Real-life decision making: Parents choosing a first-grade placement

• Published in: The American journal of psychology Vol. 122; no. 4; pp. 455 - 468
• Main Authors: GALOTTI, KATHLEEN M., TINKELENBERG, CAREY E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Champaign, IL University of Illinois Press 22-12-2009
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Calibration; Children; Correlations; Data collection; Decision Making; Education; Educational psychology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Goals; Health aspects; Home and school; Humans; Information resources; Interviews as Topic; Kindergarten education; Kindergarten students; Linear analysis; Linear Models; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Models, Psychological; Parent participation; Parent participation (Education); Parents; Parents & parenting; Parents - psychology; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Public schools; Pupil and student. Academic achievement and failure; Schools; Selfreport; Short term; Social Sciences; United States; Human; Preschool age; School age; Education; Follow up study; Parent; Decision making; Child; School environment
• ISSN: 0002-9556; 1939-8298
• DOI: 10.2307/27784421

We report a short-term longitudinal investigation of how parents of kindergartners select an educational option for their child. Our focus was on the educational options parents actively considered and the criteria they used to evaluate these options. Parents actively considered about 3 of the available 8 or more educational options and reported considering an average of 5 criteria to evaluate these options. Over a 6-month period, parents changed about one third of the options on their short list and half the criteria they reported using. Parents’ holistic appraisals of options were moderately calibrated with predictions of linear models. Although parents’ self-reports suggested that they used a variety of decision-making styles, analyses indicated few performance differences as a function of their self-reported style.