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Elizabeth Rigby

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Full-Text Articles in Health Policy

Do State Policies Constrain Local Actors? The Impact Of English Only Laws On Language Instruction In Public Schools, Melissa Marschall, Elizabeth Rigby, Jasmine Jenkins Dec 2010

Do State Policies Constrain Local Actors? The Impact Of English Only Laws On Language Instruction In Public Schools, Melissa Marschall, Elizabeth Rigby, Jasmine Jenkins

Elizabeth Rigby

This study examines how instrumental and symbolic messages embedded in state law shape the practices of ‘street-level’ bureaucrats. Specifically, we investigate whether passage of state-level English Only laws influences the way English language learners are instructed in local public schools. Using data on state English Only laws from 1987-2004 and school-level data from the National Center for Educational Statistics, we find that instrumental aspects of English Only laws serve to constrain, but not eliminate, schools’ use of bilingual instruction, while those sending only symbolic messages are less constraining. Further, when state laws are vague in scope, adherence to the English …


Federalism, Partisan Politics, And Shifting Support For State Flexibility: The Case Of The U.S. State Children’S Health Insurance Program, Colleen Grogan, Elizabeth Rigby Dec 2008

Federalism, Partisan Politics, And Shifting Support For State Flexibility: The Case Of The U.S. State Children’S Health Insurance Program, Colleen Grogan, Elizabeth Rigby

Elizabeth Rigby

No abstract provided.