Findings from the 2002 Survey of
Parents with Children in Arizona Charter Schools:
How Parents Grade Their Charter Schools

March 10, 2003

The vast majority of charter schools in Arizona have been successful.  But if we were to judge these charter schools based upon what is reported about them by media around the state, we might be skeptical of them all.  That false perception is perpetrated even though the only study comparing test score growth in traditional public schools with charter schools in Arizona showed that on average charters did better. Moreover, the number of charter schools and enrollment continue to grow, and as we will see in this report, the bulk of charter school parents are highly satisfied with the schools their children attend. 

This report presents data from a mail survey of 45,588 parents of charter school students during the 2001-2002 academic year.  We received 11,777 responses for a response rate of 29.1 percent after adjusting for non-deliverable surveys.  The survey inquired about parent satisfaction with the charter schools their children attend, and what grades parents would give their schools.

 Nearly 29% of responding parents graded their school A+ overall, with another 38.1% giving their school an A.  This 66.9% grading their charter school A or A+ compares to 64% who did so a year earlier, and to 38% of parents of children attending traditional public schools in May 2000.  Parent overall satisfaction with the charter school attended by their children is very high, growing each year, and substantially greater than the satisfaction of parents of traditional public school students.  Parent satisfaction with their current charter schools is dramatically higher than their satisfaction with the school previously attended by their children.

 We concluded that the parent rankings were not biased toward high grades.  Each year of the survey has obtained more responses as well as higher grades for charter schools.  Thus, it is unlikely that the most contented parents are the only ones to respond, or are the first to respond.  Responding parents felt that non-responding parents would give to the charter schools the same or even higher grades than they did.  Parent grading was highly consistent with the Achievement Profiles produced by the state, which reflect Stanford 9 and AIMS tests for elementary schools and AIMS scores, four-year graduation rates and drop out rates for high schools.