Curriculum Vitae
 
Nick A. Theobald

Department of Political ScienceCal Poly San Luis ObispoSan Luis Obispo, CA 93407-0328(805) 756-2960ntheobal@calpoly.edu

Education

Ph.D., Political Science, Texas A&M University, 2006

Fields: Public Policy/Administration, American Politics, Methods Committee – Kenneth J. Meier, B. Dan Wood, William West, Donald J. Deere

Dissertation: ¡Muéstreme el Dinero!: Assessing the Linkage between Latino School

Superintendents and English Language Learner Program Resources.

B.A., Magna Cum Laude, Political Science, California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, CA 1998.

Research/Teaching Interests

Public Policy and Administration American Politics

Education Policy Bureaucratic Politics

Bureaucratic Representation Intergovernmental Relations

Implementation State and Local Politics

Policy Analysis

Race and Public Policy

Methodology

Quantitative Methods     

Publications (Refereed)

“Fiscal Federalism and Budgetary Tradeoffs in the American States” 2006, Political Research Quarterly. 59(2):313-321 with Sean Nicholson-Crotty and B. Dan Wood.

“Disparate Measures: Public Managers and the Use of Multiple Performance Measures." 2006. Public Administration Review. 66(1): 101-113 Sean Nicholson-Crotty and Jill Nicholson-Crotty

“The Many Faces of Span of Control: Organizational Structure Across Multiple Goals.” 2005. Administration and Society. 36(6): 648-660, with Sean Nicholson-Crotty.

“Political Responsiveness and Equity in Public Education Finance.” 2003. Journal of Politics 65(3): 718-738, with B. Dan Wood.

Book Chapters

“¡Muéstreme el Dinero!: Assessing the Linkage Between Hispanic School Superintendents and Bilingual Program Resources.” 2007. In Latino Politics: Identity, Mobilization, and Representation, edited by Rodolfo Espino, David Leal and Kenneth J. Meier. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.: 470-499.

“Bilingual Education: Cause or Cure?” In Latino Dropouts: Merging Theory and Practice, edited by Kenneth J. Meier and Nick A. Theobald. Forthcoming, Texas A&M University Press.

Publications (Non-Refereed)

“The Best School Districts in Texas for Latino Students 2001-2004.” A Report of the Texas Educational Excellence Project. 2005. With Kenneth J. Meier, Daniel Hawes and Stephen Sargent

“The Best School Districts in Texas for African American Students 2001-2004.” A Report of the Texas Educational Excellence Project. 2005. With Kenneth J. Meier, Daniel Hawes and Stephen Sargent

“The Best School Districts in Texas for Latino Students 1999-2002.” A Report of the Texas Educational Excellence Project. 2003. With Kenneth J. Meier, Daniel Hawes and Robert D. Wrinkle

“The Best School Districts in Texas for African American Students 1999-2002.” A Report of the Texas Educational Excellence Project. 2003. With Kenneth J. Meier, Alisa Hicklin, J. L. Polinard and Robert D. Wrinkle

“The Best School Districts in Texas for Latino Students 1998-2001.” A Report of the Texas Educational Excellence Project. 2002. With Kenneth J. Meier and Robert D. Wrinkle

“The Best School Districts in Texas for African American Students1998-2001.” A Report of the Texas Educational Excellence Project. 2002. With Kenneth J. Meier, J. L. Polinard and Robert D. Wrinkle

“The Best School Districts in Texas for Latino Students.” A Report of the Texas Educational Excellence Project. 2001. With Kenneth J. Meier, J. L. Polinard and Robert D. Wrinkle

“The Best School Districts in Texas for Latino Students 1996-1999.” A Report of the Texas Educational Excellence Project. 2000. With Robert D. Wrinkle

Research under Review-Works in Progress

“Symbolic Representation in the Bureaucracy? The Case of Law Enforcement.” With Don Haider-Markel. Revise and resubmit Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory.

“Stealing Credit: Challenging the Assumptions of Intergovernmental Political Competition Models of U.S. Federalism.” With Sean Nicholson-Crotty and Robert Fitzroy

“Active Representation from the Alpine Heights.” Under review at Public Administration Review

“Who’s Right?: An Analysis of the Controversy over Bilingual Education and the Latino Dropout Rate.” Under review at Policy Studies Journal

“Does Race Matter? An Experimental Analysis of the Importance of Driver Race and Public Perceptions in the Context of a Police Stop” with Don Haider-Markel and Amber Tierney

Awards

Best graduate student paper on state politics and policy presented at the 2003 APSA meeting “Bilingual Education: Cause or Cure?”

Research Presentations

“Symbolic Representation in the Bureaucracy? The Case of Law Enforcement.” With Don Haider-Markel. Presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, IL. April 2006.

“Disparate Measures: Public Managers and the Use of Multiple Performance Measures" Presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, IL. April 2004.

