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A case study of the roles of principals in dual language immersion programs

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A case study of the roles of principals in dual language immersion programs

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Content Running Head: PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS

A CASE STUDY OF THE ROLES OF PRINCIPALS
IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS

by

Nancy Kim Hong

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

August 2017

Copyright 2017 Nancy Kim Hong
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 2
Table of Contents
Abstract 5
Acknowledgement 6
Dedication 7
List of Tables 8
List of Figures 9
Chapter One: Overview of the Study 10
Background of the Problem 12
Statement of the Problem 19
Purpose of the Study 21
Research Questions 22
Significance of the Study 22
Organization of the Study 23
Chapter Two: Literature Review 25
Dual Language Immersion Programs 26
Purposes of Dual Language Immersion Programs 27
English Language Learners 27
The Achievement Gap 39
Components of Successful Dual Language Immersion Programs 47
Program Criteria 47
Administrative Leadership 54
Leadership 63
Transformational Leadership 63
Advocates of Equity and Adequacy 66
Agents of Change 67
Application for Principals 71
Instructional Leadership 77
Sensitivity to Diversity 91
Conceptual Framework 96
Chapter Three: Research Methods 103
Qualitative Research Method 103
Sample 104
Setting 104
Access and Entry 105
Participants 106
Data Collection and Instruments/Protocols 108
Interviews 109
Protocols 110
Data Collection Approach 112
Documents and Artifacts 112
Data Analysis 114
Interview Data 114
Limitations and Delimitations 115
Credibility and Trustworthiness 117
Ethics 118
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 3
Chapter Four: Findings 120
Participants’ Backgrounds in Education 122
What Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs Are Made of: Courage 127
Steadfast Visionary 128
Unified Vision for Dual Language Immersion 131
Staying the Course 134
Upholding High Expectations 144
Observing and Guiding Instructional Practices 147
Aspirational Goals for Self 155
Establishing Equal Language Status 159
Unafraid to Take Risks 162
Summary 167
What Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs Must Consciously Do: Connect
171
Inclusive Mindset 172
Bridging Two Worlds 175
Building Staff Unity 175
Bilingual and Bicultural Factors 191
Partnering with Parents 197
Appreciate Their Differences 198
Harness Their Capital 209
Manage Difficult Conversations 216
Summary 221
Where Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs Work Matters: Context 228
Profiles of District Office Administrators 229
Common Beliefs and Alignment of Vision 236
Responsibilities of District Leaders to the Dual Language Immersion Program
242
Mapping 243
Funding 244
Hiring 251
Training 255
Partnering 260
Summary 264
Conclusion 265
Chapter Five: Discussion 270
Summary of Findings 273
Implications of Practice 279
Recommendations 282
Future Research 289
Conclusion 290
References 292
Appendix A: Definitions and Variations of Dual Language Immersion Program Labels 301
Appendix B: Criteria for Principal/Site Selection 302
Appendix C: Criteria for Teacher Selection 303
Appendix D: Interview Protocol for Principals 304
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 4
Appendix E: Interview Protocol for District Level Leaders 313
Appendix F: Interview Protocol for Teachers 319
Appendix G: Information Sheet 327
Appendix H: Codebook 329
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 5
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics and practices of reputably
effective principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs and how they specifically support
and sustain these productive programs at their school sites. Additionally, the study sought to
explore how the principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs promote a climate of
bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding within their school communities. A qualitative
case study was conducted in two school districts in California where Dual Language Immersion
Programs have been successfully implemented across multiple sites. The findings were gathered
through extensive individual interviews with principals, teachers, and district-level
administrators in each district.
Three broad themes surfaced from the data. The first theme was that principals of Dual
Language Immersion Programs are made of courage. They are called to be steadfast visionaries,
an upholder of high expectations, and a risk taker. The second theme that emerged was that
principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs must consciously connect with others and
connect people together. They must possess an inclusive mindset, bridge two differing worlds
together, and partner with parents. The third theme looked at the context in which the principals
worked, examining the administrative support, professional development, resources, and
connections their respective districts offered. The findings of this study revealed that while
principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs simultaneously employ the tenets of both
transformational and instructional leadership, they also depend on working with district partners,
parents, and all of the school staff to create a cohesive environment where all students can thrive.

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 6
Acknowledgement

This study would not have been possible without the individuals who graciously agreed
to participate in the interviews. I was able to gather rich information from their generosity of
time and the candor with which they answered my questions. All of my study’s participants are
engaged in the meaningful work of enabling students to succeed by providing a platform for
effective instruction and the supports that go along with it. My time spent with each of them left
me inspired and energized.
I am also indebted to my committee members, Dr. Michael Escalante and Dr. Melissa
Kistler, for their guidance in helping me create a robust study on the principal’s role in Dual
Language Immersion Programs. Their knowledge and previous experience in leading Dual
Language Immersion Program initiatives at their respective districts were invaluable in shaping
my study.
Quarterbacking my committee was my exceptional chair, Dr. Artineh Samkian, who
constantly challenged me to put forth my best work, to make my arguments stronger, and to
critically think through every step of the dissertation process. Her dedication as a chair is
unparalleled. I was the beneficiary of her brilliance as a qualitative researcher and as a professor.
I emerge from this two year experience as a much better scholar and educator because of her
investment in me and my work.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 7
Dedication

I dedicate this study to my tireless husband and our two beautiful boys who are the light
of our lives. We are fortunate enough to have them enrolled in a Dual Language Immersion
Program where they are given the opportunity to attain biliteracy in their heritage language and
learn about its culture in authentic ways. I am grateful that they are in an educational setting that
embraces who they are and that teaches them to be proud to be multilingual and culturally
competent.
My family has made great sacrifices for me to be in this program as I spent countless
hours reading and writing away from them. I look forward to the days ahead when my time will
be less divided so I can enjoy their company and humor which give me immeasureable joy. I
thank them for all of their love, support, and encouragement.
Finally, I am grateful to my parents, my mom and my late dad, who courageously made
the life-altering decision to immigrate to the United States 41 years ago because they had big
dreams for their daughter and son to achieve anything they wanted. The completion of this study
and the conferral of my degree are testaments of their love as they forfeited comfort, familiarity,
and inclusion to carve out this life for me.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 8
List of Tables

Table 1 Effective Leadership Practices Based on the Research of Hitt and Tucker (2016) 87
Table 2 Sampling and Recruitment 108
Table 3 Documents Collected 113
Table 4 Principal Participants 126
Table 5 How Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs Exemplify Courage 169
Table 6 Prerequisite Skills of Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs 171
Table 7 How Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs Connect 226
Table 8 Profiles of District Administrators 235
Table 9 Responsibilities of District Leaders to the Dual Language Immersion Programs 268

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 9
List of Figures

Figure 1 Conceptual Map of Literature Review 100
Figure 2 Participants and Affiliations with Principals 126
Figure 3 Representation of Findings for Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs
223
Figure 4 Revised Conceptual Framework Based on the Literature and the Study 272

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 10
CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
The role of leaders in designing programs that raise achievement for all students is
critical (Elmore, 2000; Leithwood & Jantzi, 2006). Next to teacher efficacy, school leadership is
the second most influential element when it comes to student achievement and motivation
(Fullan, 2001; Leithwood, Harris, & Hopkins, 2008; Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005).
Included in the pursuit of student achievement is ensuring that the needs of students of special
populations are met, one of which is language proficiency for English Language Learners
(ELLs). Focusing on the academic success of ELLs is of utmost urgency. In 2012-2013, there
was a reported population of 4.85 million public school students who were classified as English
Language Learners, representing almost 10 percent of all students in public education K-12
(retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs). The density of English Language Learners is
concentrated in the western United States such as in California, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas
(retrieved from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/states-and-districts-highest-number-
and-share-english-language-learners). In California alone, there are a reported 1.4 million
students or 24% of public school students who are learning English as a second language, who
represent 67 different language backgrounds (retrieved from http://dq.cde.ca.gov). As ELLs
continue to populate the state and grow in number across the country, so does the achievement
gap that widens between them and native English speakers (Orfield, Kucsar, & Siegel-Hawley,
2012).
Different programs have been designed over the years to address this growing issue such
as pullout English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, bilingual programs aimed at using
students’ native languages to aid in transitioning to English while not compromising instructional
quality or abbreviating the curriculum, and tracking students homogeneously by abilities. All of
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 11
these programs were meant to help students access the curriculum as they simultaneously learned
the English language but were met with criticism for their ineffectiveness in meeting program
objectives (Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005). Dual Language Immersion Programs (DLIPs)
emerged as a solution to the language programs that were primarily remedial or subtractive in
nature (Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005). Additionally, they offered an alternative method
of delivering high-quality instruction utilizing students’ native languages while abiding by laws
like Proposition 227 in California that prohibited bilingual education (Freeman, Freeman, &
Mercuri, 2005). Using one’s native language allows the individual to develop basic language
skills that are necessary to serve as a foundation to build academic language (Cummins, 2008).
Jim Cummins (2008) called this Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALPs). Thomas and Collier (1997) have also
found in their research that if ELLs are not given support using their native language, it will take
them seven to ten years to catch up to their English-only peers.
While research on language acquisition is established and mature, studies that examine
how Dual Language Immersion Programs function have room for elaboration. To add to an
understanding of DLIPs’ place in K-12 public education as well as how to maximize the benefits
seen in the research base so far, this study will delve into key aspects of leadership in a DLIP.
Specifically, the purpose of the study is to examine the central role of administrators, principals
in particular, in contributing to the success of programs that address language acquisition and the
simultaneous attainment of curriculum standards. This study will look at the characteristics and
practices of reputably effective principals that are needed to support and sustain Dual Language
Immersion Programs and how they promote an environment of biculturalism and cross-cultural
understanding at their schools.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 12
Background of the Problem
The achievement gap that exists for English Language Learners in the United States,
predominantly Latino students, has been prevalent for the past three decades (Madrid, 2011).
Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) from 1975-2008 show “no
significant narrowing of the achievement gap between White and Latino 17 year olds” (Madrid,
2011, p. 1). There are many, complex factors that contribute to the persistence of the chasm that
remains between Latino students and their White (and/or Asian) counterparts.
Traditional school structures that have meant to differentiate instructional needs have not
served students justly. Students of different backgrounds attend the same schools together, but
categorization such as academic tracking sorts students into varying levels of classes with
different sets of expectations, rigor, and preparation for higher education or other technical fields
(Oakes, 1994). Mandates such as school choice, the ability to give parents and students the
option to choose schools, were intended to dismantle the disparity of educational opportunities
between schools of high minority populations and majority white students (Davis, 2012).
However, critics assert that although there may be better access to higher quality schools for
minority students, advanced classes are still limited and out of reach (Darling-Hammond, 2007).
Research contends that academic tracking within choice schools continue to separate middle- and
upper-class white children from minority children, usually of low-socioeconomic status,
maintaining a de facto segregation within schools (Wells & Crain, 1997; Wells et al., 2000;
Wells & Roda, 2009). White students are more likely to be identified as gifted even in schools
where they are the numerical minority in a diverse student body (Center for Immigrant Families,
2005). Lower tracks have been identified as being disproportionately filled by minority students
(Wenglinsky, 2004). Furthermore, tracking perpetuates low expectations, limits access to
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 13
knowledge and quality teachers who are often assigned to teach higher-level classes (Robinson,
2008).
Although not all minority students are English Language Learners, in this study,
minorities who are non-native English speakers will be the focus. ELLs have often been
separated into bilingual classrooms where they were tracked as “slow learners, vocational, and
EMR (educationally mentally retarded)” (Valencia, 1991, p. 156). Language has been used to
justify segregation in an era of desegregation and integration (Valencia, 1991). The students in
these classes received limited access to courses that would prepare them for college, not only
segregating them in secondary schools, but also determining their exclusion from higher
education upon graduation. Suarez-Orozco et al. (2008) found that ELLs experience intensely
segregated school settings that provide a “separate and not equal educational environment” (p.
92). Furthermore, in their study on school segregation in Texas, Vasquez Heilig and Holme
(2013) discovered that ELLs are “highly isolated in both urban and suburban schools” and face a
“triple segregation” by race/ethnicity, language, and poverty” (p. 617). In their findings, schools
that have triple segregation with a majority of African-American and Latino students are 48%
less likely to be exemplary (Vasquez Heilig & Holme, 2013). There is an evident discrepancy
between schools and districts that proclaim to serve their students equally. Reality points to
disparate expectations and instructional delivery for students of minorities as opposed to White
students (Holme, 2002).
Parents’ educational attainment and expectations
Parents are the most influential factors in a child’s life and play a critical role in shaping
the trajectory of their success. Parental educational attainment is the strongest predictor of a
child’s success in school (Eccles & Davis-Kean, 2005). For example, Mexican American
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 14
students’ performance and educational aspirations are influenced by parental educational
attainment and students’ perceptions of parental educational expectations (Carranza, You,
Chhuon, and Hudley, 2009). While many Latino students come from homes where the parents
may not speak English and parental education is low (Gandara, 2010), Latino parents place a
great value on education (Madrid, 2011) and desire a voice in their children’s education but feel
that their voices are silenced (Good, Masewicz, & Vogel, 2010). Feelings of frustration in not
being able to communicate from both teachers and parents exacerbate the lack of involvement
between school and home, ultimately affecting student outcomes. Contrary to educators’ beliefs
mainly based on superficial assumptions, Latino parents have high hopes and expectations for
their children (Carpenter, 2008). Latino parents also feel disrespected and discriminated against
by school personnel, preventing them from participating more in their children’s education
(Good, Masewicz, & Vogel, 2010).
Additionally, Becerra (2012) found that income, level of education, and levels of
linguistic acculturation were related to the perception of barriers related to academic success.
Parents with high levels of educational attainment and linguistic acculturation tend to adopt the
perceptions of majority populations, sharing the belief that Latino parents do not push their kids
to work hard (Becerra, 2012). While these educated and linguistically acculturated parents may
be more involved in schools, they also attribute the cultural differences between Latino students
and their White teachers contributing to the barriers in achievement. As such, it is important that
parents of minorities, no matter how acculturated and educated they are, do not perpetuate
harmful stereotypes of other minority children by adhering to these beliefs and by expressing
their criticism about them or their parents. Parents with more school-based skills and language
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 15
proficiency can serve as the voice for those who feel they are without one in the school
community.
Teacher quality, instructional practices, and expectations
In addition to the role of parents, teachers also influence student achievement. In fact,
they are the most important school factor in determining a child’s academic success (Darling-
Hammond, 2000). Highly qualified teachers are resources that could help provide educational
access for minorities. However, the differences in expectations and caliber of lessons are tied to
the disproportionate educational resources in low-performing schools from high-performing
ones. According to the Williams Act (2004), the law requires the state of California to provide
equal access to educational resources which includes proper instructional materials and teachers
qualified in their assignments (Oakes & Lipton, 2004). In a study on state policies on teacher
qualifications, Darling-Hammond (2000) showed that the influence of teacher preparation and
certification are the strongest factors in relation to student achievement in reading and
mathematics even after controlling for student poverty and language obstacles. Yet in low-
performing high poverty and minority-populated schools, teacher turnover rates are higher and
the level of quality teacher certification was less than that of high-performing, low-poverty
schools. The lower the percentage of teacher experience, education, and performance, the lower
the school-level student performance, meaning that students who attend high-poverty schools
were more likely to have less well-trained teachers, reducing their ability to achieve compared to
a poor student attending low-poverty schools (Ascher & Fruchter, 2001). Haycock (2001) also
contends that instructors who are mediocre and not adequately prepared teach large numbers of
low-income minorities.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 16
While these teachers may show competence in teaching to the average, English-speaking
child, they may lack culturally competent pedagogy. Culturally competent pedagogy is defined
as a “pedagogy that empowers students to intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by
using cultural references to impart cultural knowledge, skills, and attitudes” (Ladson-Billings,
1995). Gandara (2010) highlights the importance of conceptualizing teachers’ efforts as an
ongoing process of interventions rather than singular or isolated interventions which tend to fade
in less supportive environments. Robinson (2008) also found that ability grouping in early
elementary reading instruction can have benefits for students from non-English speaking homes
due to appropriately leveled material presented, working in close proximity with students in
small groups facilitated by the teacher, and participating in a less-stressful setting. Targeting
instruction that focuses on the needs of Latino students, who are also English Language
Learners, can help remedy the achievement gap (Wenglinsky, 2004).
Studies that have been conducted about English Language Learners and achievement
have largely been focused on the Latino population. The widening achievement gap between
Latino students have been contributed and exasperated by teachers’ low expectations and
stereotypical beliefs. According to Madrid (2011), teachers attribute the lack of success to an
inadequate work ethic and a lack of support from home. Gallimore and Goldenberg (2001) called
this blaming the victim or deficit explanations. They are more apt to blame the students and their
families for insufficient growth and achievement rather than examine what factors in educational
structure or instruction are at play. Latino students are perceived to lack potential and are less
likely to be enrolled in enrichment or accelerated courses (Flores, 2007). The deficit model has
been used for years to describe the low achievement of Latinos, often labeling them with terms
like mentally retarded, linguistically handicapped, and at risk (Good, Masewicz, & Vogel,
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 17
2010). With little expectations for success, Latino students are put at a huge disadvantage
compared to their White and/or Asian peers even before entering into a classroom. Principals of
Dual Language Immersion Programs must consider these victim-blaming or deficit perspectives
when leading a school to change detrimental beliefs of staff members that will damage
relationships with students and families and adversely affect students’ ability to learn.
Principal Leadership and Student Achievement
In terms of impact on student learning, the principal is second only to the teacher
(Leithwood & Seashore Louis, 2012). Principals influence the learning outcomes of students by
implementing programs, providing professional development, and developing teachers who work
with students on a daily basis. An effective principal is one who embodies the ideals of both a
transformative and instructional leader (see Chapter 2 under the heading, Leadership). According
to Fullan (2014), there are three key areas to maximize the principal’s role: (1) be a lead learner
who works on his/her own individual learning and encourages that of others, (2) be a system
player focusing on building professional capital through teamwork and networking, and (3) be a
change agent by challenging the status quo, having a commitment to constant self-improvement,
building trust and partnerships, and working with a sense of urgency for a commonly shared plan
to meet objectives and goals. Principals must also consider the needs of their diverse student
body and their families, and work to create an inclusive environment at their schools in order for
all students to succeed. Principals who perpetuate exclusionary structures within schools that
limit linguistic or cultural minorities from accessing a quality education cannot be allowed to
persist in their leadership capacities. The collateral damage to the most vulnerable students is too
great.

