Assessing the Impact of School-Based Marketing Efforts

A Case Study of a Foreign Language Immersion Program in a School-Choice Environment

Bibliographic Data

ID11258495
AuthorsHeather K Olson Beal (Stephen F. Austin State University, corresponding author), Brent D Beal (0000-0002-5238-7919, The University of Texas at Tyler)
Year2016
Volume91
Issue1
Pages81-99
Publication date2016-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePeabody Journal of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0161-956X • E-ISSN: 1532-7930
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0161956x.2016.1119591
OpenAlexW2257051014
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited57

The marketization of K–12 education has led to an increase in school-based marketing efforts. Relatively little research, however, has examined how public schools market themselves, who is involved in marketing, and how these marketing efforts impact key stakeholders, including school administrators, teachers, students, and parents. We explore these questions in this qualitative study of school-based marketing efforts at South Boulevard,1Because of the long and public history of desegregation litigation associated with the school and with the school district, we use real place names throughout the paper. Thus, we disclose both the school's name—South Boulevard Foreign Language Academic Immersion Magnet—and the name of the city in which the school is located—Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in order to maintain the authenticity of the case and the findings. a foreign language immersion magnet elementary school in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Analysis of data from participant observation and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders reveals that administrators, teachers, parents, and students actively participated in marketing and recruiting, and that these efforts were associated with a number of implicit and explicit costs. Introducing two concepts from the business literature—business-level strategy and brand communities—yields a number of observations and policy questions. Finally, the shifting role of parents and administrators in an increasingly market-like school-choice environment is discussed

Business · Foreign language · Marketization · Pedagogy · Political science · Public relations · School choice · Sociology · Diverse Educational Innovations Studies · School Choice and Performance · Marketing

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