Creating and Applying a Comprehensive Rubric Of
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WHY CHOOSE US?: CREATING AND APPLYING A COMPREHENSIVE RUBRIC OF EXPECTED AND RECOMMENDED WEBSITE ELEMENTS TO COMPARE AND ANALYZE THE OPERATIONAL AND MARKETING RESOURCES OFFERED ON PUBLIC AND CHARTER SCHOOL WEBSITES IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA Will Okun A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership. Chapel Hill 2019 Approved by: Kathleen Brown Brian Gibbs Martinette Horner Eric Houck Christopher Scott ©2019 Will Okun ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Will Okun: Why Choose Us?: Creating and Applying a Comprehensive Rubric of Expected and Recommended Website Elements to Compare and Analyze the Operational and Marketing Resources Offered on Public and Charter School Websites in Central North Carolina (Under the direction of Eric Houck) In the intensifying marketplace of American compulsory education, public school leaders are increasingly obligated to compete with charter schools and other schools of choice for the enrollment of students in their communities. Facing this new challenge, school leaders are beginning to adapt marketing strategies and practices long used by leaders of universities, colleges and private schools to better communicate how their schools’ unique academics, programs, values, and outcomes best achieve the needs and wants of current and potential stakeholders. This study examines the extent to which public school leaders, in comparison to charter school leaders, are using their school websites for these marketing purposes. Toward this goal, the researcher synthesized existing literature on education marketing and school websites to establish a comprehensive rubric containing 69 elements that are recommended or expected to be offered on school websites for both operational and promotional purposes. The subsequent application of this rubric to the websites of universities, private schools, charter schools, and public schools in a region of central North Carolina shows that, among other findings, public school leaders are comparably utilizing their school websites as operational hubs but not as marketing platforms, particularly in districts with above-average charter school enrollment. In recommending that public school iii leaders be more purposeful and effective in using school websites as marketing mediums, this study, and the new comprehensive rubric itself, can serve as an initial guide for school leaders desiring to evaluate or improve the promotional, as well as the operational, capabilities of their school websites. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thank you to Naomi, Ida, Mae, Melva, and Mike for your unending love, kindness, patience, and support throughout this entire journey. Thank you also to Dr. Houck for your years of guidance and continuous assurance. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................................. x LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY ................................................................................... 1 Statement of Problem .................................................................................................................... 5 Purpose of Study/Research Questions .................................................................................... 9 Conceptual Framework of the Study..................................................................................... 11 Assumptions of the Study .......................................................................................................... 15 Limitations of the Study ............................................................................................................. 16 Definitions of Terms .................................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................... 22 An Existing Dichotomy: The Use and Study of Education Marketing ....................... 24 Marketing as a leadership response to the new marketplace. ........................... 24 “A dearth of research attention.” ................................................................................... 26 Leadership Dilemma: Education Marketing Research prior to 2012 ...................... 28 Defining education marketing. ....................................................................................... 28 Identifying and developing a marketing perspective. ........................................... 29 Outlining the methodology and findings of Oplatka and Hemsely-Brown’s review. ................................................................................................. 30 Marketing is an “indispensable organizational activity.” ..................................... 32 Marketing counters the values and goals of public education. .......................... 32 The leadership dilemma of education marketing. .................................................. 33 vi A lack of strategic marketing planning and practice. ............................................. 34 Promotional activities. ....................................................................................................... 35 An undeveloped field in need of large-scale, normative and empirical studies. ................................................................................................................. 37 Necessary and Inequitable: Education Marketing Research since 2012 ................................................................................................................................................... 38 Marketing as a leadership obligation without dilemma. ...................................... 38 Principals’ perceptions of education marketing. ..................................................... 39 A research focus on education marketing and inequity. ...................................... 43 An Already Shifted Paradigm: Marketing Higher Education ....................................... 46 The establishment and prioritization of marketing in higher education. ................................................................................................................................ 46 The purpose, value and study of view books and websites in higher education. .................................................................................................................. 48 Ubiquitous and Unexamined: School Prospectuses and Websites ............................ 50 The purpose and study of prospectuses internationally. ..................................... 50 The limited literature on the operational purposes of school websites. .................................................................................................................................. 51 The limited literature on the marketing purposes of school websites. .................................................................................................................................. 53 Further Research .......................................................................................................................... 55 CHAPTER 3: METHODS ............................................................................................................................ 58 Purpose of Study/Research Questions ................................................................................. 58 Research Design ............................................................................................................................ 61 Rationale for Study ...................................................................................................................... 79 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS ............................................................................................................................... 81 Review of Purpose and Methodology of Study ................................................................. 81 Research Question #1 ................................................................................................................. 82 vii Research Question #2 ................................................................................................................. 87 Operational. ............................................................................................................................ 88 Operational/Promotional. ................................................................................................ 90 Promotional............................................................................................................................ 91 Summary of research question #2. ............................................................................... 92 Research Question #3 ................................................................................................................. 95 Cumulative. ............................................................................................................................. 97 Operational. .......................................................................................................................... 100 Operational/Promotional. .............................................................................................