Influential factors behind parents’ general satisfaction with compulsory schools in Iceland

Parents’ experiences and satisfaction with their child’s compulsory school are affected by factors. Some, such as parents’ education and marital status, are social factors, while are school factors that local leaders and school personnel can address. Findings build data from an online questionnaire to parents in 20 compulsory schools in Iceland (n = 2129). Factor analysis generated two factors: communication and teaching. These, with a question on parents’ overall satisfaction with the school, were used as variables in a regression analysis exploring what influences parents’ satisfaction the school. The majority of parents were satisfied, which may make it is easy to overlook who are dissatisfied. Parents who felt that their children had special needs that were acknowledged in school were more likely to be dissatisfied than other parents. background was also influential. Single mothers were overrepresented in the of unsatisfied parents; they experienced more difficulties in communicating with personnel, believed less in the possibility for parents to influence the school, and frequently experienced that their child’s need for special support was not met in school. findings imply that equity in Icelandic schools is disputable.