Award Date

12-1-2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Public Policy and Leadership

First Committee Member

Lawrence Mullen

Second Committee Member

Magdalena Martinez

Third Committee Member

Michael Gordon

Fourth Committee Member

Erika Marquez

Number of Pages

382

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 impacted the entire world in various ways. On March 15, 2020, education in Nevada was significantly impacted when the Governor announced the closure of public schools due to the pandemic. When the schools were closed, students were forced to stay home and receive their education through virtual instruction. This transition to distance education affected the Hispanic/Latino(a) communities in pronounced ways and highlighted issues such as limited access to the Internet, technology, lack of hardware devices, as well as language barriers and more. This study uses social networking analysis techniques to examine the nature of social media networks, their structure, and how the nature of this medium might influence educational policies, specifically analyzing a Facebook social media group, CCSD Madres Y Padres, created during the pandemic to support Hispanic parents and students. The study examined how this group affected parental engagement and served as an educational resource for parents over the course of one year. Additionally, it examined the extent to which this network of Hispanic parents contributed or did not contribute to grassroots policy making in a broader sense. Through this study, laptops emerged as the most prominent issue that was discussed in the group during the one year of analysis, followed by interest in learning about the reopening of the schools, obtaining education feedback, and understanding the COVID-19 regulations.

Keywords

Public Affairs

Disciplines

Public Administration | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Public Policy

File Format

PDF

File Size

6400 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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