A new phenomenon being established over the last 20 years as a tool for school administrative control and (organisational and educational) development has changed Germany’s school system: the active choice of a school by parents and students (Riedel 2011; Leschinsky 1994). Thereby, parents’ reasons of choosing a certain school are diverse: Often they are related to aspects of school quality like the school profile, school atmosphere or the performance level. Besides, more pragmatic reasons can be crucial such as accessibility or supplies of child care services (Suter 2013; Bosetti 2004).

An active choice can only be made if school alternatives differ from each other in important characteristics. PISA results have been shown that schools differ not only between the different school types but also within educational programs in terms of their social, ethical and performance composition (Baumert, Trautwein, Artelt 2003). In search of information and the evaluation of different school alternatives as well as in the actual decision making process, school choice processes are influenced by various socio-cultural and socio-economic characteristics of the family and can be considered as a rational choice (Hirsch 1994). Parents choose the respective school for their child that has (subjectively) the best fit between the characteristics of the school and their wishes and preferences (Goldthorpe 1996; Cortina, Trommer 2003). The parents’ aim is to achieve the best possible education for their child which is related to increased job opportunities and higher income (Suter 2013). Since not all parents choose their child’s school actively, choice is closely linked to social segregation tendencies (Kristen 2005).

Different research approaches have identified qualitatively different forms of school choice decisions (Ball/Gerwitz 1997). One difference represents the distinction between choosers and non-choosers: They differ in the search for information and in the decision-making process due to their socio-economic status. Choosers are primarily associated with the middle class; their decision can be understood as rational choice. Non-choosers are more likely to be part of the working class. They base their decision on little search effort and confine it to one or two schools located nearby home (Gerwitz/Ball/Bowe 1995).

Education research in Germany has hardly paid any attention to the process and associated segregation effects of school choice at the primary level. The reason might be the existence of school districts, assigning a particular school to all school-age children living in a defined area. However, school choice is not as limited as it seems: Parents have the opportunity to submit an application on sending their child to a different school by presenting a compelling argument like the request for a particular school programme or childcare options due to parental occupation. The application may be considered if there are vacancies (Riedel et al 2010).

Within current research on school choice there are different shortcomings that we will focus at: Firstly, research mainly analyses decision making processes at the level of secondary schooling (Clausen 2006; Jurczok, Lauterbach 2014) without paying much attention to primary education, although recent studies refer to the relevance of early education and its high outcomes (Cunha et al 2006; Spieß 2013). Secondly, instead of surveying solely parents that choose a particular school actively we will compare them to parents who do not.

We intent to compare the chooser and non-chooser with regard to socioeconomic status, their approach of school choice and motives concerning aspects of school quality, pragmatic aspects and other factors.

Thus, the following research questions arise:

1) Which parents choose a particular school and which do not?

2) How do parents choose a particular school, i.e. what information do they use?

3) Why do parents choose a particular school?

Ball, S.J./Gerwitz, S. (1997). Is research possible? A rejoinder to Tooley's 'On school choice and social class'. In: British Journal of Sociology of Education 18(4). 575-586. Baumert, J./Trautwein, U./Artelt, C. (2003). Schulumwelten - institutionelle Bedingungen des Lehren uns Lernens. In: Deutsches PISA-Konsortium (Eds.) (2003). PISA 2000 - Ein differenzierter Blick auf die Länder der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Opladen: Leske & Budrich. 259-330. Bosetti, L. (2004). Determinants of School Choice: Understanding How Parents Choose Elementary Schools in Alberta. Journal of Education Policy, 19(4), 387-405. Cunha, F./Heckman, J.J./Lochner, L./Masterov, D.V. (2006). Interpreting the Evidence on Life Cycle Skill Formation. In: Hanushek, E.A., Welch, F. (Eds.) (2006). Handbook of the Economics of Education (1). Amsterdam: Elsevier. 697-812. Clausen, M. (2006). Warum wählen Sie genau diese Schule? Eine inhaltsanalytische Untersuchung elterlicher Begründungen der Wahl der Einzelschule innerhalb eines Bildungsgangs. In: Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 52(1), 69-90. Gewirtz, S./Ball, S./Bowe, R. (1995): Markets, choice and equity in education. Buckingham: Open University Press. Goldthorpe, J. (1996). Class analysis and the reorientation of class theory: the case of persisting differentials in educational attainment. In: British Journal of Sociology, 47(3), 481–505. Hirsch, D. (1994). School: A Matter of Choice. OECD Publishing. Jurczok, A./Lauterbach, W. (2014). Schulwahl von Eltern: Zur Geografie von Bildungschancen in benachteiligten städtischen Bildungsräumen. In: Berger, P. A., Keller, C., Klärner, A., Neef, R. (Eds.) (2014). Urbane Ungleichheiten. Neue Entwicklungen zwischen Zentrum und Peripherie. Wiesbaden: Springer. 135-157. Kristen, C. (2005). School Choice and Ethnic School Segregation. Primary School Selection in Germany. In: Internationale Hochschulschriften 437. Münster: Waxmann. Leschinsky, A. (1994). Freie Schulwahl und staatliche Steuerung. Neue Regelungen des Übergangs an weiterführende Schulen. In: Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 40(6), 963-981. Riedel, A. (2011). Schulwahl in der Primarstufe: Eine empirische Analyse der regionalen sozioökonomischen Bedingungen am Beispiel der NRW-Städte Wuppertal und Solingen. Lohmar: Josef Eul. Riedel, A./Schneider, K./Schuchart, C./Weishaupt, H. (2010). School Choice in German Primary Schools: How Binding are School Districts? In: Journal for Educational Research Online, 2(1), 94-120. Spieß, K. C. (2013): Investments in Education: The Early Years Offer Great Potential. In: DIW Economic Bulletin, 3(10), 3-10. Suter, P. (2013). Determinanten der Schulwahl: Elterliche Motive für oder gegen Privatschulen. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.