Title page
Contents
INTRODUCTION 2
THE STUDY AND HOW IT WORKED 4
WHAT THE STUDY TESTED 8
ORGANIZATION OF THE GUIDE 9
STUDY FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS 10
Question 1. Which FORMAT for displaying data on schools is best-numbers only, numbers plus icons, or numbers plus graphs? 10
Question 2. Is it useful to show parents DISTRICT AVERAGES on key measures of school performance for comparison purposes? 12
Question 3. Is it useful to include parents' opinions of schools as an additional SOURCE OF INFORMATION for other parents? 14
Question 4. What AMOUNT OF INFORMATION about each school should be shown in a summary of the choices available to parents? 16
Question 5. Does it matter in what ORDER the school profiles initially appear on the information display? 19
Question 6. Can information be presented in ways that encourage parents to choose an academically higher-performing school? 21
KEY INSIGHTS FROM THE STUDY 23
LIMITATIONS TO KEEP IN MIND 26
REFERENCES 30
Table 1. Terms Used in this Guide 3
Figure 1. Number of Charter and Magnet Schools Has Grown Over Time 2
Figure 2. How the Study Worked 4
Figure 3. Features Common to all Information Displays 6
Figure 4. Features of the Information Display that Varied in the Study 8