Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents and discusses the related literature and studies, synthesis of

the reviewed literature and studies and the definition of terms. A number of literatures

and studies have been perused in the topics on school choice and levels of interest in

order to provide the researchers some concepts that would guide them in the conduct of

the study.

LITERATURE

On School Choice

Molly Pennington, PhD (2015) defined school choice as, school choice purports

to give all children the chance to thrive in a school best suited to their individual needs.

Advocates of school choice believe that students and parents are better served by having

a variety of education options available, and that school choice allocates resources to

schools that are most effectively instructing students.

According to McFadden, M. (2015), there are five factors that influences college

choice for today’s students. (1) Geography – Location is significant in many students’

minds, either because they want to live in a certain part of the country or because of

financial constraints. (2) Financial – Overall cost is considered as well. More than half of

first-generation students indicated that the cost of attending was a “very important”
 13

factor. (3) Academic Excellence and Reputation – Key faculty can be really influential in

a student’s choice of college and their major once they get there.  Of course, it’s pretty

common that on most college visits students have the opportunity to meet key faculty. (4)

Parents & Peers – As much as kids don’t like to admit that their parents affect their

decisions, parental input does matter. (5) Marketing – Marketing still matters of course,

but it’s changing. Changing a college website is a little like turning a cruise ship, it’s not

going to be quick. If that’s the case, it may be worthwhile to explore a microsite aimed

specifically at prospective students.

According to Padolsky, D. of The U.S. News (2014) discusses about the several

non-ivy universities and colleges that came up with a new marketing strategy and

approach to students that will motivate them to enroll in their institution. The universities

and colleges market themselves to potential students by advertising the perks of the

school and amenities ranging from laptops and tablets to gourmet dining plans and over-

the-top housing and recreational opportunities. The U.S News argued that the strategies

explained are not really strategies as it was just a way for the institution to respond to the

kind of services and opportunities that students are demanding. The institution had also

discussed that the academic profile of the school is a primary factor on attracting students

to choose their school to be enrolled.

The Independent Schools Council of Australia (ISCA) shows that Australian

parents choose Independent schools based on the desire to support a well-rounded school

experience for their children. The research report, Factors Influencing School Choice,

reveals how a diverse and evolving range of factors are influencing Australian families in

the schools they are choosing. Top reasons parents chose an Independent school include

good teachers, overall educational excellence, good facilities, and a supportive and caring

environment.

According to Caloundra City Private School (2017) there are consideration

experienced by the parent's choice of school for their children when deciding on the right

school for their children. The factors that influences their school choice are the status

composition of parent's education, parent's occupational status, income, and family

material possessions. This research indicates that there is social class ‘creaming’ or

conglomeration, as parents with wider social networks and more access to information

are more likely to actively participate in the selection process. Income level becomes an

important factor which affects the parents’ choice in their children’s education, due to the

level of financial contribution towards quality schooling.

Similarly, Prichard, T.G, Swezey, J.A (2016) identifies the factors that affect the

decision for school choice by Christian parents. These factors are the following: (a)

decision-making process, (b) influence on or by the child, (c) parents, (d)

academics/extracurricular activities, and (e) religion. Likewise it was said that the core
 15

category decision-making process can also be determined through the theory of

satisficing. Satisficing is characterized by the search for a school by parents only to the

point where minimum objectives are met.

The Career Decision-Making Process by Andreas Hirschi and Damian Läge

(2007) stated that there is a 6 common basic phases in in the Career Decision-Making

Process namely: (1) becoming concerned about career decision-making (awareness), (2)

generating possible career alternatives based on one’s own interests, skills, and values

through self- and environmental exploration, (3) reducing the career alternatives to a

manageable number for more in-depth exploration, (4) deciding among few alternatives,

(5) confirming one’s choice and building a commitment to it, and (6) being firmly

decided and committed to a choice and made as unified as possible.

On Levels of Interest

John Dewey (2010) once described interest as ‘‘being engaged, engrossed, or

entirely taken up with’’ an activity, object, or topic. More contemporary interest theorists

have divided interest into two components: individual interest and situational interest.

Individual interest is more enduring, and trait-like, and endures over time. In contrast,

situational interest is more momentary and situationally bound; in other words, it can be a

specific reaction to something in a situation such as a funny video clip, humorous

conversation, or colorful objects.

