Marketing and Branding in Public Education

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 15

Session Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

As market-based reforms have expanded in public education, a new industry has emerged: educational marketing and branding. This symposium session will examine the impact of marketing and branding on public education. Three research papers included in this session will provide overview of the landscape of marketing, as well as present critical new perspectives, including the influence of marketing from public districts on parent consumers, the racial dimensions of marketing to charter school funder audiences, and use of marketing campaigns in order to seek to promote political agendas, such as the passage of charter legislation. Using a variety of research methods, these critical examinations expand our understanding of this new industry, and raise important questions.

Sub Unit

• Division L - Educational Policies and Politics / Division L - Section 4: School Choice and Other School and District Reform

Papers

• Analyzing Marketing Behaviors of Popular Schools in Competitive Markets - Jin Lee, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

• The Paper Chase: Competition, Race, and the Commodification of Charter School Stakeholders to Secure Private Dollars - Laura Elena Hernandez, Learning Policy Institute

• #PathtoPossible: At the Intersection of Advocacy and Edvertising - Sarah Butler Jessen, University of Southern Maine; Catherine C. DiMartino, St. John's University

• Charter School Media: A Correlated Topic Model - Richard Blissett, Seton Hall University