling for their background differences. On the other hand, students' intentions were not affected by their gender, socio-economic backgrounds, or country of birth. Copyright © 2004 Boston College.