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 18
Dual Language Immersion Programs
In an effort to meet the needs of students acquiring English, mostly from Spanish-
speaking backgrounds as they are the majority of ELLs in the United States, bilingual programs
have been implemented, one of which is called dual immersion or dual language immersion
bilingual programs (Gerena, 2011). Dual Language Immersion Programs (DLIP) or two-way
immersion (TWI) programs first started in 1965 in Miami, Florida in response to a growing need
to facilitate English language access and development by primarily using the students’ first
language for part of the instructional day (Bearse & deJong, 2008). Prior to its inception, English
acquisition programs were largely remedial in nature, isolated from native English speakers and
focused on basic skills with watered-down content in academic areas (Collier & Thomas, 2004).
While these pullout or sheltered programs offered support for students from one to four years, it
was not enough time to develop adequate proficiency to perform to academic standards (Collier
& Thomas, 2004).
Dual Language Immersion Programs are not new to education although they have been
rising in popularity in recent years (Howard & Christian, 2002). According to the Center for
Applied Linguistics, there are currently 448 schools across the United States that use a foreign
language to teach part of the curriculum (http://www.cal.org/resource-center/databases-
directories). To mitigate the segregation among language minority students in schools and how
that perpetuates underachievement, Dual Language Immersion Programs seek to provide the best
educational environment for both the language minority students and mainstream English-only
students (Lindholm-Leary & Block, 2010). A dual-immersion bilingual program is defined as an
enrichment program that integrates English learners with native English speakers and uses both
languages as a vehicle for content instruction (Gerena, 2011). The pedagogy is constructivist in
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 19
nature and encourages the participation of parents in curricular and extracurricular activities to
support and enrich the program (Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005). Students in DLIPs
embrace a positive view of their native language and culture especially as other students in the
program learn their language and culture (Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005).
Although bilingualism was once believed to cause cognitive confusion, it is now widely
accepted to be a cognitive advantage (Gerena, 2011). Although the origins of DLIPs were to
address the poor instructional model for ELLs, some of the key reasons why parents enroll their
children are to increase engagement in learning, form positive interpersonal relationships,
provide diverse job opportunities, and obtain the ability to function in a globally connected world
as they develop proficiency in multiple languages (Bearse & deJong, 2008; Gerena, 2011;
Thomas & Collier, 1997). These are parents of both native English speakers and non-native
English speakers.
Bilingualism is deemed to be an asset as high cognitive demand is necessary to handle
academic curriculum in two languages and where collaborative learning in mentally challenging
academic tasks are required (Collier & Thomas, 2004). DLIPs have also been found in studies to
increase achievement in language acquisition and subject area content (Howard & Christian,
2002; Collier & Thomas, 2004; Thomas & Collier, 1997; Giacchino-Baker & Pillar, 2009).
Students who are taught through both their primary language and English achieve at or above
their grade-level peers in standardized assessments (Howard, Sugarman, & Christian, 2003;
Lindholm-Leary & Howard, 2008).
Statement of the Problem
This study serves to highlight the crucial role of principals in addressing the academic
and sociocultural needs of their students that are not only foundational to their immediate
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 20
learning experiences and interactions with peers, but also in expanding their ability to think,
problem-solve, and work with others. According to Hochschild and Scovronick (2003),
Teaching immigrant students to speak English makes them more likely to succeed
in mainstream society and reinforces the cultural core so essential to a huge and
diverse democracy. Showing respect for those outside the racial or cultural
mainstream encourages them to pursue their own distinctive dreams while
broadening the sensibility of all students (p. 18).
The future of America’s democratic success not only relies on the success of individuals to
achieve their educational and professional goals, but it also depends on schools to provide equal
opportunities for all students as a generation of citizens who will contribute to society. As the
individual who both represents and manages a school site, the role of principals is key to creating
an accessible path for all students, while valuing their linguistic and cultural backgrounds, to
fully participate as part of American’s citizenry. As public schools serve to prepare students
mentally and socially, principals have the responsibility to design learning experiences both in
and out of the classroom that will enable students to acquire necessary life-long skills. Of these
skills, literacy is primary. Participation in society will require citizens who can read, interpret,
and evaluate information, often rife with conflicting perspectives (Reardon, Valentino, & Shores,
2012). Therefore, it is of utmost importance that all students have sufficient literacy skills to
make informed decisions. DLIPs have been shown to provide these literacy skills and this
benefit is to both sets of students within Dual Language Immersion Programs, those who seek to
learn English and those who desire to learn a language other than English.
The principals of schools with DLIPs have the unique charge of furthering the message of
democracy in a way that leaders of traditional schools do not. Although all principals promote
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 21
character traits like respect and responsibility at their schools, principals of DLIPs must bridge
different cultural and linguistic backgrounds and create a climate of openness to learning about
those differences. The good news is that the type of leader who is needed to take on this charge is
not difficult to find. Like innovators who are those who share a set of characteristics that are not
genetically endowed but are more aligned with shared practices that can be replicated, leaders
also demonstrate practices that can be reproduced in similar contexts (Dyer, Gregersen, &
Christensen, 2011). These practices are those conducive to promoting equitable, high-quality
learning environments that are inclusive and respectful of students from diverse backgrounds. By
carefully examining the characteristics and practices of effective principals, other leaders can
adopt them to apply to their own school settings.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to examine leadership practices of reputably successful
principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs. Principals, who are the de facto and de jure
leaders of their schools, have the unique responsibility and power to prioritize goals, promote
values, and provide resources for staff and students (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2006). Research on
leadership underscores its fundamental factor in embracing multicultural attitudes and
approaches, embracing inclusive practices, and being strong advocates for all students (Calderon
& Carreon, 2000; Aguirre-Baeza, 2001). This study aims to define the key characteristics and
practices that principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs need to provide high-quality
instruction and an environment of celebrating cultural and linguistic differences at their schools.
To address the research questions posed in the study, I used a qualitative case study
design. The study took place in two mid-sized, suburban school districts in California that have
mature DLIPs. From each district, I interviewed at least one district-level administrator such as
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 22
an assistant superintendent, one elementary school principal with a Dual Language Immersion
Program at his/her school site, and two teachers on staff, one who teaches within the DLIP and
one who does not. Using a semi-structured interview protocol, the study sought to understand the
principals’ characteristics and practices as they pertain to supporting and sustaining the Dual
Language Immersion Program including promoting cultural diversity.
Research Questions
1. What are the characteristics and practices of reputably effective principals needed to
support and sustain their Dual Language Immersion Programs?
2. How do principals of schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs promote a
climate of bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding?
Significance of the Study
Bilingual education has received scrutiny and criticism over the years (Freeman,
Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005). While Dual Language Immersion Programs are different in their
emphasis on including both native and non-native English speakers in an additive environment
focused on high-quality instruction, there have been conflicts among those who believe in
programs such as these that use students’ native languages as an asset to instruction and those
who do not see their purpose or value such as those who have pushed the state of California to
pass legislation regarding using only English in public school classrooms
(https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_227,_the_%22English_in_Public_Schools%22_I
nitiative_(1998). Many research studies have explored the effectiveness of Dual Language
Immersion Programs as it relates to student achievement. And while a named factor contributing
to student achievement within the DLIP is administrative leadership (see Chapter Two under
Components of Dual Language Immersion Programs), there remains a lack of literature
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 23
specifically focused on leadership in DLIPs, and, specifically, on the characteristics and practices
of principals of DLIPs. This is an important aspect of DLIPs to study as without strong
leadership, schools, let alone, specialized programs such as these, cannot survive and ultimately
serve the needs of the students it has been intended to address.
As DLIPs continue to expand across the nation, impactful leadership will be an integral
component to sustaining their success (Hunt, 2011). This study aims to examine how principals
contribute to the success of the programs. Their characteristics and practices are worth defining
and understanding in order to apply them to schools with DLIPs, ultimately, to give students in
the programs and at those schools the best educational experiences they deserve.
Organization of the Study
This study is organized into five chapters. Chapter One introduces the problem, outlines
the purpose of the study and its importance in education, and defines the research problem that
guided the study. The background and context of English language learning and acquisition in
the United States and the political implications are also addressed.
Chapter Two summarizes the literature on Dual Language Immersion education, its
purpose and components. It also highlights both theoretical and empirical studies on leadership
and how understanding the needs of diverse learners are critical for leaders of schools with
diverse populations.
Chapter Three presents the research methods that were employed in this qualitative study.
It describes the research design, population and sampling, and instrumentation used during the
study. The procedures for data collection and analysis are also covered in this section as well as
addresses issues of maintaining credibility, trustworthiness, and ethics during the study.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 24
The findings drawn from extensive analysis of coded interview transcripts make up
Chapter Four. It is divided into three key sections: (1) What principals of Dual Language
Immersion Programs are made of: courage, (2) What principals of Dual Language Immersion
Programs must consciously do: connect, and (3) Where principals of Dual Language Immersion
Program work matters: context.
Lastly, in Chapter Five, a discussion of the study is provided including a summary of the
findings, the implications for practice, and recommendations based on the results.

