Faculty Publications

From Within the Belly of the Beast: Rethinking the Concept of the ‘Educational Marketplace’ in the Popular Discourse of Education Reform

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Educational Studies

Volume

48

Issue

2

First Page

119

Last Page

136

Abstract

The task of this article is to carry out a synthetic analysis of the concept of the educational marketplace as it is used in the popular discourse of education reform so as to unpack what has become a commonsensical idea in American politics. It is a conceptual framework that has opened an ever-expanding sovereign space in the American state for the colonization of a public institution by the private sphere by means of public policy. The results of this analysis suggest that the reform policies associated with the concept of the educational marketplace are ineffective in raising average student achievement, have a high probability for generating significant social costs, and are a manifestation of an articulation of power now in ascendancy in the United States.

Department

Department of Educational Psychology, Foundations, and Leadership Studies

Original Publication Date

3-22-2012

DOI of published version

10.1080/00131946.2011.647146

Link to Full Text

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