Donald L. Coan, PhD (2007) described that interest is related to learning. Hidi

(1990) argues that “interest is central in determining how we select and persist in

processing certain kinds of information in preference to others”. The assumption is that

individuals are more likely to attend to and learn from interesting materials as opposed to

uninteresting materials.

Senior High School Program

 Tarra Quismundo of The Inquirer News (2012) discussed about the

implementation of the Senior High School Program in the Philippines. According to the

article, there is a need to add two more years in High School as 10 years of basic

education makes the students competitively weak. Students who would like to study or

work abroad are being turned down as they have not acquired the number of years of the

basic education meaning to say, despite completing Junior High School or the 10 years of

basic education, one is still not considered to be a high school graduate. To be considered

a high school graduate they are asked to take the General Educational Development

(GED) to attain the diploma saying that one have passed the required knowledge and

skills needed but even with this, they will still experience trouble studying or working

abroad. With this, the implementation of Senior High School Program or the two more

years in High School is needed in order to make the Filipino youth globally competitive

and attain higher knowledge and skills needed before going to college.
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STUDIES

Kitsawad (2013) conducted a study entitled An Investigation of factors Affecting

High School Students’ Choice of University in Thailand which aims to know the factors

affecting high school students’ choice of university in Thailand. Results from the study

showed that there was a higher rate of students who chose to study in a public school. It

was the atmosphere and environment of the college that made a big impact on how they

would choose their college, the atmosphere whether if the school has a good studying

environment. Another influencing factor is that they look into the reputation of the school

in terms of having good quality facilities and infrastructures and the approach of teachers

towards students when teaching. This only means that the services offered in the

university is one of the top influencing factors that students look into. The students prefer

to have their choice of university in a convenient location, making this another top

priority in choosing a university or college. According to the study most of the students

would favor the school if the institution offers financial aids and scholarship program.

The decision made by the students are not solely their own choice but have consulted

with their parents and peers which makes these people one of the external factors that

influence them to choose the university that they will enroll in.

The study conducted by Hartsell (2011) entitled Factors Affecting Private School

Choice shows how parents have an impact on the school choice of students. Parents look

into the satisfactory on how the teachers approach the students, the teaching strategy.

Data was collected from parents with students currently enrolled in one of two different

private schools with input from 253 parents. The main finding in the research revealed
 18

that there should be a positive learning throughout the school year of the institution to

make parents decide for their children to continue their studies in the same school.

Factors that Influence Parental Choice of School and Experience in a rural

Education Market, a study conducted by McEvoy (2013) aims to know the factors that

make parents decide on what school to let them be enrolled in. It was revealed in the

findings that parents base their financial status in which school to enroll their students.

The approach of personnel and teachers towards the students played a big role whether

the parents would have their child be enrolled in the institution.

Jafari P. and Aliesmaili A. (2013) conducted a study that aims to investigate

factors influencing the university choice among pre-university students in the provinces

of Gilan and Mazandaran in the North of Iran. Survey was used for collecting data, and

data were quantitative. The study shows that there are four factors that influence student

university choice and the top most factor is the economical factor which includes the job

opportunities in the institution chosen, second is the university related factors or the

academic quality and teaching approach, third factor are the personal factors that include

parents’ choice and personal interest, and last is the social factor which include the school

facilities and security of school.

A study conducted by Owais Shafique (2012) aims to identify the reasons why

students choose a particular university. The research aid in helping the researchers

understand that which objective is considered most important by respondents when

selecting a university for higher education stated that all sources; word of mouth, role of

MarComs and other factors of choice have impact on student's decision-making process.

But the most influential is word of mouth which has great significance for all are also

other factors such as environment and social conditions that are the basis of positive word

of mouth. The least important in accordance to the research seems to be the role of

generic marketing communications such as advertisement when choosing a university.

The study conducted by Aguado et. al (2015) aims to know the factors affecting

the choice of school of the students in Maritime program. Findings showed that it was the

personal choice of the students that influenced them to enroll in Maritime school. Along

with this is the support coming from the parents of the students knowing that the school

would best help them in their chosen field as the school is known for top-notchers and in

teaching Maritime.

A study conducted by Malubay et. al (2015), entitled Factors Affecting the

Decision of Freshmen Students in Pursuing Hospitality and Tourism Programs in

Lyceum of the Philippines University-Laguna: Basis for Enhancement, aims to determine

the demographic profile of the respondents and the significant relationship of the

demographic profile of students and the factors affecting the decision of the student in
 20

choosing Lyceum as their chosen school. Findings of the study revealed that financial

stability of the family is one factor when in selecting a school especially if they are able

to afford to study in the institution. It is important for the parents to know how the

personnel in the institution approach the students as well as the parents.