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 25
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
To understand the context of this study, it is essential to review the literature on Dual
Language Immersion Programs (DLIPs) and leadership theory as it relates to DLIPs. While the
literature describes dual language programs under different labels such as Dual Language
Education (DLE), Developmental Bilingual Education (DBE), Two-Way Bilingual Education
(TWBE), Two-Way Immersion (TWI), Dual Immersion (DI), and Enriched Education (EE),
(also see definitions, page 293), this review will look at Dual Language Programs with an
emphasis on Immersion where native speakers of both English and the target language are
enrolled in the same class to encourage language learning in both directions with the goal of
developing conversational and academic proficiency (Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005).
The beginning of this chapter will look closely at Dual Language Immersion Programs. I
will explain their purposes and why districts across the nation have embraced this model of
educational delivery for their population of students. I will elaborate on two key areas of
purpose: (1) to address the unique needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) and (2) to focus
on the achievement gap among students. Additionally, fundamental components for successful
DLIPs will be explored, including criteria for effective programs and administrative leadership
specific to DLIPs. This literature is important for a study on DLIP leadership because it provides
the context for what principals ought to seek to maintain in these programs to make them
successful.
In the next section of the chapter, I will delve into both empirical and theoretical studies
on leadership, how it can be transformational (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005),
instructional (Elmore, 2000; Ramsden & Lizzio, 1998; Senge, 1990), and inclusive of diverse
populations (Riehl, 2000). Reviewing the multifaceted aspects of leadership is important to
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 26
review as this study aims to examine the critical role leaders play in supporting Dual Language
Immersion Programs as well as the subtle and apparent ways they promote the idea of
biculturalism and the value of adding language to student learning.
Finally, I will conclude the chapter by offering my conceptual framework based on the
reviewed literature of Dual Language Immersion Programs and how leadership influences school
culture and student achievement. This conceptual framework guided the rest of my study.
Dual Language Immersion Programs
From its inception in 1965 at Coral Way Elementary School in Miami, Florida (Freeman,
Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005) to the present day, the prevalence of Dual Language Immersion
Programs has expanded throughout the nation. This phenomenon can be attributed to both the
growing population of non-native English speakers in the United States, as well as to address the
need for multilingual citizens who can compete in a global economy (Howard & Christian,
2002). In California, English Language Learners (ELLs) comprise 22.8 percent of public school
enrollment (US Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, 2015).
According to the Center for Applied Linguistics, English learners currently represent over
10% of all students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through 12
th
grade in the US, and there are
presently 448 schools in 37 states and the District of Columbia that teach their curriculum
partially using a foreign language (http://www.cal.org/resource-center/databases-directories).
Dual language immersion or two-way immersion (TWI) programs have been deemed a viable
solution to alleviating discriminatory issues of institutionalized segregation and stigmatization
that language-minority students have been known to endure and, instead, concentrate their efforts
on integrating students of diverse backgrounds to promote both bilingualism and biliteracy for all
students in the program (Howard, Christian, & Genesee, 2004). Dual Language Immersion
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 27
Programs have taken steps to bring equity in language status between English and the minority
language, in addition to encouraging the lifelong development of both language and literacy
(Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005). In this section, I will examine the rationales for Dual
Language Immersion Programs and the components successful programs have in place to
address the needs of all of their learners as they sustain quality, additive learning for years.
Purposes of Dual Language Immersion Programs
The expansion of DLIPs has been embraced by many states like California, Texas, and
New York for its inclusivity of and benefits to all students, both English speaking and those who
are acquiring English as a second language (Collier & Thomas, 2004). DLIPs have been
implemented by districts for a few reasons: (1) to address the needs of ELLs when reforming
practices, (2) to minimize, and ultimately, eliminate the achievement gap that exists between
minority students and their White counterparts, and (3) to provide language enriched instruction
to English speakers seeking to acquire another language at a young age. Traditional program
models that teach to English-speaking students of a middle-class orientation ignore and
invalidate the specific and unique needs of those linguistically and culturally different from those
in the educational institution (Nasir & Hand, 2006; Cummins, 1986; Foley, 1991; Rist, 1973).
These traditional models tend to “teach to the middle” (English-speaking, middle-class students
of average abilities), taking for granted that not all students come to school with the same
language and cultural experiences from home.
English Language Learners. According to August and Hakuta (1998), three-fourths of
English Language Learners in the United States are Spanish-speaking, thus predominantly
Latino. Over the past several decades, program models for addressing the language needs of
English Language Learners (ELLs) have been criticized for their watered-down curriculum,
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 28
segregated placement of its students, and a delivery model that diminishes the use of their home
language, resulting in the tragic lack of development in their first language while never attaining
a level of academic proficiency in English (Cazden & Snow, 1990). Bilingualism, for many
years, was thought to cause cognitive confusion for learners (August & Hakuta, 1997). Students
who were assigned to bilingual classrooms were negatively perceived to have problems, which
led to social distance among peers and prejudice from a lack of understanding students’ cultural
and linguistic learning needs (Collier & Thomas, 2004). Under traditional models of truncated
and disjointed instruction where there is no alignment of standards, collaboration among staff
who share students, and collective responsibility for student learning, ELLs have become lost
among other school priorities as staff members attempt to address their “language problem”
properly (Crawford, 2004; Theoharis & O’Toole, 2011). The needs of ELLs were not met with
the urgency it deserved, and for several decades, ELLs have been shuffled among school
personnel to be “fixed” in remedial programs that are often lacking in cognitively and
academically challenging content while the achievement and equity gap has continued to widen
between them and their English speaking peers (Thomas & Collier, 1997).
Dual Language Immersion Programs were meant to serve two distinct needs, one for non-
native English speakers to acquire English proficiency and for English speakers to acquire
another language to the same level of proficiency as their primary language, using the core
curriculum in an additive environment with instruction given to both sets of students in the same
classroom (Lindholm-Leary, 2005). While traditional language programs serving minority
populations have been remedial in nature with less access to grade-level curriculum, when the
focus shifted to a language enrichment program designed to benefit all students, the community
perceived it positively and the program sought to provide an intellectually challenging
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 29
environment by using students’ linguistic and cultural experiences as a resource (Thomas &
Collier, 1997). Also, programs that integrated students of different language groups minimized
their differences and promoted group unity and identity (August & Hakuta, 1998; Lambert &
Cazabon, 1994). DLIPs were designed to give equal status to both languages, increasing minority
students’ social capital (Stanton-Salazar, 1997) as they learn alongside their English-only
classmates (Gandara, 2010). Furthermore, research has shown that ELLs who are taught with
their primary language score at the same level or surpass their peers on achievement tests in
reading and math (Genessee, 2005, 2006) in addition to having the benefits of bilingualism.
Howard, Sugarman, and Christian (2003) found that English proficient students who are taught
in two languages are also at or above standards in standardized measures of reading and math.
In their study on school segregation in Texas, Vasquez Heilig, and Holme (2013)
discovered that English Language Learners were isolated in schools and faced a “triple
segregation” by race/ethnicity, language, and poverty (p. 617). Linguistic segregation, at first by
schools and then later by classrooms, was rationalized as long as standardized measures were
used to justify the need to separate the English Language Learners from their English-speaking
peers. Vasquez Heilig and Holme (2013) conducted descriptive analyses on 2011 school-level
Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) data for all non-charter schools in
Texas receiving a low performing or exemplary accountability rating (N=1599). They concluded
that while schools are held to high accountability measures, a majority of ELLs still attended
high-poverty and high-minority schools. These schools were low-performing with minimal, if
any, exposure to academically rigorous coursework, confining them to remedial courses that did
not offer access to college preparatory curriculum.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 30
In their findings, the most segregated schools were at the elementary level, which is
consistent with data on residential segregation (Orfield, 2009) as many elementary-age students
attend their neighborhood schools. Vasquez Heilig and Holme (2013) found that 48% of
elementary schools in Texas were majority Latino, and 51% of schools in Texas were composed
of majority African-American and Latino. Approximately 9% of schools in Texas were majority
ELLs. They also found that 15% of schools in Texas faced a double segregation by language and
poverty. Schools that had triple segregation with a majority of African-American and Latino
students were 48% less likely to be exemplary (Vasquez Heilig & Holme, 2013).
Vasquez Heilig and Holme (2013) offered some inferential explanations for the multiple
levels of segregation by language, race, and poverty. For one, policies intended to help those
with language instruction like bilingual education classrooms have unintentionally hurt them by
separating them from their English-speaking peers, minimizing their interaction with students
who could serve as language models as ELLs acquire language. Secondly, school choice has hurt
ELLs who do not have cultural or social capital to take advantage of open enrollment and
transfer opportunities to apply to less segregated and higher performing schools out of their area.
Lastly, ELLs were found to be increasingly isolated in segregated neighborhoods in urban areas,
reducing their opportunities to practice English with native speakers, delaying their development
of conversational, and, ultimately, academic English. While schools proclaimed to serve all of
their students equally, reality has pointed to stark disparities in expectations and instructional
delivery (Valencia, 1991).
Vasquez Heilig and Holme (2013) underscored the ineffective and detrimental effects of
isolating language minority students from native English speakers. Segregating students by
language has resulted in poor achievement, and, eventually, limited educational opportunities for
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 31
ELLs. This study is important to consider in the discussion of purpose for DLIPs because a
major tenet of the program is to comingle students of different language abilities in integrated
classrooms as a means of increasing and building the language skills of all students in both
languages. Vasquez Heilig and Holme (2013) further highlight the inequities language minority
students have faced in programs that do not prioritize their needs and view their language status
as a deficiency and not an asset. The DLIP also embraces the delivery of an academically rich
and rigorous curriculum through both languages, creating uncompromising access to enrichment
as opposed to remedial learning (Collier & Thomas, 2004).
Bearse and deJong (2008) examined the perceptions of students in a secondary two-way
immersion program, especially as they transitioned from established programs in elementary
schools that adeptly created additive linguistic and cultural educational settings. The study drew
on the research of Lindholm-Leary (2005) on the components of effective two-way immersion or
Dual Language Immersion Programs, specifically as they addressed language minority students
and applying a sociocultural lens when focusing on language and literacy.
The qualitative study gathered data in the forms of surveys and interviews from middle
school and high school students from one district that participated in Spanish two-way
immersion programs in both elementary and secondary schools. A total of 166 surveys using a
four-point scale were collected, and 24 focus groups of three to four students were conducted
during school hours. The authors of the study did not mention the response rate of the surveys.
While the surveys aimed to capture perspectives from diverse student backgrounds, the focus
groups were organized by students from the same ethnicity. All of the interviews were
audiotaped and transcribed. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze survey data. Open-ended
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 32
responses of the surveys were qualitatively assessed through the use of coding and sorting by
dominant themes. The data were then triangulated to confirm key findings.
The three most prominent themes found in the study were: (1) students’ attitudes toward
the TWI program, (2) attitudes toward bilingualism and biculturalism, and (3) program identity
and linguistic equity. When students were asked to describe their experiences in TWI programs,
students unanimously expressed their enjoyment of and appreciation for the opportunity to have
participated in the programs. Both Anglo and Latino students agreed that bilingualism would
lead to better grades and associated it with improved communication, education, and future job
prospects. However, when asked about biculturalism, mostly the Latino students with the
exception of a few Anglo students identified themselves as being bicultural. Biculturalism was
significantly connected to students’ cultural identities as they related this to their home and
school lives, not something they read about in a book. For Anglo students, biculturalism meant
understanding other cultures and being sensitive to them, whereas for Latino students,
biculturalism was a byproduct of their lives as they identified their culture through the context of
communicating and socializing with friends and family. The last key theme the study found was
that students felt less affiliated with the TWI program in secondary school because of their
diminished use of Spanish in school. While elementary programs emphasized at least 50% of the
day taught in the target language, by middle and high schools, the opportunities to have access to
Spanish decreased over time, causing students to question whether they were still in a TWI
program. By high school, with the exception of one period of Spanish, content areas were taught
in English, creating an imbalance between the two languages and their frequency of use during
the school day.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 33
While both sets of students expressed valuing bilingualism and biculturalism as assets to
build communicative skills with a broader base of people and acknowledged the economic
advantages that bilingualism and biculturalism provide, different students, depending on their
backgrounds, demonstrated having diverse needs and goals (Bearse & deJong; Valdes, 1997).
Students come into TWI programs having had different experiences and embodying different
identities, so the linguistic and cultural investments TWI programs seek to make need to take
those factors into consideration. Finally, as schools have a significant role in its influence on
symbolic, cultural, and linguistic capital (Bourdieu, 1991; Martin-Jones & Heller, 1996), the
secondary role Spanish plays next to English resulted in unequal opportunities to develop
academic proficiency among Latino students and reduced their abilities to retain their primary
language through decreased use in school. TWI programs, as they are currently structured in
secondary schools, were found to favor Anglo students in allowing them to adopt a new language
and learn about Latino cultures around the world, while Latino students slowly lost their ability
to access the curriculum and interact in classes through their primary language. While this study
took place in a secondary setting, the applications transcend to all grade levels as program
designers need to take the needs and perspectives of all groups of students to heart when creating
schedules, lessons, and learning experiences outside of the classroom. As one of the key
purposes of DLIPs is to address the unique needs of both groups of students, ones who are
learning the minority language and those who are acquiring English, Dual Language Immersion
Programs must fulfill the goals they have for all students despite their differences.
In another study, Calderon and Carreon (2000) concentrated on one district’s effort to
implement two-way bilingual programs at four schools in El Paso, Texas as an answer to provide
equity in educational access with an emphasis on a value-added model of instruction. Framing
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 34
the program from the work of Christian (1996) and Lindholm-Leary (1990) who defined
essential criteria for successful two-way bilingual programs, El Paso Independent School
District, which served approximately 65,000 students of which 72% were Hispanic with 15,000
students in bilingual education, implemented two-way bilingual programs at four elementary
schools (Calderon & Carreon, 2000). Reviewing this study is important to understand how a
district with a large ELL population aimed to address students’ needs to acquire English while
simultaneously providing an enriching, additive, and challenging educational experience using a
gifted and talented curriculum design.
In their qualitative study, Calderon and Carreon (2000) collected data for three years in
the way of questionnaires given to teachers, students, and administrators and examined data on
(1) students’ language development, (2) student achievement, and (3) the teacher professional
development through field notes, interviews, videotaping of Teacher Learning Communities
(TLCs), professional development events, and pre-/post- videos of teachers engaged in
innovative practices in the classroom. Also, in the first two years of the study, the academic
performance of 250 students, both limited English proficient and English-dominant, in the
bilingual program were compared to 250 students in traditional bilingual classrooms that served
as a control group. When the program reached a school-wide level, the point of comparison
became another school in the district with similar qualities, and, finally, when the program
expanded to twelve schools in the district, achievement scores were measured using the Texas
Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). The participants in the study were 24 teachers from two
schools, half of whom were bilingual and half who were monolingual with a representation of
twelve from each school.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 35
The pre-implementation phase started with setting program goals, school restructuring,
and combining the principles of bilingual education and the ideologies of Accelerated Schools
whose approach aims rigorous delivery of instruction designed for gifted and talented education
for all students. Instruction focused on equal use of both languages to learn content objectives
through integrated curriculum and cooperative learning structures. Also part of the pre-
implementation was extensive training for teachers and principals that centered on language
acquisition, cooperative learning, the power of bilingualism, multiple intelligences, and authentic
assessment. Parent involvement was another important element of this phase as they attended
meetings to hear about how the program would change from what was deemed a remedial model
of instruction to an enrichment model that would benefit all students. Parent-child activities were
held throughout the year with both language groups to train them on how to read with children
and to foster sensitivity and respect for one another’s culture. The final aspect of pre-
implementation was staffing and establishing collaborative teaching teams at the site level with
district administration taking on a supportive function. Reviewing the elements of the pre-
implementation phase illustrates how these schools addressed the unique needs of ELLs in the
way they structured their program, created interaction among stakeholders, and provided
training.
The pedagogical features that facilitated or obstructed learning were obtained through
teacher ethnographies and by building a culture of inquiry in professional learning communities.
Teachers scripted learning segments, followed up by analysis and discussion of the data collected
from assessment results. Using social discourse in one language to construct and revise meaning
helped students understand content more deeply, helping with transference to the other language.
By teachers creating opportunities for peer interaction and discussion in engaging activities, they
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 36
allowed for students to demonstrate understanding in safe and supportive settings and make
connections between their own experiences and the content studied. Ineffective teaching
strategies were identified as those that focused mostly on the teacher and not the student such as
teacher read-alouds or the teacher talk.
The study revealed that many of the program goals, problem solving, and professional
growth emerged from the teacher learning communities (TLCs) (otherwise known as
professional learning communities or PLCs) that were created. The TLCs enhanced the
relationships and level of respect for their peers, and, more importantly, the bilingual teachers’
voices were finally heard and considered unlike in previous years when they were kept quiet.
Despite the benefits, the TLCs did not last beyond a year due to issues of power and feelings of
inadequacy between bilingual and non-bilingual teachers. District-wide staff development to
address issues of working with minority students and adapting to instructional change was
encouraged by the researchers.
Lastly, in the discussion of whether and how Dual Language Immersion Programs benefit
English Language Learners, Valdez (1997) offers some possible negative effects of the program
on minority students. While DLIPs bring together students of different language abilities and
cultural backgrounds to learn content in two languages, considerations about language and its
role in educational attainment, the quality of minority-language instruction in DLIPs, intergroup
relations, and the connection between language and power need to be addressed. According to
Valdez (1997), there are two different professional perspectives that impact the implementation
of DLIPs: (1) the position of bilingual educators who mainly see DLIPs as a vehicle for teaching
minority students with high quality instruction using their primary language, and (2) foreign-
language educators who are mostly concerned with promoting second-language acquisition and
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 37
bilingual proficiency with mainstream children. Although there are overlapping goals and
advantages to the program, the author believes outcomes and expectations for students are not
the same depending on whose perspective is influencing the practices. The author strongly
believes that teacher or staff biases can drastically limit or create possibilities for student
achievement.
Despite the potential negative effects, Dual Language Immersion Programs seem to be a
practical solution for several reasons. First of all, they address the issue of language deficits as
minority students are given time and opportunity to access curriculum through their primary
language while they develop cognitive academic proficiencies (Cummins, 1979) to build on
academic language in English. Through the use of the minority language in instruction, there is a
legitimization given to it, elevating its social status as a language of power (Valdez, 1997).
Secondly, the program integrates minority and mainstream students, eliminating the residential
and linguistic segregation from which minority students have historically suffered. With
mainstream students involved in a program that may have served a low-income population, it
gives the program a middle-class orientation with the resources and supports that typically come
with this group. It changes the program model from being remedial in nature to one that is
enrichment focused; an additive form of educational delivery instead of a subtractive one
(Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005). And finally, DLIPs have proven to be effective when
measuring achievement through standardized assessments (Valdez, 1997; Lindholm-Leary &
Block, 2010; Collier & Thomas, 2004; Howard, Christian, & Genesee, 2004). For both
mainstream and language-minority students, DLIPs create opportunities for achievement so
being a student from lower-socioeconomic means does not persistently equate lower
achievement levels (Valdez, 1997).
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 38
While Dual Language Immersion Programs accomplish many objectives as stated in the
above section, integrating language into a program is not sufficient by itself to address the
educational needs of linguistic-minority children (Snow, 1990; Valdez, 1997). Attention to a
high quality instructional model using the native language must be a priority. Sensitivity to
preconceived attitudes and feelings also need to be considered in promoting positive intergroup
relations, including the interactions school staff has with all students (Valdez, 1997). Also, the
expectations that are communicated indirectly through overenthusiastic praise sends unequal
messages about learning and the attainment of language when mainstream students are
applauded for their second language acquisition and language-minority students are simply
expected to learn English. This inequality in treatment diminishes the accomplishments of
language-minority students while over-inflating what mainstream students have achieved.
Furthermore, Valdez (1997) points out that administrators tend to highlight the merits of DLIPs
focusing on the economic and security benefits rather than the equal opportunities presented to
minority children, trying to gain the support of mainstream parents. Valdez (1997) warns that
bilingualism can be an advantage or disadvantage, depending on where on the hierarchy of
power that student resides.
While Dual Language Immersion Programs present many positive offerings to enrich
educational experiences for all children, it is important to take careful consideration to the needs
of language-minority children so that a program model meant to serve their needs does not
become one that perpetuates existing inequalities. The beneficiaries of the program must be
equitably represented from both groups of students so that the language goals of the program can
be realized (Valdez, 1997).
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 39
The achievement gap. In the United States, English Language Learners are
overrepresented among schools that are inadequately performing (August & Hakuta, 1998). The
disparity of achievement among minority students and their White peers is well documented
(Orfield, 2014). Language has been used to justify segregation in an era of desegregation and
integration (Valencia, 1991). Historically, ELLs were often separated into bilingual classrooms
where they were tracked as slow learners, vocational, and educationally mentally retarded
(EMR) (Valencia, 1991). The students in these classes received limited access to courses that
would prepare them for college, not only segregating them in secondary schools, but also in
determining their exclusion from higher education upon graduation. Suarez-Orozco, Suarez-
Orozco, and Todorva (2008) found that ELLs experienced intensely segregated school settings
that provided unequal educational environments, removed from their English-speaking peers.
Students were placed on divergent paths, essentially being put at risk by sorting paradigms in
schools, reinforcing the institutional inequity of education (August & Hakuta, 1998; Calderon &
Carreon, 2000). In studies of minorities and academic achievement (Ogbu, 1978), ethnic-
minority students were treated differently from their mainstream peers, at times due to language
issues, and these societal perceptions and influences contributed to the achievement or lack of
achievement of minority students and those of English Language Learners (August & Hakuta,
1998). As such, another purpose of DLIPs has been to serve as an alternative to remedy this
inequality.
In two related quantitative studies of Hispanic students in California, Lindholm-Leary
and Block (2010) looked at their standardized achievement scores and compared them to school
and statewide scores. Fourth through sixth grade Hispanic students of predominantly low-
socioeconomic status (SES) from four different schools and across three districts were selected.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 40
In the first study, Lindholm-Leary and Block (2010) sampled schools that met the criteria of
being 66% low-SES and 80% Hispanic. Additionally, students were included in the study if they
had been in the same educational setting, whether mainstream or dual language, for three years
prior to data collection. From three schools, 193 fourth and fifth graders participated in the study.
The second study included standardized test scores from 466 fourth through sixth grade students
from one school and who were also enrolled in a Dual Language Immersion Program. All of the
schools employed a 90:10 model of dual language immersion, meaning that starting in
Kindergarten, students in the program had 90% of their instruction in the target language, in this
case, Spanish, and 10% of their instruction in English. With each subsequent year in the
program, the percentage taught in Spanish decreased by 10% while the percentage taught in
English increased by 10% with the goal of their instructional day split equally by the fourth
grade. Prior to the study, the researchers hypothesized that both English proficient students and
those who are learning English who are enrolled in a DLIP would outperform their counterparts
who are not in this type of program.
Student achievement was measured by examining the passing rates on the California
Standards Test (CST) in both English Language Arts and Math. Additionally, the results of the
Aprenda, a Spanish norm-referenced achievement test in both language arts and math, which was
taken by students in DLIPs, was examined. The data showed that both English proficient
students enrolled in DLIPs outperformed English proficient students not enrolled in DLIPs, and
ELLs in DLIPs outperformed those ELLs not in DLIPs. In the second study, twice as many
students who were English proficient in DLIPs outscored those English proficient students not in
DLIPs. Looking at the results of the California Standards Test (CST) in language arts, the scores
increased more rapidly for ELLs in DLIPs than for English proficient students in DLIPs,
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 41
pointing to a closing of the achievement gap between these two groups while the gap between
ELLs and English proficient student not in DLIPs continued to widen. Second grade and fifth
grade CST scores from all groups of students were examined to look for the rate of increases on
the exam. It is evident from the data that ELLs in DLIPs had the most significant rate of
increased scores in English Language Arts than in all other groups with English proficient
students in DLIPs coming in second. As for math scores, English proficient students in DLIPs
increased their scores from second grade to fifth grade by 33.8 points compared to 4.5 of those
English proficient students in mainstream classes. For ELLs in DLIPs, they gained in math
scores by 40.6 points as opposed to mainstream ELLs who decreased in scores from second
grade to fifth grade by 12.4 points. Dual Language Immersion Programs can contribute to
students performing above grade level expectations in both English and Spanish and in
minimizing the achievement gap between Hispanic and non-Hispanic students (Lindholm-Leary
& Block, 2010).
In another study, Collier and Thomas (2004) conducted both quantitative and qualitative
analyses of Dual Language Immersion Programs across the country. Their longitudinal study of
18 years served three main purposes: (1) to analyze the variety of educational services that
address linguistically and culturally diverse students in public schools and the resulting academic
achievement of these students, (2) to use the findings to influence district practices, and (3) to
provide guidance for school districts to make policy decisions that are data-driven in the design,
implementation, evaluation, and reform when educating linguistically and culturally diverse
students. Their quantitative study involved the analysis of over 2 million records of linguistically
and culturally diverse students. The qualitative portion of their study encompassed examining
key documents collected over many years, interviewing central office administrators, school
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 42
board members, principals, teachers, and community members, and, finally, conducting school
visits and classroom observations.
From 1985 to 2004, Collier and Thomas (2004) analyzed long-term databases by school
districts, representing 23 large and small districts in 15 states in urban, suburban, and rural
contexts. Houston Independent School District (HISD) was the largest study site with 210,000
students, 54% of whom were Hispanic, 33% African American, 10% Euro American, and 75%
who were on free and reduced lunch programs. In contrast, two rural districts in Maine were
studied for their heritage programs. These two districts were located near the Canada border,
close to both French-speaking and English-speaking provinces.
The volumes of data collected revealed several key findings, which have policy and
program implications for addressing the needs of essentially all students but especially that of
ELLs whose needs have been consistently diminished or under prioritized through inappropriate
educational placements or poorly designed program models (Collier & Thomas, 2004; Theoharis
& O’Toole, 2011). The first key finding was that it took six to eight years for ELLs to reach
grade level proficiency in English (or the second language), and only one-way or two-way
enrichment dual language programs have closed the gap in this length of time (Collier &
Thomas, 2004). Both one-way and two-way bilingual programs have led to grade-level and
above grade-level achievement in the second language, in large part due to being instructed in a
high quality enrichment program that taught the core curriculum in both students’ primary and
target languages (Collier & Thomas, 2004). Another key finding was that those involved in Dual
Language Immersion Programs felt as though they were a part of something special (Collier &
Thomas, 2004). Teachers noticed less behavior problems in class because students were
responsive and engaged in lessons. Finally, the principal of the school was found to be an
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 43
essential factor in the success and sustainability of the program, according to the researchers
(Collier & Thomas, 2004), which will be discussed more in detail in the next section.
Other policy and program implications call for inclusive educational settings, ones that
focus on high-quality curriculum content while providing appropriate supports for ELLs as they
learn English (Collier & Thomas, 2004). Furthermore, by using collaborative and interactive
teaching methods, content that is cognitively challenging should be taught in both languages with
the target language being used for at least 50% of the day. The difference between lower-
performing dual language programs and the higher-performing ones was that in the lower-
achieving programs, ELLs were separated from their English speaking peers for up to two hours
a day during their English language block. Isolation of ELLs was found to be less effective in
closing the achievement gap between the two groups of students (Collier & Thomas, 2004).
Also, while ELLs strive to acquire English, they should be assessed in their native language to
measure their true abilities of content acquisition not language acquisition. The one-way and
two-way dual language enrichment models have been shown to significantly close the
achievement gap in the second language and elevate outcomes for students typically below grade
level. Students in TWI programs outperformed their peers who were taught in only one language
after 4-7 years. The findings from this study are also supported by previous research conducted
by Collier (1989, 1992, 1995), Collier and Thomas (1989, 1999, 2002), Thomas and Collier
(1997, 1999, 2002, 2003), Calderon and Minaya-Rowe (2003), Cloud, Genesee, and Hamayan
(2003), Freeman (1998), Howard and Christian (2002), Lindholm-Leary (2000, 2001), Montone
and Loeb (2000).
Howard, Christian, and Genesee (2004) also conducted a longitudinal quantitative study
similar to that of the Collier and Thomas’ (2004) study but with writing as a focus. The
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 44
researchers decided to concentrate on writing primarily because of the lack of studies done in its
role within literacy development as well as the convenient nature of collecting student writing
samples and the possibility to score them using a single rubric. The research questions that
guided the study were: (1) What levels of English and Spanish writing, reading, and oral
language proficiency do two-way immersion (TWI) students achieve by the end of fifth grade,
and do those differ by native language? (2) On average, what type of growth in English and
Spanish writing, reading, and oral language proficiency do TWI students experience from third
to fifth grade, and does that growth differ by native language? (3) Within each domain of
writing, reading, and oral language, what are the relationships between performance in English
and performance in Spanish, and do those relationships differ by native language?
A total of twelve TWI programs were selected with eleven schools that remained in the
study for the full three-year period. Consent forms were given to all third graders in the twelve
Spanish/English TWI programs with 98% of the students returning the consent forms, but only
those who had been enrolled since the first grade and remained through the completion of fifth
grade were part of the study (Howard, Christian, & Genesee, 2004). Out of 344 students in the
sample, 58% were girls, and the majority of Spanish speakers (79%) were in the free/reduced
lunch program.
Data collection involved collecting narrative writing samples three times a year in
October, February, and May for three years. Memos were sent to all participating teachers before
each data collection period to remind them of appropriate classroom conditions and procedures
for data collection. Samples were collected in both English and Spanish with student names
removed by a project coordinator and substituted with codes for student anonymity. Once a year
in the study period, veteran two-way immersion teachers, who were trained by researchers from
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 45
the Center for Applied Linguistics, scored the writing samples using a rubric that could be
applied for grades 3-5 with both English and Spanish writing samples. The rubric included three
components of writing: composition, grammar, and mechanics. Additionally, reading
comprehension was measured twice, at the beginning of third grade and at the end of fifth grade,
with a multiple-choice assessment. Oral proficiency was also tested, but due to its prohibitive,
time-consuming structure, only a sub-sample of 24 students from each program (or a total of
264) participated in this assessment. Students were interviewed in pairs by similar abilities in
Spanish and English for 15 minutes. Their oral proficiency levels were also measured on a rubric
designed by researchers from the Center for Applied Linguistics. All of the data was summarized
with descriptive statistics.
The study yielded several key findings in understanding how students were learning and
achieving in TWI programs. First off, while the gap between native English speakers and
Spanish speakers was narrowed in English writing, it was not eliminated. The mean scores of the
English speakers were always higher than that of the Spanish speakers. This finding is
substantiated and echoed in other studies examining the relationship between achievement and
socio-economic status in TWI programs (Lindholm-Leary, 2001; Thomas & Collier, 2002). In
writing Spanish, the English speakers demonstrated more growth from third through fifth grades
than the Spanish speakers, which the researchers attributed to the English speakers starting from
a lower ability level. There was also a strong relationship between the native language and
achievement, which the researchers called “the native language effect” (Howard, Christian, &
Genesee, 2004, p. 17). The development of writing ability in one language clearly affected the
writing ability in the other language. The study also uncovered how Spanish speakers seemed to
demonstrate a balanced ability to write in both languages, whereas the English speakers were
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 46
more dominant in English. This discrepancy between the two groups of students could be
