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ERIC Number: EJ1088041
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0161-956X
EISSN: N/A
School Marketing as a Sorting Mechanism: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Charter School Websites
Wilson, Terri S.; Carlsen, Robert L.
Peabody Journal of Education, v91 n1 p24-46 2016
An emerging body of research has explored "supply side" questions of school choice, or how schools and systems shape enrollment through locational decisions, recruitment, and marketing. This study focuses on how school websites market and communicate the distinct missions of charter schools to prospective families. Through a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of 55 elementary charter school websites in one demographically diverse metropolitan area, we explore how school websites operate as discursive texts that signal the potential "fit" between particular schools and particular families. Guided by a critical discourse analysis framework, we emphasize how websites (a) employ implicit discourses of race, culture, and diversity; (b) draw on different meanings of academic achievement, and (c) emphasize different ideologies of individualized learning. We argue that websites act as one mechanism that contributes to the segmentation and differentiation of an emerging local marketplace of school options.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Minnesota
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A