Do parents perceive the technical quality of public schools? An activity analysis approach

Abstract

The quality of education is a topic of interest and, according to the literature, efficient school management is required to ensure proper students� performance. This paper analyzes the level of �technical� quality in public schools and determines whether or not there are discrepancies between this indicator and parents� subjective perception of quality. A sample of public schools in Catalonia is surveyed. The results show that parents correctly perceive the technical quality. Furthermore, there is a significant negative relationship between the concentration index and parental demand. The findings reveal that parents have some awareness of school quality when enrolling their children and try to obtain their choice based on quality considerations.