explained by the amount of exposure to English the Spanish speakers have over the English
speakers being exposed to Spanish especially outside of the instructional environment in
informal settings. The results of the reading assessment in English indicated students receiving
perfect or near perfect scores on their grade-level tests by fifth grade, which is consistent with
previous studies of TWI students showing significant academic achievement and English literacy
proficiency after being in the program for several years (Howard, Christian, & Genesee, 2004;
Lindholm-Leary, 2001; Thomas & Collier, 2002). Oral language assessments revealed Spanish
speakers were developing their skills better than English speaking students, who do not have as
many opportunities to practice Spanish outside of school, resulting in Spanish speakers
performing similarly to English speakers in English, but English speakers performing
considerably lower than Spanish speakers on Spanish tests. In reading and writing tasks, native
Spanish speakers performed lower than native English speakers on English tasks while the native
English speakers performed similarly to the native Spanish speakers on Spanish tasks. Howard,
Christian, and Genesee related this finding to socioeconomic influences on literacy development,
which advantages native English speakers. Overall, while there may be differences between
English and Spanish speakers in the rate of acquiring proficiency in the two languages, external
factors must be recognized as influences on student achievement. Increasing opportunities for
native Spanish speaking students to gain literacy skills and for native English speaking students
to practice and develop their oral proficiency in Spanish will move students toward true
bilingualism.
Conclusion. The purposes of Dual Language Immersion Programs are two-fold: to
increase language proficiency for both Native English speakers and students whose native
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 47
language is not English, and to minimize and eliminate the achievement gap that has persisted
between these two groups. The cognitive benefits of DLIPs are many, namely reading at or
above grade level (Lindholm-Leary & Block, 2005; Thomas & Collier, 2002) as measured by
state-wide assessments and learning content standards taught in two different languages under an
instructionally sound delivery model. Language is used as a means to provide access to a quality
curriculum by simultaneously using an additive approach to instruction, holding high
expectations for all students, and intentionally creating heterogeneous classes where native- and
non-native English speakers can interact and learn from one another as language models.
Components of Successful Dual Language Immersion Programs
This section will explore the many components that make up successful Dual Language
Immersion Programs. The components will be important to review as this study aspires to
examine how principals support and sustain Dual Language Immersion Programs. Identifying the
components will explain all of the interconnected facets of this kind of program and the
principal’s degree of involvement in each of them. Based on previous studies reviewed by
Lindholm-Leary (2005) and August and Hakuta (1998), “best practices” of DLIPs and attributes
of effective schools that serve ELLs will be highlighted respectively. Additionally, I will feature
the work of Alanis and Rodriguez (2008) who studied the effective practices of one DLIP at an
elementary school that sustained a thriving program for over a decade.
Program criteria. In her review of research and what authors call “best practices” of
effective Dual Language Immersion Programs, Lindholm-Leary (2005) focused on the
characteristics of programs or schools that effectively promoted language proficiency and the
achievement of ELL students. She did not specify how many schools were studied to identify the
best practices. Effective programs were defined as those that were successful in promoting
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 48
academic achievement or other areas of positive school behaviors such as attendance and
motivation in ELLs. She outlined seven key features of effective programs (1) assessment and
accountability; (2) curriculum; (3) instructional practices (including language input and
balancing the needs of both language groups during instruction); (4) staff quality and
professional development; (5) program structure (including vision and goals on bilingualism,
biliteracy, and multiculturalism; ensuring equity and a positive school environment; effective
leadership; and ongoing, continuous program planning); (6) family and community involvement;
and (7) support from district and site administrators as well as from families and communities.
Lindholm-Leary (2005) points out that assessment and accountability emphasize teaching
to high standards measured by valid and reliable measures that look at students’ progress toward
both language goals and content-driven goals. Effective programs also have curricula that are
meaningful, academically challenging, incorporating higher order thinking skills, and are
thematically integrated. Instructional practices center on positive interactions between teachers
and students, extensive interactions among native and non-native speakers, and social equity. In
effective programs, teachers are acutely aware of language input strategies that are adjusted for
accessibility without compromising a quality, challenging curriculum (Lindholm-Leary, 2005).
As for staff quality, it is important for teachers in DLIPs to have native or native-like language
proficiency, but, additionally, teachers must possess the characteristics that are distinctive of
successful instructors such as strong content knowledge, use of technology, pedagogical
strategies, assessment, and reflection on one’s own practice (Darling-Hammond, 1998;
Lindholm-Leary, 2005). Ongoing professional development in addressing language acquisition
and the pedagogy necessary to address students’ needs is also important to emphasize. As
minorities, especially those from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, have typically been held to
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 49
lower standards than non-minority students, adjusting teacher expectations to be aligned to the
goals of the program through professional development is vital to the success of the program
(Lindholm-Leary, 2005). Establishing a unified vision for the program and an equitable, positive
school environment will create a setting where students in DLIPs can thrive. The principal or a
designated leader must be the main advocate for the program, acting as a liaison, helping with
the planning and coordination, and facilitating staff cohesion and collaboration, all the while
ensuring that training and resources are addressing the program’s goals. Program articulation by
grade-levels and in cooperation with the entire school is necessary so that the curriculum is not
disjointed and dependent on individual teacher preferences. Another feature of effective
programs is the high level of family and community involvement. A school environment that
values all languages and families from diverse backgrounds encourages active participation and
collaboration with the school, which will, in turn, promote academic success for all students.
Lastly, having a firm support structure of district administrators, site leadership, teachers and
staff, and community is essential to the health and longevity of the program. Financial and
instructional resources require the support of the district, but other areas such as building respect
and understanding for bilingual education, training parents, and supporting the goals and vision
of the program need to come from strong site administration. The principal often must act as the
main advocate who brings needed attention and resources to the program, working closely with
the other major stakeholders: district administration, community, staff, and parents.
August and Hakuta (1998) analyzed the findings of 33 different empirical studies that
aimed to distinguish factors in schools and classrooms related to English Language Learners and
achievement. The 33 studies were heterogeneous, including at least four different types of
designs: (1) effective school design, (2) nominated school design, (3) prospective case studies,
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 50
and (4) quasi-experimental design. The studies all spanned from single-classroom and school
studies to nine exemplary programs totaling 39 schools. August and Hakuta (1998) generated
thirteen attributes of effective schools and classrooms based on their analyses. Effectiveness was
determined based on achievement data and student outcomes but further explanation was not
provided. The thirteen attributes include (1) supportive school-wide climate; (2) school
leadership; (3) customized learning environment; (4) articulation and coordination within and
between schools; (5) use of native language and culture; (6) balanced curriculum; (7) explicit
skills instruction; (8) opportunities for student-directed activities; (9) instructional strategies that
enhance understanding; (10) opportunities for practice; (11) systematic student assessment; (12)
staff development; (13) home and parent involvement. While this list is not specific to the DLIP,
it is relevant to acknowledge especially as one of the purposes of DLIPs is to essentially meet the
needs of English Language Learners and create accessibility for overall student achievement.
Effective schools and classrooms, according to August and Hakuta (1998) exhibit the
following characteristics explained in this section. First, a supportive school-wide climate brings
attention to three main areas: (1) placing value on the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of
English Language Learners, (2) holding high expectations for their academic achievement, and
(3) their involvement in school. Second, school-level leadership, demonstrated by the principal
or teacher-leaders, is a key factor in effectively educating ELLs. Third, effective schools also
tailor the learning environment to the specific needs of their student populations and the goals
they have set for them. Fourth, there is a coordinated effort within and between schools with a
collaborative mindset to designate appropriate instructional strategies and programs. Fifth,
students’ native languages are perceived as a resource, used to clarify and elaborate learning
done in English. Students’ home languages and cultures are valued and not seen as an area to be
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 51
remediated. Within effective schools, there is evidence of a balanced curriculum and explicit
teaching of skills such as decoding and comprehension strategies like summarization and
prediction. Students are engaged in cooperative learning, and teachers who are well-versed in
instructing ELLs understand the scaffolds that are necessary to make the curriculum accessible to
students by providing background knowledge, visual aids, and focusing on English vocabulary
and structure. There are ample opportunities to practice skills and concepts orally and in writing.
Schools also continually use assessment to inform their practices and determine adjustments to
serve students’ needs as these change over time. Similarly, staff development is also ongoing to
ensure that teachers have the knowledge and skills to appropriately address the needs of their
ELLs. Finally, the connection parents have with the school community is a significant factor in
contributing positive outcomes for students. Establishing an effective school for ELLs is a
complex process that requires the coordination of many people invested in the work from
leaders, teachers, and staff to parents and the students alike.
In another study, Alanis and Rodriguez (2008) used Lindholm-Leary’s (2001) seven
critical features of successful Dual Language Immersion Programs to frame their research
exploring different factors that contributed to the success and sustainability of a DLIP in an inner
city, diverse campus. The research questions that informed their study were: (1) To what extent
has participation in the program contributed to students’ academic outcomes? and (2) What
factors contributed to the sustainability of the Dual Language program at City Elementary? To
gather data, Alanis and Rodriguez (2008) conducted site visits and non-participant observations,
taped and transcribed interviews of key personnel, and analyzed data from the fifth grade English
Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) in reading, mathematics, and science.
Through purposeful sampling, staff members selected for the case study comprised of ten dual
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 52
language teachers and a principal. The principal and two of the ten teachers were identified as
being part of the team that originally implemented the program over ten years ago. Data in the
form of interview transcripts, field notes, and documents were coded for themes and patterns to
arrive at comparisons and contrasts to determine conceptual explanations (Miles & Huberman,
1984; Alanis & Rodriguez, 2008). The field notes documented classroom practices, instructional
strategies, and cooperative learning groups. TAKS data was analyzed and compared against
accountability standards, while qualitative data was analyzed descriptively. In the study, City
Elementary implemented a 90:10 model of the Dual Language Immersion Program where
students who enter Kindergarten receive instruction in the target language, in this case, Spanish,
for 90% of their day while English is used for instruction 10% of the time. Each subsequent year,
10% is reduced in Spanish and added to instruction in English until it balances out by fourth
grade where both languages are evenly distributed at 50%. While the ideal ratio of students in
one classroom is made up of 50% Spanish speakers and 50% English speakers, the program had
operated smoothly with slightly lower numbers, not to fall below 30% of one student population.
Several important findings emerged from this study. First of all, the amount of time spent
in a DLIP was positively correlated with student academic achievement. The most influential
factor in predicting achievement for ELLs was the amount of instruction the student was given in
his/her native language. Students at City Elementary demonstrated significant success on the
English TAKS exam, outscoring those in the state and district levels, minus one year in 2001.
Considering students received the majority of their instruction in Spanish until the third grade,
the scores exemplify the effectiveness of content delivery done in students’ native languages and
dual languages.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 53
Four factors have been identified as contributing to the success as measured against the
aforementioned criteria based on the work of Lindholm-Leary (2001) and sustainability of the
dual language program at City Elementary: (1) pedagogy equity, (2) effective bilingual teachers,
(3) active parent participation, and (4) knowledgeable leadership and continuity. The program
maintained high expectations and presented rigorous content standards while promoting the
equal status of both languages through heterogeneous grouping, peer mediated instruction, and
academic conversations held among students. Teachers met regularly to align and adjust their
curriculum, working in cooperation with one another to build a positive social and academic
environment. They valued the idea of actively engaging students in their learning, endorsing
project-based learning, an integrated curriculum, and continuously restructured groups within
classes to maximize the acquisition of language and content. Parent involvement was high at
City Elementary. From volunteering in classrooms to building the belief in the benefits of
bilingualism and biculturalism, parents facilitated the learning process to continue outside of
school. Moreover, regular parent meetings with the school allowed issues and strategies to be
discussed to increase literacy, and parents also participated in continuing education to increase
their own knowledge as the expectation for program participation was extended beyond the
students. The last factor to impact the success of this dual language program is the principal of
the school, which will be further explained in the following section on administrative leadership.
All four factors must work in harmony for the program to thrive, as this school had for 13 years.
In all three studies, several overlapping components are mentioned as being needed for
successful Dual Language Immersion Programs and effective schools: (1) a focus on high-
quality curriculum and instructional practices, (2) ongoing professional development, (3) a
positive and inclusive school climate, (4) parent and community involvement, and (5) effective
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 54
leadership. It is important to keep these elements in mind as principals cannot lead effective
programs if they are not attending to the entire school at large. An effective program will have a
difficult time thriving in a struggling school.
Administrative leadership. Efforts to effectively address the needs of ELLs cannot be
accomplished without strong leadership in schools (August & Hakuta, 1998). School leaders
today must embrace diversity and work with students and families who come from different
cultures, attitudes, and approaches to education (Aguirre-Baeza, 2001). To promote inclusive
practices in schools, administrators can support forms of teaching and learning that allow
students of diverse backgrounds to succeed (Riehl, 2000). Leaders of Dual Language Immersion
Programs need to be especially strong advocates of multicultural education and need to be
sensitive to minority issues, sharing their vision with the entire school community (Aguirre-
Baeza, 2001). While leaders of traditional programs must also be attuned to the needs of diverse
learners and the experiences they bring to schools, leaders of DLIPs must be ever more
thoughtful as they work to deliberately bring students and families from different backgrounds
together. This section focuses on the leadership component of DLIPs given the focus of this
dissertation.
In a previously mentioned study by Calderon and Carreon (2000), the role of the
principal and the results that followed upon implementation of the two-way bilingual program
was examined. While school-level leadership is important for effective schools (Hargreaves,
1997; Fullan, 2001; Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005), given the complexity of schools with
two-way programs, strong leadership is indispensible (Calderon & Carreon, 2000). Principals are
called to be change agents, instructional leaders, and supervisors adept at managing racial
tension, historical inequities, and attitudes that have been established for years (Calderon &
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 55
Carreon, 2000). Of the two initial schools that started a DLIP, one of them had a principal who
attended every professional development session and participated in two semesters of
coursework at a local university. Her school made the greatest gains in student achievement
(Calderon & Carreon, 2000). The other school had a struggling program plagued with declining
achievement scores and unhappy staff and parents who wanted to leave the program and/or
school (Calderon & Carreon, 2000). In contrast to the first principal described, this principal did
not attend any training sessions, and thus was unable to understand the components or purpose of
the program (Calderon & Carreon, 2000). He could not advocate for what he did not know, and
as a result, the program withered away with student achievement scores among the lowest in the
district (Calderon & Carreon, 2000). For two-way bilingual programs to survive and grow, a
principal must stand behind it and be invested in the work (Calderon & Carreon, 2000).
In their 18-year longitudinal study of examining national data from 23 school districts,
Collier and Thomas (2004) found that principals were instrumental in closing the achievement
gap and increasing the academic progress by hiring high-quality teachers, providing ongoing
staff development and planning time, creating community partnerships, and by overseeing
program implementation and evaluation all of which impact student achievement. A principal’s
commitment to the vision of the program requires sensitivity to culturally and linguistically
diverse learners and a willingness to persevere through implementation to provide an enrichment
model of education that contributes to student achievement.
In the study by Alanis and Rodriguez (2008), the principal demonstrated possessing a
deep understanding of the program acquired over the years by reading research articles, attending
trainings, visiting other dual language programs, and drawing on the expertise of local university
faculty to get questions answers or do staff development. Additionally, through the principal’s
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 56
knowledge and commitment to the program, she was instrumental in hiring qualified bilingual
staff members, nurturing its growth, and building leaders among her teaching staff to see to its
success. While teachers were instrumental in ensuring that appropriate pedagogical practices
were used in the classroom to create a rich learning environment that underscores the importance
of content and language, the principal created the conditions for this to happen as the advocate
for teachers, students, biliteracy, and the goals of the program.
In another study, Victoria Hunt (2011) examined the roles of principals and teachers in
the way they supported and promoted bilingualism in Dual Language Immersion Programs in
three elementary schools in New York City, chosen for serving students in both Spanish and
English. Hunt rationalized how choosing three cases instead of two avoids comparisons between
schools and, instead, provides an opportunity to conduct in-depth studies at each site for
triangulation purposes (Hunt, 2011; Merriam, 1998). Hunt (2011) drew on theories regarding
linguistic and cultural diversity (Brisk, 1998; Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005; Zentella,
2005; Miramontes, Nadeau, & Commins, 1997), collective leadership (Goodlad, 1996; Senge et
al., 2000; Teleford, 1996); and culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1994). Using a
qualitative comparative case study approach, Hunt (2011) collected data from the 2006-2007
school year. The research questions that informed her study were: (1) How essential is the role of
school leadership in both developing and sustaining effective bilingual education programs? and
(2) What are the corresponding leadership structures in three well-established dual language
programs in New York City? The programs were defined as well-established by having been in
existence for ten years or more.
She purposefully selected three principals of three different dual language programs all
with a Spanish/English focus in New York City. Each principal was shadowed for an entire week
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 57
from the moment she arrived at the school till the time she left for the day. Field notes were
taken to record the way each principal worked with the staff and made decisions. Principals were
also interviewed three times during the year of the study (beginning, following the week of being
shadowed, and the end of the year). Other leaders, such as literacy coaches and assistant
principals, were also interviewed. Five or six teachers from each school (three total) were
interviewed as well. Thirty-four interviews in total were conducted. Field notes were also written
at professional development meetings and informal settings where administrators and teachers
were gathered together for activities.
The entirety of transcripts, field notes, summaries, and memos were analyzed to identify
themes. By coding data for themes and sub-themes, patterns across sites emerged. All data points
were combed to confirm and support the emerging themes (Bogdan & Biklen, 2003). From the
data, four prominent themes surfaced. The first was that the principal and staff shared a unified
mission. The mission was not a stagnant message posted on the walls of the school. Instead, it
was a consistent, embraced value and force that drove the principals and teachers to make
informed decisions toward a collective goal (Hunt, 2011). The data revealed a consistency with
which staff members articulated the goal of the Dual Language Immersion Program, to promote
“bilingual and biliterate children with a sense of pride in being bilingual.” The second emergent
theme was in the area of practiced collaboration and shared leadership that provided a support
structure for the entire staff. Using interview and observation data, Hunt (2011) explained that
while all of the principals had a different management style, all of them believed in working with
their teachers in distributive leadership. Teachers shared the responsibility with the principal in
managing the school and educating the students all built on the premise of considering others’
perspectives in decision-making. Principals also invited teachers to take an active part in thinking
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 58
of possible solutions and not just in identifying the problems typically directed at the principal to
solve. The third theme was the importance of principals operating with respect and trust when
interacting with staff, allowing them to contribute positively to the program. Interview data
showed how one principal encouraged her teachers’ participation and how she created
opportunities for them based on their strengths. Teachers felt trusted to state their opinions, offer
suggestions and solutions, and offer input to better the program. Finally, the fourth theme of
Hunt’s study focused on the dual language model being a flexible process that encourages input
from all stakeholders to find solutions. While all three programs in the study defined their non-
negotiable elements such as language separation, Spanish to be used to address at least 50% of
the curriculum, and expectations for students to become biliterate and bicultural per their school
mission statements, a measure of flexibility was embedded to bring about continued
improvement to the programs. Where this was evident was in how much of the curriculum was
taught in Spanish in the different grade levels and also to consider the learning needs of
individuals.
Fullan (2005) stated that distributive leadership structures move beyond any one
individual to become a shared responsibility. Collaborative leadership involves the relationship
between the principal and teachers as well as among the teachers (Drago-Severson, 2004) to
transform schools into dynamic learning communities that advocate for a positive environment,
collaborative leadership, and the sustainability of an organization. Having a single-minded
objective, sharing leadership responsibilities, and having trust and flexibility in interacting with
others and making decisions was key to a successful program. A couple of limitations of the
study were that it concentrated in three Dual Language Immersion Schools, focusing only in
Spanish. Other languages that are not as widely spoken as Spanish were not examined. Also, the
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 59
study was contained to public schools in New York City, a large, urban area that is not reflective
of the different types of schools and their make up across the nation.
In another study, Theoharis and O’Toole (2011) sought to understand how important
leadership is in building socially just schools for ELLs. While the leaders highlighted in this
study did not implement a dual language immersion model of delivery to address the needs of
their English Language Learners, they were intentional in their approach in designating language
instruction within a mainstream educational setting that did not rely on students being pulled-out
or separated from their English speaking peers. They conducted their collective case study
(Creswell, 2002) with two driving questions: (1) In what ways do principals create asset-based,
collaborative, and inclusive learning opportunities and services for ELLs? and (2) What do
varying approaches and the leadership necessary for asset-based, collaborative, and inclusive
programming for ELLs look like in practice?
Through purposeful sampling (Bogdan & Biklen, 1998; Maxwell, 2013), they studied
two elementary schools that transformed their ELL instructional models from pullout programs
to inclusive ones for six years, three years at each site from 1998 to 2003. Principals selected for
the study were nominated by both university faculty from a school of education and by district
administrators (Theoharis & O’Toole, 2011). The principals were nominated and, eventually,
selected based on their knowledge and practices regarding equity, inclusion, and English as a
Second Language (ESL) Programs.
Data was collected through multiple forms: interviews of principals, classroom
observations on a weekly basis, field logs, document review, and interviews conducted in focus
groups comprised of teachers and staff. Observations were also conducted at several meetings:
faculty, parent, school improvement, district administration, and professional development. Data
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 60
was analyzed using the constant comparative method and both deductive and inductive coding
methods (Strauss & Corbin, 1998; Bogdan & Biklen, 1998; Theoharis & O’Toole, 2011).
Although both principals were familiar with Dual Language Immersion Programs and
interested in implementing a type of bilingual program at their schools, their district had not
prepared to begin this process at the time of the study. Instead, the two principals in the study of
the two elementary schools from the same district concentrated on creating and sustaining an
inclusive model for English as a Second Language instruction, one that clearly distinguished
itself from the fragmented instruction and responsibility in traditional pullout programs that were
found to be instructionally ineffective (Thomas & Collier, 2002).
In one school, the principal created a dynamic professional learning environment
specifically in the area of ELL by providing ESL certification classes taught by a local university
professor and by engaging the staff in continuous, ongoing discussions at staff meetings around
issues involving language, race, and culture. The principal not only provided professional
learning opportunities to encompass the teaching staff, but it also included the office staff,
custodians, instructional aides so they, too, could be involved in the building of common
knowledge and language surrounding ELLs. With great efforts to restructure the teaching staff
by hiring and recruiting purposefully, the principal reduced class sizes for all students,
integrating ELLs with their general education classmates so that they could receive targeted
instruction within their classes by teachers dually certified to teach elementary and ESL. This
principal also established methods for collecting documentation and achievement data on her
ELLs by having a portfolio created for every child at the school with assessment data collected
three times a year that were aligned to state and local standards. The portfolios not only served as
ways to promote a sense of responsibility for each child but they were also used for professional
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 61
development and ongoing teacher conversations around instructional choices and curriculum
design. Bilingual instructional aides were also deployed in each of the classrooms to support the
ELLs in their primary languages. The principal also readily embraced the cultures of all three
dominant groups at the school (Hmong, Spanish, and English) and urged all students to count
numbers in the different languages. The school song incorporated verses in all three languages,
and all students were encouraged to sing in the languages presented.
In addition to the instructional reform that took place, a parent empowerment group was
established in response to Latino and Hmong parents expressing their desire to become more
involved and informed at the school. The principal consistently attended those meetings even
amidst dissention from non-minority parents that the meetings promoted exclusion and
segregation among families. Operating under a broader definition of inclusion, the principal and
staff created pathways for all families to feel heard and connected to the school through authentic
interactions.
The principal of the other elementary school decided to create a collaborative teaching
model to address the needs of their ELLs by having classroom teachers partner up with ESL
teachers. By eliminating the fragmented instructional structure where students go from classroom
to classroom with no communication or coherence between teachers, students became the shared
responsibility of both teachers. The principal provided time for the partner teachers to plan and
collaborate with one another in addition to providing professional learning opportunities in the
areas of literacy, differentiation, collaboration, and math with the intention of delivering the
instruction together, albeit in different settings, to all learners. This partnership between teachers
and paraprofessionals (ESL teachers) surfaced professional disagreements and differences in
instructional decisions, essentially stirring up conflict in the process of planning and teaching.
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The principal had to initially mediate conflicts between partners and, eventually, chose to hire a
collaboration facilitator to help with the co-teaching approach.
This study highlights critical aspects of serving student needs appropriately and
equitably. Both principals promoted a safe and nurturing environment for ELLs to gain full
access to the curriculum based on asset-based orientations (Crawford, 2004; Theoharis &
O’Toole, 2011). They not only embodied the qualities of strong leadership such as possessing the
knowledge and skills to communicate with stakeholders, but they also felt a deep sense of
responsibility and urgency to ensure their ELLs were receiving a high-quality, inclusive
education. These leaders were the champions of this vision that included ELLs in the schools’
larger agenda and worked with their staffs to share their vision as a team. By applying their
asset-based beliefs, knowledge, and skills to creating equitably rich learning environments for
the ELLs at their schools, principals saw the achievement scores of their ELLs rise and the
confidence of their students, staff, and families increase.
Summary
Dual Language Immersion Programs demonstrate promise to democratize education for
students, especially those who have been marginalized by linguistic and socioeconomic
measures. When the programs are designed with the essential features for success (Lindholm-
Leary, 2005) such as a focus on staff quality and professional development while having a vision
for bilingualism, biliteracy, and multiculturalism under the guidance of effective leadership,
students can attain both language and academic achievement beyond traditional expectations.
Dual Language Immersion Programs, which concentrate on an enrichment, additive model, can
be a powerful platform for English Language Learners to be given equal access to the curriculum
and experiences that enhance learning, typically reserved for mainstream, English-only students
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 63
(Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005). In designing and maintaining the program, there must be
consideration for the unique needs of ELLs (Bearse & deJong, 2008). It is through strong
administrative leadership that a culture of inclusion for students and families is established,
creating a positive school climate that will ultimately benefit all students but especially those of
English Language Learners (Hunt, 2011; Theoharis & O’Toole, 2011).
Leadership
As discussed above, leadership is vital for a thriving school community where employees
can effectively do their jobs and where students are supported and challenged according to their
needs in safe, inclusive environments (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005). While there are
many different types of leadership such as transactional, servant, and authentic leadership
(Northouse, 2013), in this section of the literature review, I will highlight three specific types and
aspects of leadership that are necessary to bring about positive change and growth in schools: (1)
transformational leadership, (2) instructional leadership, and (3) sensitivity to diverse student
populations. Understanding these leadership practices is important to this study as I will be
examining the work that principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs (DLIPs) do to
support and sustain the programs as well as how they promote biliteracy and biculturalism at
their schools. Studying the leadership of principals is essential for its profound effects in creating
a culture and community that supports learning, which can indirectly impact student achievement
(Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005).
Transformational Leadership
Principals of schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs are on the front lines of
innovation, challenging traditional practices of how standards are taught, changing the ways
students receive instruction and how staff and students interact (Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri,
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 64
2005). Not everyone in the school community welcomes efforts to alter these practices especially
if they clash with their own agendas or with what they find familiar. Teachers and parents not
affiliated with the DLIP at the school may also be indifferent or antagonistic to the program’s
objectives, creating conflict over perceived inequities. Miramontes, Nadeau, and Commins
(1997) state that “[i]n order for school reform efforts to be successful, educators must understand
how to include all students, weigh program choices, and anticipate and evaluate the
consequences of particular decisions. This means recognizing both the external sociopolitical
context and the internal pressures that affect how programs function (p. 9).” For this reason,
principals of DLIPs must embody the qualities of transformative leaders, those who call for
using differences of opinion, hostility, and tension in the institution as a force for motivating
others, promoting growth and constructive change (Slaughter, 2012).
Leadership can be defined in many ways, but one consistent thread is the idea of having a
motivated following from others. James MacGregor Burns (1978) illustrates transformational
leadership as “leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the
motivations of both leaders and followers” (p. 19). The definition of a good leader, as defined by
John Slaughter (2012), is “one who demonstrates the capacity to bring about positive change
through the effective employment of people, capital, and material resources, and who has
followers” (p. 85). And Northouse (2013) echoes these ideas by defining leadership as “a process
that is not a trait or characteristic that resides in the leader, but rather a transactional event that
occurs between the leader and followers” (p. 5). Without followers of a vision, purpose, and
work goals, there can be no leadership. The careful cultivation of this relationship between leader
and followers is an important aspect of transformational leadership.
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According to Slaughter (2012), the difference between management and leadership is that
“managers do things right while leaders do the right things” (p. 85). In order to bring about
positive and necessary change, leadership is required to act as a catalyst. Transformational
leadership is concerned with the collective good, raising both the morality and motivation of all
of the individuals in the organization (Northouse, 2013).
Kouzes and Posner (2002) developed a model of leadership based on researching over
1,300 managers of organizations in both the public and private sectors. Their model involves
leaders engaging in five key practices. The first practice of leaders is to model the way by being
clear about their values and commitments through setting an example for others. The second
practice is to create a compelling vision and dream that can inspire, challenge, and guide others
in the organization. Third, leaders challenge the process by their willingness to innovate, grow,
and constantly improve. They are risk takers and learn from their mistakes in the effort to make
things better. Effective leaders also work with others through teamwork and collaboration. They
listen to different ideas and perspectives, treating others with respect by supporting their choices.
Lastly, leaders readily encourage others through praise, appreciation, and recognition. Kouzes
and Posner (2002) emphasize the practice of leadership rather than possessing a certain
personality. Transformational leadership is less about charisma and more about actions.
Bass (1985) argues that transformational leaders motivate others by raising the
importance and value of collective goals, having everyone place the goals of the organization
before individual ones, and move followers to address higher level needs. Transformative
leadership inspires meaningful, sustainable, and positive change and, at the same time,
understands the interconnected relationship between equity and excellence.
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Advocates of equity and adequacy. Education in the United States has historically
marginalized students of minority and low-socioeconomic backgrounds (Orfield, Kucser &
Siegel-Hawley, 2012). Instead of focusing on educational equality, which means equal treatment
for all students that has not resulted in equal outcomes, transformational leaders concentrate on
equity and adequacy as a compass for directing their school’s vision. Equity has been defined as
students receiving the funding, time, and instruction they need to meet achievement goals
(Arriaza & Henze, 2012). Equity focuses on leveling inequities in resources needed to provide
equal educational opportunities for all students, regardless of individual or community
disadvantages. Equity prioritizes the inputs needed so all students have access to needed
resources to meet performance standards. Adequacy addresses the level of resources schools
need to make substantial improvements in student performance and progress (Odden, Picus &
Goetz, 2010). Those with an equity and adequacy mindset structure financial resources and
necessary inputs to support and increase student achievement.
In California, the state government enacted major changes in the 2013-2014 school year
to the way schools were financed by creating the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF),
moving away from a financing system that had existed for 40 years (retrieved from
