The determinants and dynamics of school choice: A comparative review

Strategies related to parental school choice play a central role in the creation and reproduction of local educational markets in many national education systems. In order to understand these strategies it is necessary to take in to account two dimensions of choice. The first is related to its determinants, in other words the objective factors and subjective representations that either encourage parents to choose, to consider specific types of schools and to turn to specific strategies, or discourage them from doing so. The second dimension concerns the choice process, or more specifically the information and advice on which parents base their selection, evaluation and comparison of schools. Also included in this dimension are interactions within both family and local networks, as well as with the education professionals that influence the decisions