Appendix 2: Summary of Districts Surveyed
The following table is a summary of the school districts surveyed for this study. N/A:lndicates that the relevant information was unavailable or not furnished. Sometimes the materials provided were unclear or ambiguous.
Group denotes the grouping outlined in Appendix 1: Methodology. The type of district is represented as follows:
1: Urban
2: Suburban
3: City
4: Town
5: Rural
Implementation denotes to the extent to which the district implemented a schools of choice program. This is represented as follows:
F: District's Choice policy considered a formalization of its past practice With respect to transfers, as described in Finding 1. The concept of formalization is not an objective standard against which all districts are to be measured, but rather a relative and somewhat subjective measure which assesses how much a district did in view of its existing transfer policy. It so happened, however, that the results of formalizatian in most districts are quite similar.
A: Additional innovation. District did something more than merely formalize its policy.
A*: Additional innovation, see description in body of report.
vote: The district sought exemption by vote. The information listed describes the district's planned policy should the vote fail t exempt it from the Choice legislation.
vote(F): The district sought exemption, but available documents make it clear that the policy that would be instituted, should the vote fail, would be a formalization of previous practice.
Grades denotes the class grades that were included in the district's schools of choice plan. The grades are represented as follows:
K: Kindergarten
E: Elementary (Note: Relevant grades vary slightly.)
M: Middle School (It is herein used as an umbrella term including Jr. High; district structure varies.)
H: High School
Stability denotes the extent to which students who choose a non-neighborhood school are guaranteed to attend that same school the following year. This is represented as follows:
1 : A choice is good for one year only. Neighborhood school is the yearly default.
1+: A choice is guaranteed for one year only, but the program offers placement preference to students in subsequent years. Methods vary, but are generally dependent upon student/parent preference and continued space availability.
+: Substantial stability/placement preference for returning students. For example, the chosen school becomes the default school unless or until a student opts for yet a different school.