http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/lc/lcffoverview.asp, May 5, 2016). LCFF established base,
supplemental, and concentration grants, allocating funds based on ADA (average daily
attendance), the number of targeted disadvantaged students, and an additional grant not to exceed
50 percent of the adjusted base grant multiplied by ADA and the percentage of targeted students
exceeding 55 percent of the local educational agency’s enrollment (retrieved from
http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/lc/lcffoverview.asp, May 5, 2016). By intervening on behalf of
underperforming districts, the distribution of state funds has been decentralized to allocate
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 67
targeted monies to those who most need it based on decades of research on school funding
(Fuller & Tobben, 2014). Advocating for equity and adequacy does not only address raising
expectations for all students to achieve and reach their potential, but it is also a fight to keep
democracy alive in our country by not preventing certain student populations from succeeding.
Transformative leaders are the forefront of this mission and struggle as they act as empowered
change agents in schools (Arriaza & Henze, 2012). Dual Language Immersion Programs rely on
transformational leaders who make decisions based on the values of inclusivity, the use of
diverse educational approaches to ensure full social and academic participation in schools, and
connecting families and their involvement in schools in innovative ways (Theodaris & O’Toole,
2011; August & Hakuta, 1998; McLaughlin & McLeod, 1996).
Agents of change. Traditional models of leadership have relied on administrators
functioning in a managerial role, overseeing their organizations with efficiency through
centralized, corporate decision-making processes (Arriaza & Henze, 2012). Whereas
transactional leadership focuses on the exchanges that occur between leaders and followers,
transformational leaders are concerned with improving the performance of followers and
developing them to their full potential (Avolio, 1999). In the age of No Child Left Behind (2002)
legislation and the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015), complacent forms of leadership that only
maintain the status quo cannot survive the demands of what schools and students need today.
Transformative leadership calls upon school leaders to be active change agents.
The key to being a change agent is to take deliberate action within the organization in
which one works. School leaders must use their agency in determining how the objectives and
mission of the institution will be accomplished within its systematic and structural boundaries
while also being flexible in their approach and strategies (Arriaza & Henze, 2012).
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According to Arriaza and Henze (2012), transformative leaders utilize four paradigms or
approaches to guide their actions. The first approach is that they debunk deficit mindsets and
build students’ capital. They adhere to the belief that students possess social, cultural, and
intellectual capital, as opposed to the deficit attribution model which would argue that students
from minority backgrounds are inferior genetically, culturally, and socially, thus explaining their
inability to achieve (Padilla, 1976). Transformative leaders understand that students come from a
wide range of economic backgrounds and cultural contexts that may differ from that of the
school community, but that does not equate inability or less ambition about academics or future
goals. Leaders who are transformative shift the responsibility for teaching students and helping
them achieve away from individuals and place them upon the institution. They are sensitive to
the language used by school staff such as “those kids” that creates distance between them and
their students. Transformational leaders call upon their teachers to recognize and embrace the
value students bring with them to school, their social networks and relationships, their cultural
identities, and their knowledge and experience formed from both academic and non-academic
settings. They validate students’ individual capital by recognizing their backgrounds and
experiences as assets to learning and relating with their peers.
The second approach transformative leaders use is that they commit to building healthy
intergroup relations between students and faculty. Students must feel safe at school as a
necessary condition to learning and achieving. When students cannot focus on learning because
of difficult interactions with others, they cannot access the education they deserve. Arriaza and
Henze (2012) recommend a four-part model for developing healthy relations among ethnically
diverse students and faculty. The model highlights affirming identities and acknowledging
cultural and linguistic backgrounds, building unity by cooperative problem solving and common
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 69
goals, providing opportunities for students to develop leadership skills and participate in
decision-making, and finding ways to bring sensitive or heated issues to the surface for
discussion.
The third approach is that transformative leaders also simultaneously focus on local and
global contexts. They include culturally responsive approaches to instruction and build relevance
between students’ school and home communities, while also having an eye on global awareness
and connectedness. Arriaza and Henze (2012) point out that not only should transformative
leaders ensure that curriculum and instruction be designed with a purposeful effort to attain
global competency, but they need to provide opportunities for students to use available
technologies to participate as global citizens. Students no longer have to physically travel
oversees to make global connections, a privilege that has been limited to the elite. Through both
cultural and linguistic experiences supported by transformative leaders, students can expand their
communities and participate as global citizens with others around the world.
The final approach transformative leaders need to adhere to is committing to the
integration of academic and applied preparation. In years past, students were segregated within
schools through tracking, where African-American, Latino, or low-income students
disproportionately filled vocational classes while being discouraged from taking college
preparatory classes (Oakes, 1994). Career and technical education (CTE) is now the term used to
describe vocational education (Castellano, Stringfield, & Stone, 2003). Students who are being
challenged with a rigorous and aligned academic curriculum integrated with CTE programs have
shown much higher achievement in reading, math, and science than those in less integrated
programs (Arriaza & Henze, 2012).
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Transformational leaders also focus on second order changes. Marzano, Waters, and
McNulty (2005) distinguish the difference between first- and second-order changes. First-order
changes are incremental, gradual, and subtle, while second-order changes are drastic and
dramatic, requiring deep change that alters fundamental practices. The problems school leaders
face today are complex with no “once-and-for-all” answers (Fullan, 2001, p. 73). Many failed
attempts at innovation have happened due to leaders approaching all problems as first-order
change. Although leaders need to have a wide skill set to lead and manage schools effectively,
according to Marzano, Waters, and McNulty (2005), there are seven main responsibilities out of
21 that are integral to second-order change.
Principals who seek second-order change initiatives are encouraged to have the following
seven priorities (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005). First, they need to have knowledge of
curriculum, instruction, and assessment and how innovation will impact these areas. Principals
will also have to know how to support and guide their staff given new programs and practices.
Second, they need to be an optimizer, one who is the driving force behind the innovation and
helps others believe in its efficacy to produce results. Third, they need to create a culture that
cultivates intellectual stimulation, creating a community of learners among their staff through the
reading and discussion of research. Principals, themselves, must also be active participants as
learners, being familiar with research. Fourth, leaders must be risk takers, challenging
established practices, and enacting change without guarantees of success. This priority is echoed
in the previous subsection on principals being agents of change. Fifth, they need to constantly
monitor the impact of the innovation, evaluating its progress in the school. Sixth, being flexible
depending on the situation is key. And finally, remaining consistent and acting in line with those
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 71
beliefs is important as contradictions can question trust in leadership and will diminish followers
who will support those beliefs.
Application for principals. While transformational leadership covers a range of fields
and is applicable to different kinds of leaders, principals exemplify specific characteristics such
as the ability to articulate a collective vision, motivate others, support a culture of inquiry and
intellectual pursuit, and build capacity among staff members to improve their practice (Shatzer,
Calderella, Hallam & Brown, 2014; Marks & Printy, 2003). The actions of transformational
leaders, whether it is prioritizing goals or supporting others, always has the organization’s
success at its core (Marks & Printy, 2014).
According to Leithwood and Jantzi (2006), transformational leadership is the ideal
leadership style for principals seeking considerable reform and has been linked to positive
outcomes for making improvement in school climate and relationships between staff and
students. In a four-year study examining the effects of a school-specific model of
transformational leadership, Leithwood and Jantzi (2006) collected survey data from 2,290
teachers spanning 655 elementary schools in England as part of a larger external evaluation of
Britain’s national literacy and numeracy initiatives to strategically reform educational efforts to
raise achievement scores in those two areas. The study covered three broad areas of leadership
practices: (1) setting directions (building vision, collective goals, and setting expectations), (2)
developing people (intellectual stimulation, individual support, and modeling professional
practices and values), and (3) redesigning the organization (creating a collaborative school
culture, a structure for participating in decision-making, and fostering positive community
relationships). Both national and independent schools were included in the study that asked
teachers to respond to questions regarding the leadership at their respective schools in relation to
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 72
the literacy and numeracy initiatives. The teacher response rate of the five-point Likert scale
survey was 20.4 percent for those enacting literacy strategies (N=1110) and 20.3 percent
(N=1180) for those implementing numeracy strategies.
The results of the study revealed that transformational approaches to school leadership
influenced changes in classroom practices, which, in turn, could affect student achievement. The
power of leadership for improving student learning depended on impactful and meaningful
classroom practices that leaders could promote, encourage, and stimulate such as increased
student engagement and participation. A limitation of this study is that the leadership effects
were measured from leaders deemed highly successful to mediocre, not from an exclusive group
of strong leaders. Also, the study looked at transformative leadership effects and their
relationship to classroom practices but not to student achievement directly.
In another study, Jacobson (2010) examined the effects of principal leadership on student
achievement and sustained school success especially in the context of high-poverty schools. In
2001, the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) created a research team
comprised of members from seven different countries to develop a database of cases that
examined successful school leaders and their practices to improve student learning. The
countries studied were Australia, China, England, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the USA.
Principals in the study were selected for demonstrating student achievement gains during their
tenure on standardized assessments. The team examined the reported actions and practices taken
by the principals to bring about improvement and change in student performance. A semi-
structured interview protocol was utilized to gather data from multiple stakeholders such as
principals, teachers, parents, and students, mainly to ask if they believed the principal played a
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 73
key role in their school’s success. The ISSPP team specifically was looking to correlate school
effectiveness to student results.
The ISSPP researched the practices of principals and specifically looked for the core
practices on school leadership as outlined by Leithwood and Riehl (2005): setting directions,
developing people, and redesigning the organization (see study above). In all of the countries
studied, all of the core practices were consistently evident, albeit in different ways. In the USA,
direction setting was short-term and tied to federal and state accountability standards. On the
other hand, in Australia, goals addressed life-long learning rather than improvement in annual
assessments. In Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, developing democratic ideals to serve as
responsible citizens was a key tenet of direction setting. Across all settings, successful schools
were found to have collaborative cultures and many in formal and informal roles were found
taking on leadership responsibilities. The results also showed that principals across all sites
demonstrated a passion for social justice and providing equitable educational opportunities for all
students. They displayed persistence and optimism, as they believed in the abilities of all
students to succeed. Procuring resources to engage teachers in professional discussion and
learning and involving parents and community members in school activities and decision-making
were also characteristics of successful principals. School safety, both physical and emotional,
was a priority to all principals, recognizing that limiting access to the campus and reducing
disruptions were prerequisites to creating an environment conducive to meaningful learning.
While there were many people in schools who took on leadership roles in different ways, the
principal determined the course by which others directed their time, effort, and resources.
To sustain school success, the capacity of key school stakeholders to develop people,
including self-renewal, is required (Giles & Hargreaves, 2006). A supportive organizational
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 74
structure that includes a shared commitment, collaboration, knowledge, leadership, feedback,
and accountability while having relationships built on trust and care is necessary. Sustaining
success requires organizational learning through personal and professional development. The
principal was primarily responsible to ensure the sustainability of high expectations for teaching
and learning, selective hiring of staff, and creating supportive networks for staff and parents.
While the principal remained as the central figure in setting directions for the school, a structure
of distributive leadership among teachers as well as collaborative learning, collegiality, and
professional development were found to contribute to sustaining success in schools.
The last core practice of school leadership was in the area of redesigning the
organization. The school that was studied in the United States started off as a traditional public
school in New York City. However to continue its commitment to ongoing professional
development and program goals, the school decided that it needed to convert to a charter school
to maintain the quality of the program. When the school was first visited in 2001-2002, the
central office handled the hiring of staff and funding decisions. Redesigning the organization to a
conversion charter school meant procuring enough signatures from parents to make the transition
happen at the state level. Over 80 percent of parents showed up to vote and of the 80 percent,
nearly 100 percent of parents voted to convert to a charter school. This result shows an indication
of the level of trust the parents had in the leaders of the school. The vote allowed for the school
to stay in the building and retain its students while holding on to its most valuable asset, its
teachers and staff. Upon becoming a charter school, the principal gained more autonomy over
staffing, funding decisions, and professional development matters. In this case, redesigning the
organization was necessary to continue producing the same level of quality educational
experiences for both students and staff.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 75
While this study did not specify the term transformative leadership, it did delineate the
practices of successful principals who were able to bring about positive change and sustain them
in challenging, impoverished areas. A limitation of this study was that it relied only on interview
data without triangulating with other sources such as observation of practices.
In another study, Griffith (2003) conducted a study that examined whether principal
leadership behaviors can be described as transformational and also investigated the direct effects
of principal transformational leadership on school outcomes like staff turnover and school
performance. He also looked at the indirect effect of these outcomes through school staff
satisfaction. Three out of six research questions that guided his study were: (1) Can principals’
behaviors be described in terms of the component parts of transformational leadership? (2) Do
principals who display transformational leadership have school staff with higher levels of job
satisfaction and higher-performing schools? (3) Do schools in which staff with higher levels of
job satisfaction have smaller minority/non-minority achievement gaps? Do schools in which
principals display transformational leadership have smaller minority/non-minority achievement
gaps? The other three research questions were not relevant to the direction of this study, thus
they were not included in the literature review.
The schools comprised in the study were all elementary schools in a large metropolitan
suburban district with a variation in school structure, student populations, and staff make-up. The
district in which the study took place distributed an annual survey to its 8,535 employees across
all elementary sites, of which 3,291 or 39 percent were completed. Staff members who varied in
positions, seniority, and ethnicities completed the surveys. The three components of
transformational leadership in the survey were regarding job satisfaction and organizational
performance. The first component was charisma or inspiration, the ability of leaders to
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 76
communicate a clear mission and develop a sense of loyalty and commitment from those in the
organization. The second component was individualized consideration or the leader’s willingness
to treat each person as individuals. Lastly, the third component was intellectual stimulation or
way the leader provides opportunities to approach practices in innovative and different ways.
Results of the study indicated that principal behaviors could be described in the
component parts of transformational leadership. A factor analysis was performed to determine
how well ratings given to items by individual respondents conformed to scales representing the
three components. In regards to the relationship between principal transformational leadership
and staff job satisfaction and school staff turnover, there was a strong and positive correlation to
staff job satisfaction, which led to a negative relation to school staff turnover. The results that
served to answer the third research question regarding the relation between staff job satisfaction
and minority/non-minority achievement gaps showed that the GPA gap between the two groups
narrowed in schools whose staff had greater job satisfaction. This narrowed gap was additionally
evident in schools with higher levels of principal transformational leadership.
Summary. The work of principals in Dual Language Immersion Programs will require
the tenets of transformational leadership as it deviates from traditional school practices. They
will need to understand the purpose and power of bilingualism and biliteracy, and know the
research to back up their decisions as they advocate for the viability of the program. Principals of
schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs will need to be its biggest supporters by
training parents, recruiting new families, and informing the larger school community about its
objectives while sustaining a unity among the student body and staff. Site leaders will need to
harness the knowledge, abilities, and energy of the school and motivate everyone toward a
shared vision. The work of the principal will lay the foundation by which the program can thrive
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 77
and grow as he/she directs adequate and equitable resources to students and acts as a change
agent in the way the program is talked about, publicized, and promoted. While DLIPs embody
two different populations of students, those who are native English speakers and those whose
native language is different from English, the program exists to promote the success of both
groups. This is a radical shift from decades of historical marginalization of English Language
Learners whose academic achievement has not been prioritized to that of native English speakers
(Thomas & Collier, 1997). In this sense, the DLIP is a platform for the democratization of
education where students of differing backgrounds are all valued and their success is an
expectation not a fortunate accident. It is for these reasons transformative leadership is necessary
in Dual Language Immersion Programs.
Instructional Leadership
In addition to transformational leadership, principals of Dual Language Immersion
Programs must also be able to lead instruction. Because DLIPs are specialized in their emphasis
on structuring learning and addressing content standards within the context of two languages,
principals must be informed and attuned to strong instructional practices in classrooms especially
as it relates to language acquisition, literacy, and multiculturalism. Not only should principals be
aware of culturally relevant pedagogical strategies that incorporate the home language into the
classroom to build on academic success (Ladson-Billings, 1995), they should also be able to
create and lead a community of learners, to sustain high expectations for staff and provide
ongoing professional development (Jacobson, 2010), all of which are important tenets of
instructional leadership.
School leadership is the second most important influence on student achievement and
motivation next to teacher quality; however, teacher quality is heavily influenced by effective
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 78
leadership (Fullan, 2001; Leithwood, Harris, and Hopkins, 2008, & Marzano, Waters &
McNulty, 2005). Successful leaders attend to building capacity within their staff through
continued training, fostering a collaborative culture that relies on the expertise of one another,
thus, creating favorable conditions for collective learning (Jacobson, 2010). Accountability
measures will not increase school performance without an investment made to develop
professional practices that address learner-focused school improvement and student learning
(Jacobson, 2010; Elmore, 2006). Elmore (2006) argues that a necessary condition for school
leaders to be successful in their roles will lie in their ability to improve instructional practices.
Skillful leaders reflect high internal accountability in an organization, and their leadership is
critical in developing it. Accountable leaders do not demonstrate passivity or reactivity. Instead,
they are strategic and calculated in obtaining resources and developing capacity to improve
performance.
According to Elmore (2006), leadership practice, a set of actions based on knowledge,
skill, and a mindset, can be defined and learned. Practice is not synonymous to attribute or
characteristic. It can be replicated and repeated. A school with high internal accountability has
regular discussions around curriculum, pedagogy, and student performance. Effective leaders
have protocols in place to objectify their own practice and that of their teaching teams to observe
and analyze instructional practices, taking the attention away from personal attributes. Leaders
also make the invisible visible in improving practices, examining the engrained culture of the
organization to evaluate its norms and behaviors. The work of leaders is less about directly
managing the conditions for instruction and performance and more about increasing the learning
and growth of the people who are directly responsible for student learning. Thus, instructional
leadership is about a concerted effort to invest in human capital. Elmore (2006) presents a model
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 79
for leadership that incorporates three important parts: (1) the focus is on improving instructional
quality and the performance of students, (2) leadership is viewed as a distributed function rather
than a singular role, and (3) it requires the constant development of knowledge and skill because
these are continually evolving, and leadership changes frequently.
Learning to lead as an academic leader takes skill and time. According to Ramsen and
Lizzio (1998), this work entails attention to vision, planning, inspiring and enabling academic
people, and developing staff performance. It also requires political aptitude, communication
skills, optimism, a sense of direction, a view of the big picture, imagination, good judgment,
concern for staff development, and the ability to accept the consequences of big decisions
(Ramsen & Lizzio, 1998). They argue that one cannot be taught these skills. They must be
developed over time by leaders themselves through reflective practice, evaluation, and feedback
from others (Ramsden & Lizzio, 1998).
Learning to lead involves four key areas of responsibility: (1) vision, strategic planning,
and resource management; (2) enabling, inspiring, motivating, direction; (3) recognition,
development, assessment of performance; and (4) reflection, evaluation, personal learning, and
development. It is a life-long commitment that captures leadership as a process of work in
progress rather than a finite end result. Part of learning to lead is effectively managing time and
tasks so that one uses it wisely and makes time to lead. Going from being a teacher or academic
to a leader of teachers or academics requires shifts in priorities and tasks mainly involving
responsibilities over others and resource allocation. It allows for less time for individual, private,
or autonomous work. In other words, being a leader is a public position that warrants the
constant collaborative effort of others, minding the impact of decisions on the collective body
rather than oneself.
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Additionally, an academic or instructional leader must continue to be a learner, and the
qualities one would seek in students such as independence, communication, problem-solving,
analytic skills, critical thinking, and teamwork, to name a few, are those that leaders must also
have to be effective for their own development. Simultaneously, leaders are responsible for
building organizations where people are constantly seeking to expand their potentials;
instructional leaders are essentially responsible for learning (Senge, 1990).
When it comes to being an instructional leader, Fullan (2014) stresses the idea of the
principal’s primary role being that of the lead learner at the school, one who leads teachers in the
process of learning with the goal of improving instruction while also learning with them about
effective instructional strategies. The principal must make his/her own individual learning and
teacher learning the main priority (Fullan, 2014). Leithwood & Seashore Louis (2012) concur
that the principals who make the most impact when it comes to student learning are those who
focus the school on instructional matters and provide supportive conditions where learning while
building collaborative relationships can occur. According to Fullan (2014), principals can
maximize their impact on student learning in the way they influence how teachers learn and
work together. It is through the cultivation of professional capital (a combination and interaction
of three components: human capital, social capital, and decisional capital) among teachers that
principals can have the most effect on student achievement. Fullan (2014) argues that individual
evaluative feedback is not a good use of time as an instructional leader, but rather the building up
of group knowledge and skills, sharing effective practices with one another, and deepening trust
among teachers and between principals and teachers as they learn instructional strategies
together are what will make a difference in learning in schools.
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Traditional views of leaders as those who set direction, make decisions, and energize
others are entrenched in individualistic and non-systemic perspectives (Senge, 1990). In
organizations that focus on continued learning, the role of the leader is that of designer, teacher,
and steward.
The leader as a designer can be likened to the one creating the social architecture of the
organization, determining the purpose, vision, and core values by which people will operate.
Another design aspect of leadership is to outline the policies, strategies, and structures that will
guide decisions. Creation of processes that allow for the constant improvement of practices is the
third design responsibility.
The leader as a teacher does not mean being an authoritarian who corrects others; it
means to be a coach, guide, or facilitator who brings important issues to the surface. Leaders can
create climates that allow people to view reality in three ways: events, patterns of behavior, and
systemic structure. Events warrant reactive behavior. Patterns of behavior focus on long-term
trends and their implications, and systemic structure address underlying causes of behavior that
can affect deep change.
The leader as a steward is subtle as it addresses attitude. The leader’s stewardship is
concentrated in two areas: (1) the stewardship for the people they lead and (2) the stewardship
for the larger purpose or mission of the organization. Leaders who are motivated and committed
to building learning organizations that dedicate themselves to sharing a vision and asking for
support from others who desire to lead formally or informally.
Those who lead Dual Language Immersion Programs must consider the roles of designer,
teacher, and steward when implementing and sustaining these programs. Leaders set the climate,
culture, and vision for the program within the school’s mission. They ensure that learning is
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 82
occurring at every level with students, staff, and parents. They are also committed stewards of
the resources and responsibilities of the program, being propelled by the idea that they are part of
something greater than themselves. For Dual Language Immersion Programs, this greater
purpose may be to foster the growth of biliteracy and biculturalism to create global citizens fit to
participate in the 21
st
century.
Richard Elmore (2000) endorsed a model for school leadership that dismisses ineffective
traditional structures and embraces one that values instruction above all aspects of practice. He
argued for focusing leadership on the improvement of instruction, alignment of shared goals for
everyone in the organization, and building a sense of urgency in addressing the issues of
complacency and underachievement. The primary job of leaders is to enhance the capacity of
those around them, create a culture of high, common expectations, and hold each person in the
organization accountable for contributing to the larger mission through the lens of distributed
leadership (Elmore, 2000).
Traditional public school structures of a centralized bureaucracy governed by an elected
board with mostly poorly-paid female teachers, working largely in isolation from each other in
individual classrooms while supervised by mostly male administrators, have been identified as a
model called “loose-coupling” (Weick, 1976; Rowan, 1990; Meyer & Rowan, 1992). “Loose-
coupling” is a stance that the “technical core” (Elmore, 2000, p. 5-6) of education, all aspects of
instructional strategies, curriculum, and assessment, should take place in individual classrooms
and not the organizations that house them. It is a belief requiring administrators and leaders to be
effective managers of the structures and processes that surround the “technical core” without
having any direct relationship to instruction and learning. Thus, under this model, innovation
does not have much chance to take fruition because teaching remains isolated, and the
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 83
improvement of pedagogical practices is left, in large part, to volunteerism and inconsistent
participation. Innovative practices are disconnected from institutional goals or systematic
solutions to school-wide problems. The loose-coupling model also ascribes to the “trait-theory”
of competence in instructional practice and leadership. The trait-theory posits that leaders
already come into an organization possessing a set of desirable personal qualities necessary for
the work at hand, not requiring continued growth and learning or demonstrating competency as a
condition of employment. Elmore warned against hiring and retaining leaders under this theory,
arguing that the viability and progression of an organization would rely too heavily on the people
who enter and stay in their positions rather than focusing on the work they would actually do to
improve the organization and help it meet its goals.
In order to make large-scale improvements in public education, Elmore emphasized the
need for a different approach to leadership; one that departs from exercising control over various
aspects of the organization and managing its functions such as the budget, personnel, and
program schedules to one that capitalizes on the skills and expertise of the people in the
organization, distributing the responsibility for leadership in a coordinated manner. No one
person holds all of the knowledge and skills necessary to solve all of the organization’s
problems. Leaders need to rely on a systematic team approach to address the organization’s
needs, working to expand the knowledge and skill sets of their team while communicating clear
expectations for outcomes that all will be held accountable to, including the leader.
According to Elmore (2000), productive environments are characterized by collaboration
and ongoing improvement, where teacher effort was focused on skill development to address
delineated goals. Principals were supportive of these efforts in helping coordinate the learning
and collaborative professional development by ensuring that they align to the larger goals
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 84
previously established and not allowing the opportunities for growth to be idiosyncratic and
disjointed. Additionally, high levels of collegiality and interaction among teachers did not create
drastic changes in classroom instruction without the normative culture focused on instruction.
Principals and leaders must set the internal normative environment around instruction, coherently
calibrating goals and expectations before any hope of improvement to occur. Leaders, under the
distributed leadership model, share the responsibility for increasing the likelihood of effective
instructional practices to take place through goal setting, guidance, and pedagogical decisions to
ultimately benefit student learning.
Elmore posits creating a model for distributed leadership that consists of two main areas:
(1) outlining the norms leaders would have to adhere to in making large-scale improvements, and
(2) describing how all leaders in different positions would share the responsibility within the
system making large-scale improvements. He illustrates five principles that define distributed
leadership: (1) the purpose of leadership is to improve instructional practice and performance
regardless of role, (2) instructional improvement requires continuous learning, both individual
and collective; (3) learning requires modeling, where it is the primary responsibility of leaders to
model the learning they demand of others; (4) the roles and activities of leadership flow from the
expertise mandated for learning and improvement, not from the dictates of the institution; and (5)
the exercise of authority requires reciprocity of accountability and capacity in a two-way
relationship.
When structuring institutional design, it is vital to learn to collectively do the right thing.
High performing districts were found by Elmore to be less bureaucratic while demonstrating
strong leadership. Instead of bureaucratic rules and regulations, these districts relied on creating
common cultural values, focusing on improvement of student learning, and by administrators
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 85
heavily emphasizing the internal instructional environment rather than on external events and
factors. Schools must be redesigned to be places in which all people, both adults and children,
continuously learn.
Elmore also offered design principles for large-scale improvement in school systems: (1)
maintain a tight instructional focus sustained over time; (2) routinize accountability for practice
and performance in face-to-face relationships; (3) reduce isolation and open practice up to direct
observation, analysis, and criticism; (4) exercise differential treatment based on performance and
capacity, not on volunteerism; and (5) devolve increased discretion based on practice and
performance. Through redefining the role of leadership and enacting purposeful design principles
to guide improvement with instruction at its core, schools can be places where professionals and
students thrive to meet goals and reach their individual and collective potential.
Pavan and Reid (1994) concur with Elmore (2000) on the importance of emphasizing
instructional leadership as it positively impacts student achievement. They conducted a study
that involved four elementary schools that were identified as being the highest achieving Chapter
1 elementary schools in a Philadelphia school improvement project in 1993. Interviews with each
of the elementary principals were conducted, and the Principal Instructional Management Rating
Scale (PIMRS) (Hallinger, 1987) was given to teachers and the four principals to capture the
principals’ instructional management behaviors. An additional analysis using Purkey and
Smith’s (1985) four school culture concepts was conducted; the four concepts being
collaboration, community, expectations, and order. The principals also completed the Leadership
Orientation Instrument (Bolman & Deal, 1990, 2013) to determine what theoretical framework
guided their actions and practices in leadership. Bolman and Deal (1990, 2013) present four
frames or perspectives that can help navigate thinking and situations for effective management
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 86
and leadership of organizations: (1) structural, (2) human resource, (3) political, and (4)
symbolic. Depending on the situations at hand, principals must understand and operate from one
or more of the frames as needed. All of the schools had an approximate student enrollment of
400 each with one school at 800.
The results of the study that combined the principal interviews and the PIMRS responses
collected from teachers and principals revealed that all four leaders, no matter their race or level
of experience, were actively engaged with students and teachers in the structure of the school, in
teaching, and in learning. Principals spent most of their time engaged in tasks related to
instruction such as conducting their own staff development, commenting on lesson plans, and
having grade level discussions on student performance to improve instructional pacing.
Additionally, they spent time supervising and evaluating instruction and directly interacting with
teachers. The principals identified themselves as learners, setting goals for themselves and the
organization. Empowering teachers by building a strong school culture was also a priority. The
principals who emphasized instructional issues in a supportive climate showed greater
achievement.
Researchers, Hitt and Tucker (2016), conducted a large-scale literature review of 56
empirical studies pertaining to educational leadership practices. They sought to identify and
synthesize peer-reviewed, empirical research, focusing on the connection between leader’s
practices and their impact on student achievement. The authors defined practice as “the bundle of
activities” (Leithwood, 2012, p. 5) that contribute to effective leadership. Practice was described
as a set of actions that could be improved upon with effort (Hitt & Tucker, 2016). In other words,
they are behaviors that are malleable and can change with deliberate consideration. Hitt and
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 87
Tucker (2016) explained that they limited the review to leadership practices and not qualities or
characteristics that cannot be changed.
Their data revealed 28 different practices organized into five key domains as outlined in
three notable frameworks on effective leader practices, the Ontario Leadership Framework
(Leithwood, 2012), the Learning-Centered Leadership Framework (Murphy, Elliot, Goldring, &
Porter, 2006), and the Essential Supports Framework (Sebring, Allensworth, Bryk, Easton, &
Lupescu, 2006). The five domains were (1) establishing and conveying the vision, (2) facilitating
a high-quality learning experience for students, (3) building professional capacity, (4) creating a
supportive organization for learning, and (5) connecting with external partners. The study
identifies key practices of effective leaders based on over a hundred studies that demonstrate the
inextricable link between these practices and student achievement. Leaders can have a direct
effect on the school environment and on teaching and an indirect effect on student outcomes. The
practices of effective leadership can greatly influence the most important factor on student
achievement, teaching.
Table 1.
Effective Leadership Practices based on the research of Hitt and Tucker (2016)

