Parents looking to change or adjust their children's schooling situation have mental health as a key factor in their decisions, concludes a new report from Tyton Partners.This is an education consulting group.
46% of parents who are open to trying new education options, whether moving their child to a new school, supplementing their child's existing education, or combining a tailored education for their child, say mental health is a key factor in their education. their thoughts.
“For parents right now, these mental health issues are top of mind in a way that wasn’t seen before the pandemic,” said Adam Newman, founder and managing partner of Tyton Partners and one of the report’s authors. He also serves on the Board of Education for the Weston Public Schools in Massachusetts.
“I think this is an echo of the pandemic that will really linger and, to be fair, I think schools are trying to address it as best they can,” Newman added.
There are a growing number of schooling options available to parents, including virtual schools and microschools., homeschooling pods—a level of choice that has accelerated during the pandemic. At the same time, more states are enacting policies that provide state funds to parents to use for private school tuition and other supplemental programs.
The trend comes as public school enrollment declines across the country, the report said. Whether public school systems can adequately address parents' concerns about mental health and other issues could have a “dramatic impact” on future enrollment numbers, the report says.
Parents of elementary school students are most likely to want to move their children to another school.
Tyton Partners' report focuses on the attitudes of parents who say they are very interested in new or supplementary education options for their children. A previous study by Tyton Partners found that nearly half of all parents are likely to fall into this “open” group, and the consulting group surveyed 2,000 parents across the country to learn more about what drives interest in options beyond the traditional school environment. A survey was conducted with the above parents. Researchers also convened focus groups of parents across the country to inform the report.
This report was funded in part by the Walton Family Foundation and the Stand Together Trust. (The Walton Family Foundation supports Education Week's coverage of strategies to advance opportunity for students most in need. Education Week retains sole editorial control over that coverage.)
The majority (64%) of so-called open parents are interested in enrolling their children in supplemental programs. Only 10% said they were interested in changing schools. However, more than a quarter of open-minded parents say they are interested in completely customizing their child's education by combining different programs, resources and experiences. Examples include virtual school programs that combine homeschooling pods with community center or college classes.
The report found that parents with children in primary school were more interested in moving their children to another school than parents with older children. Parents of high school students are more interested in customizing their children's education.
Black parents are slightly more interested in moving their children to different schools or customizing their children's education than are white, Asian, and Hispanic parents.
Parents of middle school students were most concerned about their children's mental health, followed by parents of high school students. Parents of elementary school students were the least worried.
There was a perception among some parents that schools were ill-equipped to address their children's mental health needs, and parents feared that failure to identify and address these needs could jeopardize their children's safety. There is, the report said.
Schools are struggling to respond to students’ mental health and academic needs. The second most frequently mentioned issue is that of increasing parents' interest in changing or adjusting their children's schooling.
“It will take time to determine which areas are priorities.”
As federal pandemic-era aid runs out, schools that used that money to hire additional mental health support staff will face difficult choices.
“I’m on a local school board and we’ve hired 14 people through ESSER funding,” Newman said. “We are having conversations right now about how many of these people we will move into our operating budget. … Districts trying to figure out what trade-offs to make with these decisions: ‘I’m going to keep these two mental health specialists and I’m not going to keep the two literacy intervention specialists that we got.’”
Newman said school districts have to get creative about how to address these issues. Schools have additional resources and solutions they can explore, from partnering with outside agencies to provide some support services to reimagining the school calendar to create a more positive school climate.
“School schedules can make it very difficult for students and professionals to find the space and time to make the connections they need,” he said. “It’s a sense of belonging and connection that is partly influenced by the schedule and pace of everything that goes into school life.”
Although many parents say they are very interested in exploring other educational options for their children, there are many factors that may prevent them from trying it. According to the report, one of the main barriers is finances. Parents earning less than $50,000 per year are more than twice as likely as parents earning more than $150,000 to cite affordability in switching schools, supplementing their child's current education, or customizing a new school. One for them.
Parents are also concerned about their children missing out on a variety of formal and informal experiences, such as community and extracurricular activities, that more traditional schools offer, according to the report. Parents also felt that a more traditional school environment would better prepare their children for college and careers.