Date of Graduation

5-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Public Policy

Advisor/Mentor

Goering, Christian Z.

Committee Member

Hunt, Valerie H.

Second Committee Member

Endacott, Jason L.

Third Committee Member

Zajicek, Anna M.

Keywords

critical policy discourse analysis; education funding; intersectionality; multilingual learners; state takeover; systemic racism

Abstract

Language used in education policy and in written media about education policy covertly inscribes the values and relationships among and between policy actors, policy targets, problems, and solutions. The present research presents two studies that critically examined these discourses using critical policy discourse analysis. The first study examined media portrayal of the 2019 determination to continue or terminate state control of the Little Rock School District in Arkansas. The second study focused on policy related to English Learners across six states—New York, Utah, Indiana, Washington, Arkansas, and Kentucky. Findings from the studies suggested: (1) neoliberal policy vocabularies dominate the problematization and therefore proposed solutions within media portrayal around education policy and (2) subtle language distinctions socially construct English Learners in varying ways to either pushback upon or perpetuate systemic racism. These findings call attention to the need for sustained community and media participation, the importance of taking a critical stance to media coverage and policy, and the necessity to incorporate policy targets’ perspectives with a careful attunement to language to support the intersectional, multilingual, and multicultural identities of students through education policy.

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