Domains Leadership Practices
Establishing and conveying the
vision
! Creating, articulating, and stewarding shared mission and vision
! Implementing vision by setting goals and performance expectations
! Modeling aspirational and ethical practices
! Communicating broadly the state of the vision
! Promoting use of data for continual improvement
! Tending to external accountability
Facilitating a high-quality
learning experience for students
! Maintaining safety and orderliness
! Personalizing the environment to reflect students’ backgrounds
! Developing and monitoring instructional program
! Developing and monitoring assessment program
Building professional capacity ! Selecting for the right fit
! Providing individualized consideration
! Building trusting relationships
! Providing opportunities to learn for whole faculty, including leader
! Supporting, buffering, and recognizing staff
! Engendering responsibility for promoting learning
! Creating communities of practice
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 88
Creating a supportive
organization for learning
! Acquiring and allocating resources strategically for mission and vision
! Considering context to maximize organizational functioning
! Building collaborative processes for decision making
! Sharing and distributing leadership
! Tending to and building on diversity
! Maintaining ambitious and high expectations and standards
! Strengthening and optimizing school culture
Connecting with external
partners
! Building productive relationships with families and external partners in the
community
! Engaging families and community in collaborative processes to strengthen
student learning
! Anchoring schools in the community

In another study, Shatzer, Caldarella, Hallam, and Brown (2014) compared the effects of
instructional and transformational leadership theories and their impact on student achievement to
determine which leadership practices were associated with greater student achievement gains as
measured by students’ test scores. Thirty-seven elementary schools (K-6) from three school
districts participated in the study. Schools were selected based on their availability and their
partnership with the institution collecting data for the study. Teachers were asked to complete a
series of anonymous questionnaires assessing their principal’s behaviors. At the end of the
school year, they were randomly assigned the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) on
transformational leadership or the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) on
instructional leadership to evaluate their principals. The online questionnaires were filled out by
590 participating teachers, representing a 45 percent response rate. A total of 91 percent of the
respondents were female and 9 percent were male, which was indicative of the population ratio
of teachers. The respondents averaged approximately 11 years of teaching experience and had
worked with their respective principal for about 3.5 years. The results of a statewide assessment
were used to measure student achievement. There were 23,738 students represented in the 37
schools in the study with 12 percent identified as English Language Learners and 36 percent
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 89
considered to be from low-socioeconomic backgrounds based on their participation in the Free
and Reduced lunch program.
The results of the study revealed that instructional leadership had a more profound effect
on student’s achievement than that of transformational leadership (Shatzer, Caldarella, Hallam &
Brown, 2014). The specific behaviors of principals that were found to contribute most
significantly to student achievement were in the areas of monitoring student progress, protecting
instructional time, providing incentives for learning, providing incentives for teachers, and
making rewards contingent. Principals frequently performed the following practices: (1) meeting
with teachers to discuss students’ needs, (2) discussing data with teachers and students, (3)
limiting interruptions on classroom instruction, (4) promoting effective use of class time, (5)
recognizing students for their academic achievement or improvement, (6) clearly communicating
expectations and giving rewards to teachers, and (7) frequently recognizing others at assemblies
and when communicating with parents. The researchers also assert another key point about the
effectiveness of focusing on instructional leadership over transformational leadership to impact
student achievement in its practicality and specificity of practices that can be implemented as
outlined by the PIMRS. The results of the study remain consistent with the first meta-analysis
done by Robinson, Lloyd, and Rowe (2008) on the efficacious impact of instructional leadership
practices on student achievement.
Despite the findings from the study above, Marks and Printy (2003) make the argument
that one cannot be an efficacious instructional leader without being a transformational one, too.
In a study of 24 nationally selected restructured schools, public schools that have been identified
as having made substantial progress in reform efforts (eight elementary, eight middle, and eight
high schools), they sought to examine the relationship between transformational and instructional
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 90
leadership and its effect on school performance as measured by the quality of pedagogy and
student achievement on assessments. Surveys were given to teachers as well as interviews of 25-
30 staff members and administrators were conducted at the site and district levels. Eighty percent
or 910 teachers participated in the survey. Observations of meetings and document analysis of
the school’s restructuring efforts were also studied, including lesson plans of 144 core-class
teachers and over 5,000 assignments completed by students in response to an assessment task.
Of the 24 schools, seven of them demonstrated above average results of both
transformational leadership from the principal and shared instructional leadership from the
principal and teachers. The principals of these schools regarded their teachers as professional
partners in furthering quality instruction, as teachers were given opportunities to extend their
responsibilities beyond the classroom. These schools displayed the active collaboration of
principals and teachers with curriculum, instruction, and assessment, sharing the responsibility
for staff development, curricular development, and instructional tasks. The principals exercised
leadership collaboratively, promoting teacher reflection and growth. These schools were
identified as having an integrated approach to leadership, one that combines both transformation
and instructional leadership styles. Schools with an integrated approach were found to be higher
achieving than those that only used one aspect of principal leadership, raising the level of
performance to higher levels.
An important finding from the study is that shared instructional leadership was absent
from schools that lacked transformational leadership. Thus, the study revealed that
transformational leadership is foundational to fostering shared instructional leadership. Secondly,
schools that were led by principals and teachers through an integrated leadership model exhibited
high-quality instruction and achievement as measured by assessments. Strong transformational
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 91
leadership by the principal is a necessary condition that allows teachers to commit on a deeper
level to professional development, willingness to collaborate, and innovate in their instruction.
Therefore, effective leadership that facilitates learning and student performance is not embodied
in one individual (the principal), but it is a shared, collaborative effort from both principals and
teachers working toward a larger, group objective.
Summary. Principals who are strong instructional leaders invest in their human capital
and make deliberate efforts to prioritize the continuous learning of their teachers to maximize the
potential for student learning in their schools (Elmore, 2000). Additionally, as instructional
leaders, there is considerable time allocated to their own learning and creating structures to allow
for discussions around pedagogy and curriculum delivery through professional development
opportunities and/or the evaluation process. Ideally, a hybrid of both transformational and
instructional leadership is needed to make significant achievement gains and lasting change in
schools (Marks & Printy, 2003).
Sensitivity to Diversity
While advocating for students of diverse needs is not a type of leadership, it is a central
component of leading Dual Language Immersion Programs (Valdez, 1997). Principals of schools
with DLIPs must balance the interests of several different stakeholders, because not everyone in
the school community is involved in the DLIP. Although there are DLIPs that are school-wide,
where every student learns a second language, this study will focus on programs within schools,
where a fraction of the student body is enrolled in the program. Principals must be open to listen
to multiple perspectives to make informed decisions about their programs, resources, and parent
involvement to ultimately benefit student outcomes.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 92
According to Kezar (2000), one way principals can accomplish the task of listening to
others is by using a framework called pluralistic leadership, one that draws on collective, diverse
voices of those on campus. She contends that women leaders are inclined to conceptualize
leadership as collective rather an individualistic. They emphasize a responsibility toward others
and empowering others. It creates a culture that engages individuals, decreases conflict, and
minimizes organizational problems. It also calls for those in positions of power to understand
what type of influence they have when communicating with others. Some of the strategies she
presents are: (1) defining and negotiating a contingent leadership model that is evaluated by the
community, (2) carefully selecting values, being as open and honest as possible, excluding only
those values that oppress others, (3) creating ways to modify the model, (4) valuing individual
differences, (5) negotiating and challenging individuals to align with campus leadership, (6)
keeping diverse leadership perspectives in mind, and (7) creating a learning environment where
all people are learning from one another. Pluralistic leadership focuses on a collaborative, team-
based approach to leading, being inclusive of diversity and multiple perspectives. Embracing the
idea of being open to the voices and viewpoints of others to inform decision-making is a key
consideration as principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs.
Principals have a pivotal role in creating inclusive schools for diverse learners. According
to Riehl (2000), while principals are meant to serve as agents of change, they can fall victim to
sustaining a structure of oppression and hierarchies, monitoring the continuity of organizational
practices rather than transforming them if they do not pay attention to these practices. Change in
the educational environment will not take place without broad constituencies understanding and
investing in the change. Administrators are well positioned in schools to influence meaning
through the day-to-day management of meanings of stakeholders, through the mediation of
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 93
conflict, and resolving contradictions within their own ideologies (Anderson, 1990, as cited in
Riehl, 2000). Principals can create a space for democratic discourse to provide opportunities for
groups and individuals to receive and co-create meaning together. This discourse is characterized
by free exploration, honest exchange, and non-manipulative discussions.
Site leaders can help create specific conditions and practices in schools to address the
needs of diverse learners by promoting forms of teaching and learning that permit their success
as well as creating school cultures that embraces and supports diversity. As the importance of
instructional leadership is underscored in the literature (Senge, 1990; Elmore, 2000; Jacobson,
2010), it is also valuable to note that by administrators increasing teachers’ expectations for the
achievement of their diverse learners and their ability to do so, while also minimizing
distractions to the instructional environment and providing constructive feedback on their
teaching, they help contribute to overall school improvement. Administrators also have a key
role in creating professional learning communities by attending to individual teacher growth and
creating and sustaining meaningful discussions around teaching and learning, especially in
addressing the needs of diverse learners.
Another way to embrace learning for a diverse student body is to promote culturally
relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995), where teachers honor different sources and kinds of
knowledge, accepting culturally derived vernacular, empowering students for the capital they
bring with them from their backgrounds and experiences, and holding high expectations for all.
Principals can also influence the organizational structure of learning in schools by ensuring
equitable access to instruction, eliminating tracking or homogeneous grouping by ability or
perceived student achievement.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 94
School leaders recognize that schools are not isolated institutions, but rather they are part
of network of organizations within the community or neighborhood. Collaborations between the
school and other groups can be curriculum- or service-based, but it is important to understand
that the school’s mission must consider the relationship it has with those in the community it
serves.
Riehl (2000) also stressed the relationship between identity and practice. While this is not
a necessary condition, administrators who are women or people of color can provide new
perspectives and methods of practice from their unique experiences. If the traditional figure of a
leader is that of a middle-aged, white male, those who deviate from that model can offer alternate
viewpoints that bring to light minority issues and needs. The expertise of knowledge and
experiences that diverse administrators bring to schools can further transform schools to be more
inclusive if used as a valuable resource. Administrators also influence others through language as
it contributes significantly to school climate. Principals use “conflict-free language” as a
disciplinary practice to create harmony and consensus in their schools (Anderson, 1991, as cited
by Riehl, 2000). By using language that does not marginalize or disrespect any one group,
administrators and other members of the school community can begin to embrace those from
different backgrounds and foster a culture of inclusivity.
Being sensitive to the needs of diverse learners involves the academic structure of
schools and the extracurricular activities that are meant to enrich learning experiences for
students. Noguera (2001) argues that political interventions are needed to address the racial
achievement gap in public schools, especially those in affluent areas, in addition to educational
strategies. In a four-year study of Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California, he noted the
stark disparity of educational opportunities and experiences of White and Asian students to that
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 95
of African-American and Latino students. White and Asian students scored in the 80
th
percentile
or higher on standardized assessments, whereas African-American and Latino students scored in
the 30
th
percentile or lower. He also found discrepancies in grades, attrition rates, and
disciplinary actions like suspensions and expulsions. While Berkeley High School prides itself in
being a school that endorses diversity, where attending this school as opposed to an elite private
school demonstrated a commitment to diversity issues, data showed that students underwent a
sorting process upon entering the school as freshmen. White and Asian students were found to be
concentrated in honors and college track classes while African-American and Latino students
were in lower, remedial classes. By using a survey administered to incoming freshmen of the
class of 2000 and by conducting an analysis of grades and course selections for the same group
of students, the study was able to show how students were being separated upon entering the
school, creating exclusive and dichotomous learning experiences for groups of students. Data
also revealed that extracurricular activities deemed as having any potential at increasing
students’ academic performance were composed of White students. Noguera (2001) warned that
what could be viewed as benign forms of racial segregation like participation in school clubs
could actually mask the ways schools racialize academic failures and success. He advocated for
educators to closely examine existing practices that perpetuate inequalities in academic
opportunities and take action to undo them. Without changing practices to allow more students
of different backgrounds access to high-quality instruction and content that would prepare them
for four-year universities, minimizing the achievement gap would not be possible.
Leaders need to encourage teachers to view diversity as positive, not as an obstacle or
hindrance (Hunt, 2011). Noguera (2003) warned that “When the adults (both leaders and
teachers) who serve children do not believe their students are capable of learning and achieving
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 96
at high levels, they are less likely to provide students with an education that challenges them to
fully realize their intellectual potential” (p. 20). These teachers, in turn, set lower standards and
hold lower expectations for these children (Ladson-Billings, 1994, as cited in Noguera, 2003).
Summary. Effective leaders, especially those whose mission in the Dual Language
Immersion Program is to promote biliteracy and biculturalism, cultivate the conditions to create a
learning community within which diversity is seen as an asset not a liability. They listen to
multiple viewpoints from broad constituencies (Kezar, 2000; Riehl, 2000). Principals who are
sensitive to the needs of diverse learners also ensure that culturally relevant pedagogy is
practiced within classrooms, holding high expectations for all students (Ladson-Billings, 1995).
They are champions for all students to learn and succeed.
Conceptual Framework
The literature on effectively addressing the academic needs of students learning English
or another language within a Dual Language Immersion Program or even traditional English as a
Second Language programs point to particular criteria. Drawing from the research of Lindholm-
Leary (2005) who identified the components of successful Dual Language Immersion Programs
and the research of August and Hakuta (1998) who generated thirteen attributes of effective
schools and classrooms after studying English Language Learners (ELLs) and achievement,
there are key, overlapping factors that contribute to student learning.
First of all, school-wide leadership is imperative. According to Collier and Thomas
(2004), the principal of the school was found to be an essential factor in the success and
sustainability of the program. Secondly, professional development and ongoing staff training are
priorities. Attention is paid to a quality, balanced curriculum partially using the native or target
language. Additionally, there is a focus on strong instructional strategies that enhance
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 97
understanding. There is also a supportive, positive school climate. Lastly, both Lindholm-Leary
(2005) and August and Hakuta (1998) stress the importance of having family and community
involvement. These common factors are the key ingredients for ensuring the success of students
as they acquire language while accessing curricular standards.
The literature also highlights leadership theories and practices that are determining
components of supporting the work of teachers and students in schools. Principals are called to
be change agents, instructional leaders, and strong advocates for equity among students of
diverse backgrounds (Calderon & Carreon, 2000; Arriaza & Henze, 2012; Marzano, Waters, &
McNulty, 2005).
Leithwood and Jantzi (2006) and Leithwood and Riehl (2003) state that transformational
leaders set direction by building vision, identifying collective goals, and setting expectations.
They also concentrate on developing people by offering intellectual stimulation, individual
support, and by modeling professional practices and values. Finally, they take care in developing
the organization to create a collaborative school culture, a structure for participation in decision-
making, and fostering positive relationships among those in the school community (Leithwood &
Jantzi, 2006).
Arriaza and Henze (2012) propose that transformational leaders adhere to four different
paradigms or approaches when leading their organizations: (1) they debunk deficit mindsets and
build students’ capital; (2) transformative leaders commit to building healthy intergroup relations
between students and faculty: (3) transformative leaders also simultaneously focus on local and
global contexts; and (4) transformative leaders need to commit to the integration of academic and
applied preparation.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 98
Principals who were deemed by the researchers to be effective instructional leaders
specifically spent a significant portion of their time performing tasks related to instruction such
as observation of lessons, conducting staff development, commenting on lesson plans, leading
collaborative discussions, and evaluating teachers (Pavan & Reid, 1994). Leaders are responsible
for their own learning as well as for the learning of others (Ramsden & Lizzio, 1998; Senge,
1990). Academically leading others requires vision, planning, motivating people, developing
staff, adept communication skills, optimism, political aptitude, discernment, and the willingness
to accept the consequences for big decisions that are made (Ramsden & Lizzio, 1998).
Instructional leadership has demonstrated more profound effects on student achievement than
that of transformational leadership (Shatzer, Caldarella, Hallam, & Brown, 2014), and while that
is compelling evidence to simply focus on this style of leadership, Marks and Printy (2003)
strongly emphasize the idea that principals need to be at once transformational and instructional
leaders who understand the importance of both roles, balancing the two interchangeably.
Senge (1990) also states how important it is for organizations that focus on continued
learning, the role of the leader needs to be that of designer, teacher, and steward. Leaders who
act like designers form the culture and identify the vision, purpose, and values of the school.
Creating policies and processes guide decisions that are aligned to the mission of the school and
program. Leaders who operate like teachers always see through the lens of instruction. They act
like coaches or facilitators who lead purposeful discussions meant to recognize patterns of
behavior and create collaborative work environments centered around improving instructional
strategies. More importantly, they are learners, first and foremost, and create the conditions for
learning to occur for students and staff at their schools. Leaders are also good stewards of the
people under their charge and of the mission and growth of the organization. Through a shared
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 99
vision and collective support, leaders have a great sense of responsibility towards the
organization, how it both operates and continues to evolve over time. When leading Dual
Language Immersion Programs, principals must embrace the roles of designer, teacher, and
steward when implementing and sustaining these programs.
Principals must also be sensitive to the needs of diverse learners. They must believe, and
enforce the belief, that all students have the potential to learn and achieve. As leaders of the
school, principals act as agents in promoting culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings,
1995) and a school climate that embraces cultural differences. They eliminate practices like
tracking by abilities or segregating students, limiting students’ access to the curriculum. They
address what and how messages are sent by the school, advocating for “conflict-free language,”
words that do not offend but respect others. Principals who are sensitive to the needs of diverse
learners also take the time to listen to others’ perspectives, valuing their point of view and input,
so that all students and families of varying backgrounds are made to feel like a legitimate part of
the school community.

