The marketization of U.S. schools has increasingly complicated and even undermined the democratic aims of education, causing many to argue that democratic and market ideologies are fundamentally opposed. This meta-ethnographic study uses conceptual tools from democratic theory and the research on civic education to investigate how leaders in one…

The State University of New York (SUNY) is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, currently providing affordable, quality higher education to about 1.4 million students across its system of 64 college and university campuses and its entire portfolio of credit- and noncredit-bearing courses and programs,…

US public research universities face increasing pressures to compete in higher education, but receive fewer resources from their states than in previous eras. Prior research suggests that these institutions adopt market-driven mentalities and practices to generate revenues while eschewing their public missions. We posit that US public research…

This article substantiates the need for consolidated government support and coordination of postsecondary correctional education in the United States. Using the case of New York as a point of entry to critically examine the human right for all to learn and transform with dignity -- including millions of people languishing in prisons under mass…

Marketing strategy involves selecting a target market and determining the desired product positioning to attract the desired customers (Silk, 2006). Recently, community colleges have seen a decrease in student enrollment. In some cases, this was brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic; in other cases budget constraints have posed challenges to…

All signs indicate that high school graduation rates will continue to drop due to low birth rates, leading to a potential higher education meltdown that is likely to affect all academic institutions, big and small, in the years after 2024. Higher education is facing a new and potentially grave obstacle. For several decades, there have been plenty…

Studying history offers us important lessons: it helps to point out concepts which repeat and suggests errors so that we can adjust our path. This study attempted to uncover changes in higher educational mission statements over time in the western New York area. By exploring changes in institutional mission statements, the researcher hopes to add…

The State University of New York (SUNY) is one of the nation's largest public systems of affordable quality higher education. What is the economic impact of SUNY as an employer and manager of sixty-four campuses and three hospitals across New York? What is SUNY's overall contribution to the innovation infrastructure and labor force in New York?…

Community colleges in the United States and Canada operate within postsecondary environments that are being reshaped by neoliberal policymaking. As community colleges in both countries respond to the pressures of neoliberalism, their capacity to serve students already marginalized by their "nontraditional" status may be affected in…

There is an increasing reliance on market principles and values in the education space, particularly in urban contexts, accompanied by a growing diversification of educational service providers. Due in part to increased interactivity amongst constituents in this growing assembly of providers and actors, educational innovation ecosystem…

Over the past 20 years, market-based choice initiatives have become a popular approach to education reform. Since 2002, the New York City Department of Education has opened over 250 high schools, creating a marketplace so widespread that many students no longer have a zoned or neighborhood school. This article uses two New York City--based case…

Background/Context: There is a deep and yawning chasm between the world of tests and testing practices as they ought to be and the actual tests and testing practices now imposed on American students, educators, and schools. That chasm of theory and practice is a function of the dominant paradigm of educational reform, with its theory of action…

Incorporating data from two years of ethnographic teacher-research, this article explores how a curriculum of "professionalism" resonates with teachers and students in a small New York City school of choice. Using the literature on Critical Whiteness Studies and philanthrocapitalism in the context of New York City Mayor Michael…

This article ethnographically examines the ways in which No Child Left Behind (NCLB) links local practices to the centralized processing of data through its narrowing of procedures and measurements aimed at accountability. Framed by actor-network theory, it draws upon data consistently collected between June 2005 and October 2008, and then…

Neoliberal values and ideology, which have broadly undermined social justice ideals, have been inserted into a range of public spheres both in the U.S.A. and internationally. Public higher education institutions have increasingly acquiesced to neoliberal strategies, which restrict access to public services, commodify the public sphere and…