Tan (2010) conducted a study entitled College Choice in The Philippines. The

purpose of the study was to describe the relative importance of major college choice

factors to high school seniors in the Philippines, who were in the search and choice

phases of their college selection process. As well as to determine whether there were

statistically significant differences in the relative importance ascribed to these major

college choice factors (i.e. academic quality, college marketing, cost and financial aid,

friends, guidance counselors, future job opportunities, location, parents, pastor/religious

adviser, programs of study, religious emphasis, security, and social atmosphere).

Statistical findings from the study showed the descending order of what was most

important for the students when choosing a college. A 1 to 5 scale was used (1= not

important to 5= most important) after tallying the scores, it showed that job opportunities

(4.79) is what students look most into when choosing a college, whether the school has a

good background in having high employment rate after students graduate, second is the

security, scoring 4.73, this only shows that the students value the security when choosing

a college to enroll in. The third in line is the academic quality with the score 4.43. The

students favor the school that can offer them good academic quality.
 21

The study conducted by Engr. Ramirez and Engr. Dizon (2014) entitled

Assessment of Interest as Subjective Personal Data of Engineering Freshmen towards

their Enrolled Degree Program aims to discover the interest level of the Engineering

Freshmen towards the engineering program. The researches of the study made use of a

descriptive type of research and results from the study showed that engineering is

dominated by male students and they chose engineering as their personal choice; in

addition, the students have high interest level in engineering program especially in terms

of affective and cognitive learning. Students who personally chose to take up engineering

Program are said to have a higher sense of inner growth.

SYNTHESIS

The different literature and studies used and revived helped the researchers in

enriching their study. School choice is a nationwide movement that empowers both

parents and children to make the best possible choice upon the school that the child or

person will be entering. It is the ability of a student or an individual to decide which type

of education may best fit them.

Molly Pennington, PhD (2015) and the International School Council Australia

(ISCA) focus on providing well-rounded experience for the children of each parent that

will meet their individual needs. The literature comprises of discussion about how quality

education immensely affect the decision of parents and students when it comes to

choosing a school or university.

The literature of McFadden, M. (2015), U.S News (2014), Caloundra City Private

School and Prichard et. al (2016) are all similar as it discusses about the factors

influencing the school choice of students. According to the literature, most of the top

priorities that students look into are academic quality, status income of the family

whether or not they are able to pay the tuition fee of the school and the proximity or the

location of the institution.

The studies conducted by Aguado et. al (2015), Kitsawad (2013), Malubay et. al

(2015), Tan (2010), Jafari P. and Aliesmaili A. (20130, and Owais Shafique (2012) are

all similar as they focus on the external and internal factors affecting the choice of school

of students. Most of these factors include the academic quality, proximity of the school,

and job opportunities after graduating from the chosen institution. The stated studies are

similar to the present study conducted by the researchers as they tackle about the factors

influencing the school choice of students. Despite the similarities identified, they differ in

terms of the respondents. The respondents of the listed researchers focus on current

college students and part of their study is to find out about the factors that made them

choose to enroll in the University/ college that they are in now. The respondents of the

present study are the grade 9 and grade 10 students of Mother of Divine Providence

School as the researchers would like to find out the influences affecting the choice of

school of incoming Senior High School students.

The studies of Hartsell (2011) and McEvoy (2003) are similar as they focus on

parents’ choice of school for their children. Both studies stated that the approach of

teachers and personnel towards the students is a top priority when choosing a school. The

students are related to the present study as the researchers are not just considering the

internal factors but also the external influences such as the parents whether they have an

impact on the choice of school of students. The studies differ in terms of the respondents

as they focus on knowing the factors influencing choice of school of parents while the

present study focuses on the Grade 9 and Grade 10 students of Mother of Divine

Providence School to determine the influences affecting the choice of school of students.

The study conducted by Engr. Ramirez and Engr. Dizon (2014) is similar to the

present study of the researchers as both studies would like to discuss about the interest

level. The study differs in terms of the topic they would like to focus on as their study

concentrates on the interest level of engineering students in taking up engineering course

while the present study would like to find out the interest level of Grade nine and Grade

ten students on the Senior High School Program in Mother of Divine Providence School