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 100
Figure 1.
Conceptual Map of Literature Review

The figure above illustrates the inputs of a Dual Language Immersion Program that are
needed for student achievement to occur. According to the literature, the elements of using the
native language to teach students for part of the day, providing access to quality curriculum,
employing strong instructional strategies that are culturally responsive, upholding high
expectations for all students, incorporating parent involvement, and creating a supportive school-
wide climate are necessary to enable proficient language acquisition and to maximize student
achievement. Supporting all of these efforts are the work of the principal who operates from the
standpoint of being both a transformational and instructional leader with special attention given
Use of Native
Language
Quality
Curriculum
Culturally
Relevant
Pedagogy
High
Expectations
Parent
Involvement
Supportive
School-Wide
Climate
Sensitivity to
Diversity
Transformational
Leadership
Instructional
Leadership
Advocate for
Equity &
Adequacy
Act as
Agents of
Change
Set
Direction
Develop
People
Redesign the
Organization
Observe & Guide
Instructional
Practices
Cultivate
Learning
Demonstrate
Stewardship
Create Goals &
Collaborative
Structures

Success of ELLs
& Reduction of
Achievement
Gap
Dual Language Immersion Programs
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 101
to students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Principals must exemplify the characteristics
and practices of instructional and transformational leaders who are sensitive to diversity in their
school contexts.
The illustration above shows a pathway (the Dual Language Immersion Program) with
specific program components that are key factors in allowing for students to academically
achieve at or above grade-level standards and for English Language Learners to reach
proficiency with language acquisition. The principal needs to move the school forward along this
pathway by employing the characteristics of this bicycle. Their leadership requires the tenets of
both transformational leadership and instructional leadership, held together by a frame of
sensitivity towards diverse learners. The elements (spokes) inside each wheel are essential to the
bicycle running as smoothly and effectively as possible although the bicycle will still go without
each element perfectly in sync.
Summary
Dual Language Immersion Programs were designed to mitigate the substandard education
that many linguistic minority students were receiving for many decades in this country. By
incorporating the use of students’ native languages for instructional delivery with an emphasis on
high-quality instruction, DLIPs have been deemed a viable solution to address the need to teach
English while not compromising on teaching the full curriculum. According to the longitudinal
research of Collier and Thomas (2004, 2012, 2014), the Dual Language Immersion Program
model is the only pathway proven to eliminate the achievement gap for ELLs. Other components
for effective DLIPs include parent involvement, ongoing professional development, and a
supportive school-wide climate.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 102
An important component within effective DLIPs is administrative leadership, or in this
case, principal leadership at the school site. The principal must act with the ideals of both
transformative and instructional leaders to meet program goals and continue to grow teachers,
parents, and, ultimately, students. They must be attuned to the needs of their diverse student
body and their families, seeking to build inclusive relationships and an overall school culture of
acceptance and celebration of all. Identifying the characteristics and practices of recognized
principals of DLIPs will help current and future administrators become more effective in their
capacities as they apply them to their specific contexts.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 103
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODS
In order to better understand what principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs do
to support the programs and promote an overall school climate of bilingualism and cross-cultural
understanding among the whole student body, I conducted a case study, defined as an “in-depth
description and analysis of a bounded system” (Merriam, 2009, p. 40). A case study was
appropriate because it was intrinsically bound by the specific contexts from which I conducted
my research. While case studies allow for different types of research studies and data gathering
methods, I believe a qualitative approach primarily using a series of interviews with key
stakeholders provided the insight, discovery, and interpretation that I found within particular
contexts (Merriam, 2009; Cronbach, 1975). Specifically, I conducted a case study that was
heuristic, one that provided an understanding to the principal’s role in Dual Language Immersion
Programs; one that offered “new meaning, [extending] the reader’s experience, or [confirming]
what [was] known” (Merriam, 2009).
Qualitative research method. In qualitative research, the study is conducted in a natural
setting, and the researcher is the key instrument in collecting data (Creswell, 2014). Creswell
(2014) also refers to qualitative research as a way to explore and understand “the meaning
individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem” (p. 4). In order to understand how
leaders support and sustain Dual Language Immersion Programs and promote bilingualism and
cross-cultural understanding at their schools, the acquisition of data needed to take place at
school sites, not in a laboratory or alternate setting. Additionally, conducting the study in the
school and/or district context enabled the participants to draw on their experiences in that context
more readily than if I requested to gather data outside of their work environment. Maxwell
(2013) also refers to qualitative research as “do-it-yourself” rather than an “off-the-shelf” process
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 104
that requires a consideration for the context for the study in addition to the design. Qualitative
design requires an inductive process where meaning is generated from the data. This meaning is
different depending on who, what, and where is studied (Maxwell, 2013). Therefore, with the
aim of answering my questions within the specific context of my study, I used an inductive
approach to gather and analyze my data.
Sample
In qualitative studies, the researcher chooses what, where, when, and whom to observe or
interview (Merriam, 2009). According to Patton (2002), purposeful sampling is based on the
assumption that the perspective of others can provide valuable insight and knowledge and is
worth being studied. Additionally, in a qualitative study that seeks to explore and understand the
principal’s role in supporting and sustaining a DLIP, it is important to choose one’s sample
carefully and strategically so as to include individuals who have rich information about this
topic.
Setting
This research study took place in two different elementary schools in two school districts
located in California. The districts were chosen because of their successful implementation of
Dual Language Immersion Programs across multiple sites in their respective districts. While the
districts differed in their program offerings and the length of time with which the DLIPs have
been in existence, they have both managed to create programs of attraction that addressed issues
of declining enrollment and drew in intra- and inter-district transfers to the schools. In both
districts, there are lengthy waiting lists of students who wish to enroll in the program, but the
districts cannot accommodate the high interest with their capacity. As such, first and foremost,
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 105
the settings were purposeful and could yield principal participants who had a reputation of being
effective DLIP principals.
The other reasons I selected these districts for my study were (1) the school sites were
convenient in proximity to me making the study feasible, and (2) my professional contacts aided
in my accessibility to the people I interviewed. Merriam (2009) explains that convenience
sampling involves selecting a sample based on time, money, location, and the availability of sites
or respondents. One criticism of convenience sampling is that it may not be as credible of a
source for information-rich cases (Merriam, 2009), however, given the time frame of the
research study, this method of sampling seemed to be the most viable option. Nonetheless, while
these districts were convenient for me as a researcher, they had the necessary characteristics to
make them optimal sites for data collection. Also, given that my unit of analysis in this study was
the principal, it was more important for my participants to be purposefully selected from a
district that had one or more DLIPs, and the district’s characteristics mattered less.
Access and Entry. In January of 2016, I began casually reaching out to a contact that I
had in one of the school districts. I conducted a phone conference with the Teacher on Special
Assignment at the school whose primary function was to support the Dual Language Immersion
Program at the site. I informed her of my intention to study a school in the district and asked if
she had any suggestions regarding whom I should approach and how I should approach them.
Additionally, a colleague of mine reached out to a district-level leader in the other district I
intended on studying, where she had professional connections, and casually inquired about his
willingness to talk about his experience with the Dual Language Immersion Program in his
district.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 106
When my first three chapters were completed and I was given clearance to conduct my
study by the university’s Internal Review Board (IRB), I emailed the assistant superintendents of
human resources in both districts. I introduced myself, first as a doctoral student at USC, and
then as an elementary principal at a nearby district and also as a parent of children currently
enrolled in a Dual Language Immersion Program. I asked if there was a process to obtain
approval to conduct my study and their willingness to participate in interviews. Additionally, I
asked if they could each assist me with identifying an elementary principal in their district to
study based on a set of criteria I had established, constructed from the lens of my conceptual
framework (see Appendices for criteria). In this way, I was able to find reputably effective
principals. The district leaders put me in touch with the principals, upon which I emailed and
secured interviews in the weeks following my district leader interviews. Once I interviewed each
of the principals, I asked both of them if they could identify two teachers on their staff who I
could include in my study, one teacher within the Dual Language Immersion Program and one
who taught at the school but not within the program. Both principals connected me to both types
of teachers at their schools.
Participants
In my desire to study reputably effective principals of Dual Language Immersion
Programs, I sought out principals who have had at least two years of experience leading a Dual
Language Immersion Program at the elementary level. In particular, my aim was also to identify
principals who have been in the same district for at least three years because it takes time to build
relationships and create a positive school climate. As my study focused on leadership practices
that support and sustain the programs, I asked those in the district office who work with the
DLIPs such as assistant superintendents of educational services or human resources which
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 107
principals fit the criteria I sought to interview (see Appendix B). Two recommended principals
were included in my sample.
I also asked district level administrators for interviews as they also hire and work with
those in site leadership positions, providing support from the central office. District
administrators often come from having had site leadership experience, and by interviewing them,
I hoped to draw upon their depth of experiences. As part of my data collection on the
characteristics and practices of principals, I also interviewed both teachers who teach within the
DLIP and two who do not in both of the schools (see Appendix C). Maxwell (2013) calls for
interviewing “people who are uniquely able to be an informed expert or witness to an event” (p.
97). Interviewing district-level leaders, principals, and teachers in various roles allowed me to
obtain their unique perspectives and experiences with the leadership of the school and program.
In so doing, I triangulated my sources. There were two goals for my purposeful selection: (1) to
achieve representativeness or typicality of the settings, individuals, or activities selected, and (2)
to establish the most productive relationships, ones that best enabled me to answer my research
questions (Maxwell, 2013, p. 98-99). District personnel identified the principals and the
principals of each site identified the other participants in the study. In this qualitative case study,
nine purposefully selected educators, both administrators and teachers, were individually
interviewed in 60-120 minute sessions. Determined to capture an in-depth awareness of
leadership characteristics and practices that are needed to support and sustain a Dual Language
Immersion Program and to promote a climate of bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding, I
needed to interview different people across various roles involved in the program; those who
come into regular contact with the principal of their school, including the principal him/herself.
The table below summarizes the sampling and recruitment strategy.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 108
Table 2.
Sampling and Recruitment

Interview
Participants
Gatekeepers Gatekeeper Relationship
to Interview Participants
Criteria
(See complete list of criteria in
Appendices)
Principals Assistant
Superintendents
! Supervisory role
! Responsible for hiring
and placing principals
! Monitors principals’
annual goals and
objectives
! Evaluates principals’
performance and
effectiveness
! Individual has been a
principal of a DLIP for
two or more years
! Individual has worked in
the same district for three
or more years
! DLIP has been at the
school for three or more
years
Teachers Principals ! Supervisory role
! Responsible for hiring
teachers
! Monitors teachers’
annual goals and
objectives
! Evaluates teachers’
performance and
effectiveness
! Teacher has taught for
over five or more years
! Teacher has been at the
school for two or more
years
! Teacher has had
satisfactory evaluations
while at the school
District
Administrators
N/A N/A ! In a supervisory position
in relation to the
principals in the study
! Previous experience as a
site administrator
! Supports the DLIP in
his/her capacity

Data Collection and Instruments/Protocols
For this research study, I conducted a qualitative case study of two elementary school
principals in two different districts. Case studies are defined as “an in-depth description and
analysis of a bounded system” (Merriam, 2009). According to Merriam (2009), researchers
select cases because of the nature of the research problem and questions being asked. Case
studies allow for “rich and holistic” insights to “illuminate meaning” to applied fields of study
such as education (Merriam, 2009). The benefits of conducting a case study, while useful in its
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 109
applicability for the reader from which to vicariously learn, is also time- and cost- prohibitive to
researchers. A significant amount of time and/or resources must be allocated to conducting them.
Case studies are also limited by the “sensitivity and integrity” of the researcher, the primary data
collection and analysis instrument (Merriam, 2009). Keeping this in mind, I consciously made
the effort to remain objective and open in the process of collecting and analyzing the data as I
sought to understand the characteristics and practices of DLIP principals and relay them with
sufficiently rich description throughout this inductive process.
Interviews
For this study, data was primarily collected through interviews. According to Merriam
(2009), interviewing is needed when we cannot observe behavior, feelings, past events, or how
people interpret their surroundings. Creswell (2014), too, states that interviews are advantageous
for obtaining information that cannot be observed, and participants can provide historical
information. Before heading out to the field, a beta test was conducted to try out the questions in
the interview protocol to assess their comprehensibility and to see if the wording of the questions
would extract the type of information I would be seeking (Merriam, 2009).
I sought to understand principals’ practices and the reasons behind them to support and
sustain the DLIP and promote bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding at their schools.
The interviews allowed for me to maintain control over the line of questioning (Creswell, 2014).
Patton (2002) explains that feelings, thoughts, and intentions are not observable, and we cannot
observe how people have organized their world and the meanings they have attached to it. In
order to capture all of the different ways leaders support the DLIP, district-level administrators,
principals, teachers who teach within the DLIP and those who do not were interviewed.
Qualitative interviews assume the perspective of others is meaningful to understand and share
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 110
(Patton, 2002). In my study, I wanted to understand what principals do in their leadership roles to
ensure the success of the DLIPs at their schools. By examining the role of the principal from the
individual him/herself and from other key people in the organization, I could obtain a clearer
picture of the characteristics and practices that are necessary for school leaders. The staff
members (both DLIP and non-DLIP teachers) helped me understand how principals act as
advocates for the program and change agents in their schools, build and execute the vision, and
develop people. They also provided information about how principals remain involved as
instructional leaders in and out of the classroom, how they cultivate learning at their schools,
build staff capacity, and the ways they allocate resources and demonstrate stewardship.
The principal interviews were foundational to my study. Both principal interviews were
approximately 100 minutes in length. The interviews with district-level administrators were
around 120 minutes in length. Teacher interviews were approximately 60 minutes each. For
each district, I interviewed at least four people: a district-level administrator, an elementary
principal, a teacher who teaches within the DLIP, and a teacher who teaches in a non-DLIP
classroom. The total time for all interviews in the data corpus was 825 minutes in length.
Protocols. According to Patton (2002), a protocol is used to ensure that a consistent line
of inquiry is pursued with each interviewee. My research questions and my conceptual
framework drove the formulation of interview questions. I constructed the interview questions in
a way that generated data that would best answer my research questions. The structure of my
interview protocol was designed to begin with an introduction of who I am and to explain the
overview and purpose of the study. I also established confidentiality and obtained permission to
record the interview. To build rapport with the participant, I asked about their background and
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 111
experience before delving into specific interview questions that were intentionally written to
address the research questions.
In a semi-structured interview format, different types of questions were asked to yield
different types of data: (1) experience and behavior, (2) opinion and values, (3) feeling, (4)
knowledge, and (5) ideal, and (6) devil’s advocate (Patton, 2002; Merriam, 2009). While this list
of question types was drawn from different authors, the combination of these was useful to my
study. Please refer to the Appendices for sample interview questions. I closed each of the
interviews by thanking the participant for their time in talking about their unique perspective on
leadership within Dual Language Immersion Programs. I followed up with each participant by
sending handwritten thank you cards and gift cards to show my appreciation for their time.
In following protocols, I tried to consciously keep the interview focused on the topics as
participants, at times, tended to stray from the prepared set of questions. There were a few
instances when interviewees bird walked from the conversation because they felt compelled to
share something they deemed important even though I did not ask. Thus, having the flexibility to
pick up on markers and add spontaneous questions within a semi-structured interview process
allowed me to yield relevant and meaningful data to inform my study. I was able to extract more
information when necessary while collapsing questions if they inadvertently answered some
while responding to another question. I also wanted to be respectful of the interviewees’ time and
position, listening when necessary to what they may spend several minutes explaining because
they felt it was a significant aspect of their experience. The “free response” answers revealed
information that was worth noting that I did not think to ask. Patton (2002) explained the need to
maintain focus on gathering information that is useful, relevant, and appropriate. As such, I
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 112
worked to balance the need to stay open and flexible to what interviewees wanted to share, while
also keeping the interviews focused on responses that were related to my research questions.
Data Collection Approach. When collecting my interview data, I conducted the
interviews when it was convenient to the interviewees. All of the interviews were scheduled
according to their availability. All of the administrator interviews were held in each of the
participant’s offices during their normal work hours. The teacher interviews were conducted
after school hours when their students were dismissed. I dressed in professional attire,
appropriate for the workplace. Knowing that I would meet with district-level leaders, principals
and teachers, I wanted my attire to be professional in nature, befitting my own role as a principal.
By my dress and demeanor, I meant to communicate a formality to the study and establish an
unspoken understanding of seriousness to my work. The interviews were also audio-recorded,
upon obtaining permission from my respondents. During the interviews, I jotted down
handwritten notes in my journal to record additional questions, thoughts, or comments that were
generated from the interview. Upon each interview, I used a service to transcribe all of the audio
files of the interviews to capture an accurate account of the respondents’ answers verbatim.
However, the notes taken during the interview helped with the facilitation of the interview in real
time as well as aided in the process of initial reflection and analysis of the data. Below is a table
that summarizes my approach to the interviews.
Documents and Artifacts
According to Creswell (2014), documents enable the researcher to obtain the language
and words of the participants and represent the data to which participants have paid attention.
Documents also allow the researcher to examine the data at a time that is convenient and
provides an unobtrusive level of access to the information (Creswell, 2014). It is both time-
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 113
efficient for the researcher and does not rely on the need to have information transcribed for later
analysis.
After each principal interview at their respective schools, I asked if he/she could provide
some documentation to serve as data to support leadership characteristics of the principal or
methods of promoting bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding. Items such as displays of
student work, the school calendar, student handbooks, murals, and signage in their school offices
and around the school were examined. Additionally, I studied the schools’ websites to determine
how the school markets itself and its programs. The website was easy to access, but the other
items required digging through folders and attachments on the school’s website and/or through
direct observation while on the school campus for the interview appointments. While the
principal participants generously offered their time and made themselves available for the length
of the interviews, the request for additional documentation, outside of what was accessible to me
through displayed work at the school or on the website, posed a much harder challenge to
procure. In the end, I chose to utilize the data that was available to me and not press the
principals in my study for other documentation. The following table outlines the different types
of documents that were accessed or observed and the data it yielded to help inform my study.

