Determinants of Student and Parent Satisfaction at a Cyber Charter School

Abstract

ABSTRACT Research indicates that in traditional public schools the subjective well-being of students and parents varies by gender, race, and special education status. Prior studies suggest that general education students are more satisfied with their schooling than special education students, that female students have greater satisfaction with their schooling than male students, and that Caucasian and Latino students report greater school satisfaction than African American students. No prior research has studied parental and student subjective well-being in a cyber environment. The authors investigate parental and student subjective well-being in a cyber charter school, using a student (n = 269; 53.7% response rate) and parent (n = 232; 48.7% response rate) survey. They find statistically significant differences in subjective well-being across demographic groups of students, and also significantly higher satisfaction among special education students in the cyber school environment. Implications are discussed.