Measuring Success: Parents’ Perspectives and Attitudes Towards the Changes to K-12 Education During the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic

The current study exists to evaluate the educational experiences of North Carolina K-12 students based on their parents’ attitudes towards their schools during the coronavirus pandemic transition from in-person learning to distance learning. Parent participants (N = 835) volunteered to take a survey created by Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina to assess how parents responded to the major changes in their children’s education. Questions from this survey were operationalized to test the predictability of parent loyalty to their school and parent confidence in the education experience based on parent perception of education service quality. A significant relationship was found between parent perceptions and parent loyalty and confidence such that parents who perceived the school as delivering education instruction well were less likely to consider different schooling options and more confident that their child will progress to the next grade. Although the utilization of parent loyalty and confidence as educational success measures requires further exploration, the current study findings highlight important implications for school stakeholders, administrators, educators, as well as researchers.Bachelor of Art