A central question in racial and ethnic politics is whether bureaucratic
representation benefits minorities. The theory of bureaucratic representation suggests that
passive representation—representatives sharing characteristics of the represented—can
lead to active representation—acting in a manner that represents the interests of the
represented group. A growing body of empirical research has found that bureaucratic
representation leads to improved policy outcomes for minorities. Most of the evidence for
active representation, though, comes from representation by street-level bureaucrats. We
do not know the impact of representation by upper-level bureaucrats, however. In this
dissertation, I examine the impact of school superintendents on the generation and
distribution of resources to English language learner programs. In particular, I investigate
whether the presence of Latino superintendents leads to greater resources for these
programs. Additionally, I also explore the impact of these programs on the Latino
dropout rate.
Using data from the Texas Education Agency, U.S. Census, and National
Association of Latino Elected Officials, I find that upper-level bureaucrats do actively
represent the needs of represented groups. Specifically, Latino superintendents distribute
more resources, in the form of teachers, to English language learner (ELL) programs.
Additionally, Latino superintendents are more likely to distribute resources to bilingual
programs relative to English as a second language programs. In regard to the impact of different types of ELL programs, I do not find evidence that program type predicts Latino
dropout rates. However, I do find that serving the needs of limited English proficient
students, regardless of program type, helps to decrease the Latino dropout rate.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1364 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Theobald, Nick Andrew |
| Contributors | Meier, Kenneth J. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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