Shaping Choices: Exploring School Marketing Under Open Enrollment

• In Event: Parental Choice, Marketing, and the Challenge of Equity in School Choice Contexts

Abstract

How do schools market their curriculum and missions to families? Building on studies of charter school marketing, we explore how schools in one area market themselves to families, in a context of declining enrollment and increasing competition for students. Drawing on insights from critical discourse analysis, we analyze the websites and marketing materials for district, public and private schools in one metropolitan area. We argue that schools selectively employ specific messages appealing to distinct groups of families. We show how marketing pressures can further contribute to patterns of sorting and segregation in contexts of open enrollment. We conclude with implications for the design of open enrollment systems, in ways that might better integrate enrollment goals with equity.

Author

• Terri S. Wilson, University of Colorado - Boulder