Selling Schools Online: How High- and Low-Performing Charter Schools Use Their Web Sites to Attract Parents

• In Event: 49.049 - Charter Schools: Organizational Issues and Attracting Students

Abstract

One aspect of the marketized environment in education that has garnered little research interest is schools’ use of websites to advertise themselves. This study employs a semiotic analysis of 12 charter school websites in a Midwestern city to compare how “high-performing” and “failing” schools—as determined by their state-issued report cards—advertise themselves to parents via the web. Preliminary findings indicate that “failing” charter schools may rely on emotional appeals that avoid dealing with academic performance measures. Additionally, there is little difference between the websites of “high-performing” and “failing” schools, making it difficult for parents to make good decisions. These findings raise questions about the efficacy of policies that seek to raise aggregate academic quality using mechanisms such as parental choice.

Authors

• Jeremy Byron Luke, The Ohio State University - Columbus

• Ann M. Allen, The Ohio State University