Access Type

Open Access Dissertation

Date of Award

January 2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Brady Baybeck

Second Advisor

Ronald Brown

Abstract

Representation in education has been studied for decades by experts and scholarly researchers. Most researchers utilized the bureaucratic representation framework to analyze the impact of representation in education and the public sector. The framework incorporates three levels that are examined through a standard analysis referred to as street, managerial, and political (elected officials). I conducted a cross-sectional analysis to assess the impact of representation on students’ educational outcomes across the 32 school districts located in Wayne County, Michigan. Approximately 1.8 million Michiganders reside in Wayne County, making it the largest county in the state, encompassing the highest populated city, Detroit, accounting for 640,000 residents. Detroit is home to the largest school district in the state, the Detroit Public School Community District, with enrollment rates at approximately 51,000 students.

While Detroit is the central city of the largest metropolitan region in the state, surrounded by numerous suburban cities, the student performance and achievement levels across the school districts have significant differences in educational outcomes. For this qualitative study, the focus is exclusively on the relationship between descriptive representation and the impact on students’ educational outcomes. The analysis is conducted by examining math and reading proficiency scores, as well as graduation rates, compared to disparity levels in representation between students and teachers, students and principals, followed by students and school boards. The relationship between the dependent and independent variables revealed a series of inverse relationships, as disparity in representation between Black students and teachers, principals and school boards increased, proficiency scores and graduation rates decreased on average. Indicating that representation does matter and has an impact on student performance.

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