An examination of the research relating to school reform proposals. It features essays covering: early childhood education; class-size reduction in grades K-3; small schools; grouping students for instruction; public schools and their communities; teacher characteristics; and more.

Endorsements: At a time when private think-tanks seek to advance their ideological agendas through what is often shoddy research, this book is both a welcome corrective to and a reminder of the dangers of the mis-use of data in significant educational policy debates. - Michael W. Apple, University of Wisconsin, Madison Democracy thrives when a nation insures itself of a well-informed populace. The Think Tank Review Project helps our nation meet that goal by debunking bad social science, much of which emanates from the many highly partisan and well-funded think tanks that have developed over the last few decades. This book presents the best of the Project's reviews in a compelling indictment of think tank reports and their influence. - David Berliner, Arizona State University Education policy over the past thirty years has been powerfully influenced by well-funded and slickly produced research reports produced by advocacy think tanks. The quality of think tank reports and the value of the policies they support have been sharply debated. To help policymakers, the media, and the public assess these quality issues, the Think Tank Review Project provides expert third party reviews. The Project has, since 2006, published 59 reviews of reports from 26 different institutions. This book brings together 21 of those reviews, focusing on examining the arguments and evidence used by think tanks to promote reforms such as vouchers, charter schools and alternative routes to teacher certification. The reviews are written using clear, non-academic language, with each review illustrating how readers can approach, understand and critique policy studies and reports. The book will be of interest to practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and anyone concerned with the current debates about educational reform.

The commercialization of public education is upon us. With much fanfare and plenty of controversy, plans to cash in on our public schools are popping up all over the country. Educator and award-winning commentator Alex Molnar has written the first book to both document the commercial invasion of public education and explain its alarming consequence

If you strip away the rosy language of "school-business partnership," "win-win situation," "giving back to the community," and the like, what you see when you look at corporate marketing activities in the schools is example after example of the exploitation of children for financial gain. Over the long run the financial benefit marketing in schools delivers to corporations rests on the ability of advertising to "brand" students and thereby help insure that they will be customers for life. This process of "branding" involves inculcating the value of consumption as the primary mechanism for achieving happiness, demonstrating success, and finding fulfillment. Along the way, "branding" children - just like branding cattle - inflicts pain. Yet school districts, desperate for funding sources, often eagerly welcome marketers and seem not to recognize the threats that marketing brings to children's well-being and to the integrity of the education they receive. Given that all ads in school pose some threat to children, it is past time for considering whether marketing activities belong in school. Schools should be ad-free zones.

Pizza Hut's Book It! program rewards students with pizza for meeting their reading goals. Toys "R" Us paid a Kansas school five dollars for each student who took its toy survey. Cisco Systems donated internet access to a California elementary school, asking in return for the school choir to sing the company's praises while wearing Cisco t-shirts.
Kids today face a barrage of corporate messages in the classroom. In "School Commercialism," education expert Alex Molnar traces marketing in American schools over the last twenty-five years, raising serious questions about the role of private corporations in public education. Since the 1990s, Molnar argues, commercial activities have shaped the structure of the school day, influenced the curriculum, and determined whether children have access to computers and other technologies. He argues convincingly against advertisers' assertion that their contributions are a win-win proposition for cash-strapped schools and image-conscious companies.
From the marketing of unhealthy foods to privatizing reforms such as the Edison Schools and Knowledge Universe, "School" "Commercialism" tracks trends that are more pervasive than many parents realize and shows how we might recapture schools to better serve the public interest.

Pizza Hut's Book It! program rewards students with pizza for meeting their reading goals. Toys "R" Us paid a Kansas school five dollars for each student who took its toy survey. Cisco Systems donated internet access to a California elementary school, asking in return for the school choir to sing the company's praises while wearing Cisco t-shirts.
Kids today face a barrage of corporate messages in the classroom. In "School Commercialism," education expert Alex Molnar traces marketing in American schools over the last twenty-five years, raising serious questions about the role of private corporations in public education. Since the 1990s, Molnar argues, commercial activities have shaped the structure of the school day, influenced the curriculum, and determined whether children have access to computers and other technologies. He argues convincingly against advertisers' assertion that their contributions are a win-win proposition for cash-strapped schools and image-conscious companies.
From the marketing of unhealthy foods to privatizing reforms such as the Edison Schools and Knowledge Universe, "School" "Commercialism" tracks trends that are more pervasive than many parents realize and shows how we might recapture schools to better serve the public interest.