“Bilingual Education: Cause or Cure?” Presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. Philadelphia, PA. August 2003.

“¡Muéstreme el Dinero!: Assessing the Linkage Between Hispanic School Superintendents and Bilingual Program Finance.” Presented and the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, IL. April 2003.

“Reasoned Choice and Hazardous Options: Alternative Choice Heuristics and Knowledge.” Presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. Boston, MA. August 2002. With Hank Jenkins-Smith and Carol Silva.

“Do Federal Grants Produce Expenditure Tradeoffs?” Presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, IL. April 2002. With B. Dan Wood and Sean Nicholson-Crotty.

“The Politics of School Finance: Passing School Bonds.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, IL. April 2002. With Kenneth J. Meier.

“Tradeoffs in State Expenditures: A Theory and Empirical Analysis Across States and Time.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois. April 2001. With B. Dan Wood and Sean Nicholson-Crotty.

“Financing Public Education: the Role of Equity, Efficiency, and Politics.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois. April 2000. With B. Dan Wood.

“A Statistical Measure of Bureaucratic Representation: Improving on the Nachmius-Rosenbloom Measure of Variation” Presented at the annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association, San Jose, CA. March 2000. With Jeff Gill.

“A Tale of Two States: Comparing Educational Performance Between Texas and California using SWAT Analysis.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois. April 1999. With Jeff Gill.

Academic Appointments

2004-2006 Lecturer, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Public Policy, POLS 515

Research Design, POLS X510

Public Administration, POLS 351

Critical Issues in American Politics, POLS 338

Political Analysis, POLS 360

2004-2006 Lecturer, University of Kansas

Introduction to Public Policy, POLS 320

The Presidency, POLS 618

Political Science Methods of Inquiry, POLS 306

Public Policy Analysis, POLS 621

Congress, POLS 617

Race and Public Policy, POLS 629

2003-2004 Lecturer, Texas A&M University.

Introduction to Political Research Methods, POLS 209

Public Policy and Policymaking, POLS 440

Spring 2002 Teaching Assistant, Texas A&M University.

Taught lab section for Professor Hank Jenkins-Smith’s quantitative methods in public administration course at the Bush School of Public Service and Administration.

Summer 2001 Teaching Assistant, University of Essex, England.

Taught lab section for Professor Guy Whitten’s graduate course

on regression.

1997-1998 Teaching Assistant, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Taught lab section for Professor Jeff Gill’s and Dave George’s political methodology course.

Administrative/Research Experience

2006 San Luis Obispo Department of Drug and Alcohol Services

Consultant: Oversaw the creation of survey instrument and collection of data from the instrument which was designed to assess behavior of drunk drivers and map locations where drinking occurred prior to drunk driving arrests.

2004 Hewlett Foundation Education Grant, Texas A&M University

Consultant: This is a three state study of how leadership and policy at the district level influence the improvement of teaching and learning. For this project, I collected data and ran statistical models to find districts that excelled in educating minority children.

2002 Public Policy Research Institute, Texas A&M University

Consultant: Conducted statistical analysis for a report assessing whether race played a rule in special education assignments in Texas.

1999-2004 Texas Educational Excellent Project, Texas A&M University

Research Associate, 1999-2002; Research Director 2002-2004: I oversaw the collection of data for several projects, including the collection of data from state and federal education agencies, and state and national level surveys. I also co-authored yearly reports on minority education in the state of Texas. My duties also included maintaining the project’s website.

1999-2002 Department of Political Science, Texas A&M University

Research Assistant: I collected data, performed statistical analyses, co-authored papers, while assisting Professors B. Dan Wood, Kenneth J. Meier and Carol L. Silva in their research.

Service

Faculty advisor, Cal Poly Wheelmen, 2007

Discussant, 2005 Midwest and APSA meetings

Member, job search committee for public policy position, Texas A&M University, 2003

Member, political science computer committee, Texas A&M University, 2002

Member, Graduate Student Council, Texas A&M University, 2000-2001

Reviewer, Journal of Politics, American Journal of Political Science, Policy Studies Journal, and Public Administration Review

Professional Associations

American Political Science Association

Midwest Political Science Association

Southern Political Science Association.

References

Professor Kenneth J. Meier

Department of Political Science

Texas A&M University

College Station, TX 77843-4843

(979)-845-4232

kmeier@polisci.tamu.edu

Professor Guy D. Whitten

Department of Political Science

Texas A&M University

College Station, TX 77843-4843

(979)845-0385

whitten@polisci.tamu.edu

Professor Jeff Gill

Department of Political Science

University of California, Davis

One Shields Avenue

Davis, CA 95616

(530) 752-3077

jgill@ucdavis.edu

DISSERTATION Abstract

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 bilingual education 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.