In studying school choice, researchers need to look at two separate yet equally important groups: the families making choices and the educational environments they are choosing. We think of the families as the “demand” side of the choice equation and the educational environment as the “supply side.”

To get a more complex and nuanced picture of the demand side of educational choice we, in partnership with Morning Consult, polled more than 2,100 American parents and asked them a battery of questions about choosing their child’s school. The sample had a mix of parents who had switched their child’s school at some time in his or her school career, parents who were considering switching, and those that were not interested in switching their child’s school.

What we uncovered is a fascinating mix of push and pull factors both repelling families from and attracting families to educational environments. Better understanding what parents want (and don’t want) and the barriers that get in their way can help those designing choice programs and those helping families navigate them.