The commercialization of public education is upon us. With much fanfare and plenty of controversy, plans to cash in on our public schools are popping up all over the country. Educator and award-winning commentator Alex Molnar has written the first book to both document the commercial invasion of public education and explain its alarming consequences. "Giving Kids the Business" explains why hot-button proposals like for-profit public schools run by companies such as the Edison Project and Education Alternatives, Inc.; taxpayer-financed vouchers for private schools; market-driven charter schools; Channel One, an advertising-riddled television program for schools; and the relentless interference of corporations in the school curriculum spell trouble for America's children.Imagine that the tobacco industry may be helping to shape what your son and daughter learn about smoking. Imagine that your son is given a Gushers fruit snack, told to burst it between his teeth, and asked by his teacher to compare the sensation to a geothermal eruption (compliments of General Mills). Imagine your daughter is taught a lesson about self-esteem by being asked to think about "good hair days" and "bad hair days" (compliments of Revlon). Imagine that to cap off a day of world-class learning, your child's teacher shows a videotape explaining that the "Valdez" oil spill wasn't so bad after all (compliments of Exxon).Anyone interested in how schools are being turned into marketing vehicles, how education is being recast as a commercial transaction, and how children are being cultivated as a cash crop will want to read "Giving Kids the Business,"

Endorsements: At a time when private think-tanks seek to advance their ideological agendas through what is often shoddy research, this book is both a welcome corrective to and a reminder of the dangers of the mis-use of data in significant educational policy debates. - Michael W. Apple, University of Wisconsin, Madison Democracy thrives when a nation insures itself of a well-informed populace. The Think Tank Review Project helps our nation meet that goal by debunking bad social science, much of which emanates from the many highly partisan and well-funded think tanks that have developed over the last few decades. This book presents the best of the Project's reviews in a compelling indictment of think tank reports and their influence. - David Berliner, Arizona State University Education policy over the past thirty years has been powerfully influenced by well-funded and slickly produced research reports produced by advocacy think tanks. The quality of think tank reports and the value of the policies they support have been sharply debated. To help policymakers, the media, and the public assess these quality issues, the Think Tank Review Project provides expert third party reviews. The Project has, since 2006, published 59 reviews of reports from 26 different institutions. This book brings together 21 of those reviews, focusing on examining the arguments and evidence used by think tanks to promote reforms such as vouchers, charter schools and alternative routes to teacher certification. The reviews are written using clear, non-academic language, with each review illustrating how readers can approach, understand and critique policy studies and reports. The book will be of interest to practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and anyone concerned with the current debates about educational reform.

An examination of the research relating to school reform proposals. It features essays covering: early childhood education; class-size reduction in grades K-3; small schools; grouping students for instruction; public schools and their communities; teacher characteristics; and more.

If you strip away the rosy language of "school-business partnership," "win-win situation," "giving back to the community," and the like, what you see when you look at corporate marketing activities in the schools is example after example of the exploitation of children for financial gain. Over the long run the financial benefit marketing in schools delivers to corporations rests on the ability of advertising to "brand" students and thereby help insure that they will be customers for life. This process of "branding" involves inculcating the value of consumption as the primary mechanism for achieving happiness, demonstrating success, and finding fulfillment. Along the way, "branding" children - just like branding cattle - inflicts pain. Yet school districts, desperate for funding sources, often eagerly welcome marketers and seem not to recognize the threats that marketing brings to children's well-being and to the integrity of the education they receive. Given that all ads in school pose some threat to children, it is past time for considering whether marketing activities belong in school. Schools should be ad-free zones.