Report

Preschool Selection Considerations and Experiences of School Mistreatment Among Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Adoptive Parents

March 2014

This study examines factors that are important to parents as they select preschools for their children. The analysis is based on 105 same-sex and different-sex couples who had adopted their children three years earlier. It was published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly in 2014.

AUTHORS
  • Abbie Goldberg
    Visiting Scholar, Former
  • JuliAnna Z. Smith
    The University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Highlights
LGB parents tended to emphasize the presence of other gay or lesbian parents at the school.
LGB parents were more likely to consider the racial diversity of the school community than heterosexual parents.
Heterosexual parents were more likely to perceive mistreatment due to their children's adoptive status than LGB parents.
Data Points
57%
of same-sex female parents considered racial diversity of the school
38%
of same-sex male parents considered racial diversity
81%
of same-sex female parents considered educational philosophy
87%
of same-sex male parents considered educational philosophy
16%
of same-sex female parents considered the presence of other LGB parents at the school
24%
of same-sex male parents considered the presence of other LGB parents

Please contact our communications office for a full copy of the study.

Preschool Selection Considerations and Experiences of School Mistreatment Among Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Adoptive Parents