Percentage of children in grades 3–12 with parents who were very satisfied with various aspects of the school their child attends, by selected characteristics: 1993, 1999, and 2003

Contexts of Elementary and Secondary Education: Tables

Parents' Attitudes Toward Schools

Table 38-1. Percentage of children in grades 3–12 with parents who were very satisfied with various aspects of the school their child attends, by selected characteristics: 1993, 1999, and 2003

	Child’s school			Child’s teachers			School’s academic standards			School’s order and discipline
Characteristic	1993	1999	2003	1993	1999	2003	1993	1999	2003	1993	1999	2003

Total	55.9	52.9	57.5	58.3	56.8	59.2	58.4	56.8	58.5	58.5	58.2	59.8
Race/ethnicity¹
White	57.2	53.3	59.8	58.9	56.9	60.4	59.8	56.7	59.7	59.7	58.0	61.2
Black	49.3	49.0	51.6	53.7	53.6	54.0	52.4	55.3	54.5	54.1	55.6	56.6
Hispanic	57.9	57.6	57.2	60.5	62.1	62.3	58.0	61.3	59.7	58.0	63.3	59.8
Other	53.5	47.6	49.9	58.9	52.6	53.5	58.3	51.7	52.2	57.5	55.9	53.3
Poverty status²
Poor	51.9	53.8	54.0	58.3	60.5	56.5	55.3	58.8	54.4	56.5	59.2	57.1
Near-poor	54.1	49.4	55.1	57.3	55.3	61.0	56.0	53.7	56.5	56.6	55.5	56.8
Nonpoor	58.7	54.0	59.5	58.8	56.0	59.4	61.1	57.4	60.4	60.6	58.9	61.8
Parents’ education³
Less than high school	56.6	58.0	55.7	61.4	61.8	58.1	56.9	61.3	55.9	59.0	64.0	60.7
High school diploma or equivalent	54.5	51.7	55.8	58.9	56.1	60.1	56.9	55.9	57.8	57.4	56.1	58.8
Some college, including vocational/technical	53.8	49.1	56.4	55.3	54.4	59.1	56.5	53.9	56.8	56.0	54.5	58.5
Bachelor’s degree	59.8	52.8	58.8	60.9	57.9	56.6	62.7	56.6	59.7	62.5	59.5	60.7
Graduate/professional degree	60.1	58.7	61.6	59.1	58.7	61.6	63.2	61.1	62.4	63.2	63.7	62.4
Family structure
Two biological/adoptive parents	58.1	55.2	60.0	59.0	58.6	60.4	59.9	58.2	60.0	60.4	60.1	61.2
One biological/adoptive parent	51.8	50.2	53.1	56.7	54.7	56.7	56.0	55.6	55.0	55.5	56.4	56.7
One biological/adoptive and one step-parent	52.6	51.4	54.6	56.2	55.8	58.1	56.0	54.4	57.7	55.3	55.5	59.0
Other relatives/step- or foster parents	62.1	46.7	60.6	65.0	53.5	62.2	60.7	54.8	60.7	62.7	55.7	63.8
School type
Public assigned	52.3	48.1	53.7	56.0	53.6	56.4	55.0	52.7	54.5	55.1	53.9	55.9
Public chosen	61.2	61.6	64.2	61.5	62.1	64.5	63.0	63.4	63.8	63.0	63.4	64.8
Private	82.5	78.7	75.8	75.2	75.6	72.0	83.4	80.7	79.0	84.4	85.4	81.0
Grade level
3–5	63.7	60.8	67.4	68.3	69.8	71.4	62.6	61.3	64.4	66.1	67.3	69.4
6–8	52.4	51.5	54.9	56.1	54.0	56.5	56.5	56.7	56.8	56.0	57.3	59.1
9–12	52.2	47.8	51.8	51.5	48.9	51.7	56.4	53.4	55.1	54.2	51.8	52.8

¹Black includes African American and Hispanic includes Latino. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified.
²“Poor” is defined to include those families below the poverty threshold; “near-poor” is defined as those at 100–199 percent of the poverty threshold; and “nonpoor” is defined as those at 200 percent or more than the poverty threshold. See supplemental note 1 for more information on poverty.
³Parents’ education is based on highest level of education attained by either parent.
NOTE: Data include both public and private school students in grades 3–12. When asked how satisfied they were with four aspects of their child’s education (their child’s school, their child’s teachers, the school’s academic standards, and the school’s order and discipline) parents could respond in four ways: “very satisfied,” “somewhat satisfied,” “somewhat dissatisfied,” or “very dissatisfied.” Shown is the percentage of parents who reported being “very satisfied.” The full range of responses to parents’ satisfaction with their child’s school in 2003, for example, shows that 57.5 percent were very satisfied, 32.5 percent were somewhat satisfied, 6.7 percent were somewhat dissatisfied, and 3.2 percent were very dissatisfied.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Safety and Discipline Survey of the 1993 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), Parent Survey of the 1999 NHES, and Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the 2003 NHES, previously unpublished tabulation (August 2005).

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