Table 3.
Documents Collected
Type Information Yielded
Murals Integration of diverse depictions of students; use of languages other
than English; ideals of cultural awareness
Signage Welcome sign in a language other than English; information for
parents and visitors in a language other than English
Student Handbooks Expectations of student conduct and behavior including but not
limited to respect for others
School Calendar Events that celebrate holidays and/or traditions of the target
language culture
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 114
Displays of Student Work Evidence of using the target language in demonstrating academic
learning
School Website Pictures of the school community showing staff, students, and
parents at various events; shows evidence of who participates in
school events and/or who is honored or celebrated

Data Analysis
After each interview, I wrote some immediate thoughts and impressions while the content
was fresh in my mind (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). I sat in my car, allowing myself a few minutes
to process key points that stood out about the participants and/or their responses, making
connections with previous points brought up in earlier interviews. Afterwards, I reviewed my
handwritten notes, reflecting on the data. Merriam (2009) states how working with your own
data is another opportunity to generate insights and hunches in your findings.
In addition to my notes, I had all of the interview data immediately transcribed so that I
could review what was said and how it was said, drawing on specific language from the
respondents. Upon obtaining the transcriptions, I listened to the interviews again while I made
handwritten notes and initial codes in the margins. This process allowed me to listen more
intently on how things were said, not just on what was said. These transcripts formed the data
corpus to which I applied codes during the formal data analysis portion of this study.
Interview data. With the objective of making sense of my data and, essentially, of
answering the research questions I posed at the beginning of my study, I began the process of
coding my handwritten notes along with the interview transcripts (Merriam, 2009). Bogdan and
Biklen (2007) explain how analysis is a method of working with the data, organizing them,
breaking them apart into chunks, coding them, synthesizing them, and looking for patterns. I
used a couple of analytic tools such as questioning and making comparisons to understand the
data on a deeper level and see it from the participants’ perspectives (Corbin & Strauss, 2008).
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Using the qualitative software program, Atlas.ti, I was able to digitally code the
transcripts and organize them efficiently. The program also allowed me to create outputs such as
quotations by codes, word usage, and frequency of codes used to determine significance and
prevalence of ideas, which eventually, led to themes.
I used a priori codes taken from my conceptual framework to initially categorize the data
by themes. I also coded the data using what Lichtman (2014) describes as the constant-
comparative method, a process of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. Open coding
involves the examination of the raw data, then relating the initial codes to one another (axial
coding), and, finally, prioritizing the codes to represent the key concepts (selective coding)
(Lichtman, 2014; Harding, 2013). Miles, Huberman, and Saldana (2014) use the terms First
Cycle- and Second Cycle-coding as the process of generating meaning from the data where
segments of data are summarized first, and then the summaries are grouped into smaller
categories or themes. Harding (2013) states that it is from the data we build conceptual themes
and theory as we undergo analysis. It was through this systematic process that I organized the
data and gleaned meaning from them.
Limitations and Delimitations
A limitation to the study was that the principal interviews, the central component of data
collection, solely depended on self-reported data. Principals could have exaggerated or
embellished the truth to make themselves and their schools seem more successful and positive
than reality may demonstrate. As well, principals may not have communicated all of the specific
characteristics and practices they embody and enact in the “on-the-spot” aspect of an interview.
Another limitation is that many teachers’ perspectives were not captured as I only interviewed
two teachers at each school to represent those who fall into one of two categories: DLIP teachers
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and non-DLIP teachers. Their answers were used to determine the leadership characteristics and
practices of their principal. Being as that the teachers were identified and offered to me by the
principal, I cannot ignore the fact that they may have been partial to the principal to some degree,
people who would be supportive of the principal’s work and who have a healthy working
relationship with him/her. The principals, acting as the gatekeeper, limited whom I had access to
for my study. Due to the fact that each principal purposefully selected the teachers to interview,
the information gleaned mostly reflected the principal in a positive and favorable light.
While the teachers’ responses were in-depth and descriptive, accurately capturing the
information necessary to describe their leaders, they were still individual responses. By only
having a small sampling of teachers interviewed for the research study, the other voices at the
school, which could vary in big and small ways depending on their experiences and time spent at
the school and in their interaction with the principal, were omitted. The time frame of the study
did not allow for more perspectives to be included in the data. Furthermore, as time was a big
factor in compressing the interviews to an approximate six-week period, it did not allow for the
opportunity to directly observe the principals in action by shadowing them for a day or a series
of days to corroborate their verbal responses with their behaviors. This was an additional
limitation.
Delimitations to the study include the research questions which focus on two aspects of
Dual Language Immersion Programs and leadership: (1) identifying the characteristics and
practices of principals that effectively support and sustain DLIPs and (2) identifying how
principals promote a climate of bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding at their schools. I
did not choose to examine the implementation process of the program or the levels of parent
involvement and how it affects student achievement. Another delimitation is that I chose to
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concentrate on two main types of leadership theories, transformational and instructional. I did
not encompass other aspects of leadership theories such as trait, contingency, or transactional
theories (Northouse, 2016) as they do not have a strong connection to this particular study. These
foci shaped the interview protocols, and thus the kind of data I gathered and analyzed.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
While it is nearly impossible to encapsulate an objective truth from a qualitative study, I
used triangulation of the data to ensure credibility or internal validity of the research study
(Merriam, 2009; Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2014; Maxwell, 2013). There are four known
ways to triangulate data: (1) using multiple methods, (2) gathering multiple sources of data, (3)
using multiple investigators, and (4) using multiple theories to confirm emerging findings
(Merriam, 2009). For the purpose of this study, I surveyed multiple sources of information (i.e.
several interviews from key stakeholder groups) gathered from different sources. The multiple
sources helped capture varying perspectives, reducing the chances of biases on my study and,
thus, maximize the credibility of my findings (Maxwell, 2013). Additionally, I drew on the
documents I collected as evidence to corroborate or contradict the findings from the interviews
such as examining the signage in the office or the displays (or lack thereof) of student work in
the target language in the hallways or in other common spaces shared among those who may or
may not be a part of the DLIP.
In the analysis of the data, reflexivity or the researcher’s position expose potential biases
up front, allowing the researcher to clarify and explain how interpretations are formulated
(Merriam, 2009; Maxwell, 2013). Before each interview, I provided a brief synopsis of both my
professional and personal backgrounds, how I am an elementary principal and a parent of
children enrolled in a Dual Language Immersion Program. I also shared that I am bilingual and a
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former English Language Learner in my youth. This introduction was intended to build rapport
with my respondents and to reveal the perspectives I have as a site administrator, a current DLIP
parent, and as a bilingual as I also wear the hat of a researcher.
I carefully inspected all of the interview transcripts and notes. Other ways to address
credibility were to conduct member checks and to spend prolonged time in the field to feel a
saturation point in the findings and emergent themes of the study (Merriam, 2009), but the time
frame of this study did not allow for a long enough duration to reach a point of redundancy with
the data.
Ethics
Merriam (2009) emphasizes the researcher, the primary instrument in gathering data, to
be trustworthy to carry out the study in as ethical of a manner as possible, as the study’s
credibility and the protection of the participants hinges on it. Ethical conduct involves
understanding and negotiating the relationship between the researcher and participants, to protect
the safety, dignity, and privacy of the participants, and to acquire consent of those in the study,
obtaining information, and the sharing of the data collected (Glesne, 2011). Bogdan and Biklen
(2007) also underscore the importance of preserving participants’ confidentiality. Interviews
were obtained with the participants’ consent, and the primary purpose was to gather data and
remain neutral, to refrain from judgment and evaluation (Patton, 2002; Merriam, 2009).
Although the interviews were conducted with professionals outside of my district, it was
important to stress my role strictly as a researcher and a doctoral student and not as a colleague
affiliated from another school district or as a parent of children in a DLIP. All of my interviews
and document collection were conducted with consent, and I sought out the appropriate channels
(i.e. gatekeepers) to obtain access and entry (Maxwell, 2013) to the participants and settings.
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Before disseminating the findings of my study, I stripped the data of any identifying information
so as to ensure the participants’ confidentiality as agreed upon before each interview.

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CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS
The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics and practices of reputably
effective principals needed to support and sustain Dual Language Immersion Programs and how
these principals promote a climate of bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding at their
schools. The study not only looked at the principals in their roles, but it also considered the
context in which they worked, their schools and their districts.
A conceptual framework was designed in Chapter Two to function as a lens by which to
analyze the data collected from one-on-one interviews with each of the participants in the
sample. The conceptual framework presented the components of Dual Language Immersion
Programs that are necessary for students to simultaneously attain language proficiency and
academic achievement with rigorous content standards. The components include use of the
students’ native language, providing a quality curriculum, employing culturally relevant
pedagogy, holding high expectations, having parent involvement, and creating a supportive
school-wide climate. The conceptual framework also described the elements of both
transformational and instructional leadership that are required in order to propel students forward
with this specialized program model embedded in their schools. Aspects of transformational
leadership include setting directions, acting as an agent of change, advocating for equity and
adequacy, redesigning the organization, and developing people. Adequacy refers to meeting the
level of resources necessary to make improvements in student performance and progress (Oden,
Picus, & Goetz, 2010). Instructional leadership comprises of creating goals and collaborative
structures, cultivating learning, demonstrating stewardship, and observing and guiding
instructional practices. Having sensitivity to diversity was also considered to be an important
quality for leaders to have while engaging the practices of transformational and instructional
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leadership as principals who work in Dual Language Immersion Programs specifically work with
students and families of diverse backgrounds.
This chapter will be dedicated to presenting the findings from the study on the
characteristics and practices of reputably effective principals of Dual Language Immersion
Programs. Participants were asked to reflect on leadership qualities, practices that draw mutually
from transformational and instructional leadership, and aspects of school climate. The findings
were developed from their thoughtful responses and provided a fuller picture by which to
contextualize their answers. Interviewing district office administrators and teachers from each of
the principals’ sites ensured credibility and trustworthiness through the triangulation of data
(Merriam, 2009; Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2014; Maxwell, 2013).
The first part of the chapter will be an introduction of the two principals, the nucleus of
my study. Both principals in my study did not seek out positions in schools with a Dual
Language Immersion Program but were strategically placed by their district supervisors in their
respective schools when the opportunity presented itself. It is important to understand their
backgrounds and past experiences that may have inadvertently prepared them and identified
them by their supervisors to take on the role of being an effective principal of Dual Language
Immersion Program schools.
In the subsequent sections of the chapter, I will present the findings by themes drawn
from the data. The themes highlight key characteristics and practices of reputably effective
principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs. Although some characteristics and practices
are necessary of all principals, the findings will show that in schools with Dual Language
Immersion Programs, certain characteristics and practices are heightened and amplified,
distinguishing them from principals without such programs. These characteristics and practices
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also address how principals of these programs intentionally promote bilingualism and cross-
cultural understanding at their schools. The following themes emerged from the data: Effective
principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs (1) are courageous, (2) consciously make
connections, and (3) work in a system-wide, supportive context.
As the reader will recall, I presented a conceptual framework of the literature review
using an analogy of a bicycle to demonstrate the key tenets of both transformational and
instructional leadership that are required by principals to advance the school towards success for
English Language Learners where they are achieving both academic and language proficiency. It
is not by the principal’s efforts alone that will accomplish this objective. It is by riding on the
pathway of Dual Language Immersion Programs that the principal will lead the effort to mitigate
or eliminate the achievement gap.
What the literature does not widely speak to is that while strong leaders are needed at any
school in order to attain student success, a school with a Dual Language Immersion Program
requires strong leadership and more. The rest of this chapter will be devoted to exploring this
idea of more across the three themes stated earlier.
Participants’ Backgrounds in Education
Yvonne
Yvonne’s career in education started in the late 80s when she worked as a teacher’s
assistant in a Title I elementary school while attending classes to obtain her multiple-subject
teaching credential. When she finished her credentialing program, she was hired as a first grade
teacher in the same district. Yvonne eventually moved on to teach in a neighboring district,
taking on another first grade assignment and then, later, teaching English at an adult school.
While working at the adult school, she expanded the program to provide tutoring and homework
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help to the students’ children who would often accompany their parents to the classes. She also
implemented a distance-learning program due to the difficulty in finding qualified teachers who
could commit to a traditional classroom setting in the evenings.
Yvonne then took on the role of being a full time intervention teacher at three different
elementary schools for a number of years, working with the most struggling students from each
grade, until she became a curriculum specialist. It was at this time in her career that she decided
she would acquire her administrative credential. Shortly after completing her credential, she was
hired as an elementary school principal, the role she currently holds today. While Yvonne is not
bilingual, she believes her many years in working with disenfranchised students and families in
addition to her personal relationships with those who do not come from the same cultural
background as herself has shaped her to be more sensitive to others, cautious of making
assumptions, and more attuned to listening to concerns with an open mind. She described her
past experiences as preparation for working in her current context this way:
I feel like all of my experiences have kind of brought me up to this point. I think the
universe has a way of speaking to you and giving you these opportunities. It really just
added all these tools to my repertoire.
Teaching beginning level English to adults and, consequently, providing tutoring and homework
assistance to their children as an informal extension of the program prompted by a need she
identified was part of the unofficial training she received to work with a population of minority
families without English backgrounds. Also, working “full time as an intervention teacher with
struggling students [with the] lowest of the low in kindergarten through fifth grade” allowed
Yvonne to appreciate the unique needs of those who are at-risk and are at the fringes of the
academic community. Under her role as an interventionist, the intervention model was reframed
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from one of simply remediation to a “differentiated enrichment intervention,” addressing the
needs of all students, not just those who were struggling.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth entered into education in the mid-80s when she received her credential and
began teaching as a bilingual Spanish teacher for several years. She then became a teacher
specialist, helping facilitate her district’s Title VII grant, which supported English Language
Learners. Elizabeth explained that her interest in language has been part of her journey as an
educator:
That’s a bit of my passion, I suppose, for dual language. I’ve always had a passion for
language, whether dual language or learning English as a second language.
Unlike Yvonne who does not have a bilingual background, Elizabeth started her career with
another language playing a significant role in her job as a teacher, coach, and, eventually, as an
district and site administrator.
After a few years, she transitioned to become an assistant principal of an elementary
school and then became the principal of that same school where she stayed for over a decade.
During her last couple of years there, a Dual Language Immersion Program was established at
her school site. While Elizabeth is a Spanish bilingual, the target language for the program was
not Spanish. After helping build that program, she was asked to move to another elementary
school in the district that also had a DLIP but in a different language, and she has been the
principal of that school since then.
Elizabeth explained that her family moved frequently as a child, which, she believes
helped her understand how it felt to be the new person in school. She also attributed her Catholic
upbringing to shaping her ability to be empathetic and sensitive to others’ needs. Also, while in
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college, she experienced studying abroad in Europe, helping her understand what it meant to be a
global citizen as she lived among people of different cultural backgrounds. Her Spanish speaking
background has influenced her job choices.
I’ve really been drawn to schools where there [are] more impoverished students and more
English Language Learners and maybe that was just a byproduct of being Spanish
speaking. I thought at the time to learn and speak Spanish would be a benefit in having a
job because I thought there might be more positions available. Then you end up working
with families that, at the time, were poor. Families were not as involved and I guess I
became passionate about those kids because I [wanted] to make that difference.
Both her professional and personal relationships with those from different cultural backgrounds
and languages have also exposed her to traditions and customs that are dissimilar to her own
familial experiences. Elizabeth explained that when “you look at [her], [she is] not even diverse,”
but having family members from a culture with distinct differences as well as her own language
background allows her to recognize and embrace those differences more readily. In fact, both
Yvonne and Elizabeth are in biracial marital relationships, which provides them exposure to
different cultural experiences. The table below summarizes Yvonne’s and Elizabeth’s
backgrounds.

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 126
Table 4.
Principal Participants

Name Years in
Education
Non-Administrative
Experience
Administrative
Experience
Language
Background
Yvonne Over 25 years ! Elementary school
teacher
! Adult school
teacher (English
Language Learners)
! Intervention
specialist
! Curriculum
specialist
! Elementary school
principal
English
Elizabeth Over 30 years ! Elementary
bilingual Spanish
teacher
! Teacher specialist
! Elementary school
assistant principal
! Elementary school
principal
Bilingual
(Spanish)

The following table shows the study’s participants and their affiliation and role with
respect to each of the principals. I will refer to each of the participants by name as I corroborate
my findings with their statements.

Figure 2.
Participants and Affiliations with Principals

*All names are pseudonyms
RICHARD
District
Admin
EMILY
DLIP
Teacher
YVONNE
EDWARD
non-DLIP
Teacher
LEANNE &
ADRIANNA
District
Admin
HAILEY
DLIP
Teacher
ELIZABETH
ANNETTE
non-DLIP
Teacher
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 127
In the next section, I will present each of the themes on the characteristics and practices
of reputably effective principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs and how they
purposefully endorse bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding within their school
communities. First, I will provide evidence that shows successful DLIP principals have courage
to implement and sustain the program at their school site.
What Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs Are Made Of: Courage
As stated in Chapter Two principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs are leading
the charge as they advocate for innovative practices, defy safe but no longer relevant pedagogy,
and change the nature of interactions between students and staff (Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri,
2005). Unfortunately, not all of the various stakeholders embrace the changes principals aim to
implement, and individuals not directly involved in the Dual Language Immersion Program can
be apathetic or resistant to its multi-layered purpose especially if they perceive that one group is
being favored over another (Collier & Thomas, 2014). Due to these challenges, principals of
DLIPs must be transformative leaders, using differences of opinion, hostility, and tension as a
force for motivating others, promoting growth and constructive change (Slaughter, 2012).
Transformative leaders must have the courage to chart a clear vision, uphold high expectations
for all students, and take calculated risks. They are individuals who refuse to acquiesce to the
status quo or policies that perpetuate inequities. For principals of DLIPs, this work takes on
politically charged nuances to boldly reject not only the mediocrity of outdated instructional
practices but also culturally biased beliefs about students and families. This work takes a level of
courage to believe in a program that is outside of the mainstream though gaining in its popularity
throughout the nation, to confidently imagine what can be accomplished through a carefully
crafted plan and purpose, and to dream for others what they could not picture for themselves.
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Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs have the ability to see a bright future for all
students, especially those who have been historically left behind and discriminated against for
their language minority status, with optimism and hope.
Steadfast Visionary
According to Kouzes and Posner (2002), one of the key practices of effective leaders is to
create a compelling vision and dream that can inspire, challenge, and guide others in the
organization. It is not only crucial to have a clear vision but to mobilize the people in the
organization to carry out the plan. When examining the data, there were 45 instances that
surfaced regarding the importance of being a visionary and setting directions as it relates to
effective leadership. One must have a daring determination to not only set a vision that does not
simply maintain achievement levels but to enact a plan that forces forward progression and
improvement. Yvonne stated, “I see the big picture and can articulate our strengths [and] what
our next steps are. You have to be able to develop that plan [based on] the data.” Understanding
what the goals are and building the pathway by which the organization will reach those goals is
the primary function of a leader. Emily, a teacher within the DLIP at Yvonne’s school
underscored this idea: “[Principals] need to be visionaries, [having] the end in mind and an actual
plan on getting there and actual follow through.” Establishing a clear vision involves being able
to assess an organization’s present situation and creating aspirations for the organization that
incorporates everyone. A district administrator in Elizabeth’s district, Leanne, described a strong
school leader this way:
I think a strong school leader, more than anything else, has a vision for their school
beyond what they’re currently doing. If our students are already high achieving, what’s
next? How can we enhance it even more? Maybe it’s our students who are not
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achieving at a level we are not comfortable with, so what’s my vision? How do I
operationalize that? Being that visionary leader really lends itself to what qualities you
need because you have to be able to have the people skills and create those relationships
to leverage and get that buy-in to your vision. You have to be able to operationalize it.
Really, be that action-oriented leader where, ‘Okay, if this is my end vision, where are we
now and what are the steps to be able to break it down very concretely? What steps do we
need to take to get there?’
In addition to having a tangible plan to enact the vision, a collaborative approach when setting
the vision may contribute to the collective buy-in that is vital to its success. Leanne pointed out
the need to “leverage relationships [to] get that buy-in,” which indicates the value and
importance of the work involved in connecting with people. A plan without people in place is a
plan that will go nowhere. A principal must not only be a strategic thinker and organizer to
systematically roll out steps towards fulfilling the school’s vision, but she must also embrace the
talent and skills of those in the organization and motivate them to use it towards a common
purpose. Fullan (2014) also warns principals not to “take relationships for granted” and that an
“engaged principal” always builds and tends to relationships (p. 135). A district administrator in
Yvonne’s district, Richard, described this type of interaction that could strengthen the work of
leaders:
I think you need to be able to go ahead and collaborate with people so that you have a
discussion about your vision and you can braid and blend your vision with other people’s
visions. It takes a lot of collaboration to get there to reach your goal and your vision.
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A shared sense of purpose and direction, established by a group of invested stakeholders, is a
foundational component in realizing the organization’s goals. Leanne cautioned against the
vision being only on the shoulders of the leader:
If it’s only the principal’s vision, it will die. [If the principal is taken] out or when the
principal leaves, they will never sustain [it]. Part of that vision is creating a legacy. The
more aligned that vision can be to the community needs and community’s vision, and it
becomes the community’s vision, then it’s a legacy for that principal. Failure or not, it’s
going to keep going.
A vision for an organization cannot reside with one person, leader or not. Leanne’s statement
underscores the necessity of a vision to live on and grow beyond an individual’s initial idea so
that it has multiple caretakers to carry out the work. Individuals alone cannot carry that torch
forever. As the literature shows, a consistent, embraced value and force must be in place in order
to drive the principals and teachers to make informed decisions toward collective goals (Hunt,
2011). She went on to give an example of a principal whose vision it was to bring the visual and
performing arts concentration to one of their schools:
The visual [and] performing arts component at [the school] was her passion and vision
[along with] the community because they already had that leaning. They wanted that
experience for their kids. That’s why even if she’s not at [the school] anymore and it’s
two principals later, it’s still [there]. That now becomes the school’s identity regardless of
the leader.
While the arts component started with one principal’s idea and effort, the school community
adopted this vision as their own and now sees themselves as having this distinction to set them
apart from other schools in the district. What they stand for now, being a school that promotes
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 131
the visual and performing arts, began with a vision that the principal at the time put in action.
The vision has continued to live on at the school even though that principal has moved into a
different role elsewhere.
Unified vision for Dual Language Immersion. When asked about the vision of the Dual
Language Immersion Program in their respective districts, both principals articulated a vision
that was consistent with their district level administrators and echoed by their teachers in the
DLIP, which illustrates a unified, systemic effort across different roles in the district to carry out
this shared vision for the program. It was evident that in both districts, each person responsible
for some aspect of the DLIP not only defined their specific role, but they all knew what the
district’s mission was also. Yvonne explained the vision of her district’s DLIP in this manner:
The vision of the program is that when [students] leave us, they will be biliterate in both
English and [the target language]. Hopefully, they will be so fluent by the time they
finish middle school or early high school that they can possibly pick up a third language
and have different options within those two languages to do core academic content
classes.
Richard, who works in the same district, expressed this vision in a similar fashion. He said,
We want to provide our students with a strong [target language] development experience
that’s comprehensive, that’s balanced, that’s developmental. We want our program to be
comprehensive so that students get the spectrum of the expected curriculum. The
outcome of the Dual Language experience implies that students are going to be proficient
in English and [the target language] and graduate with the seal of biliteracy.
Both Yvonne and Richard prioritized biliteracy for their district’s vision. They highlighted the
ability to “have different options within the two languages to do core academic content,”
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 132
receiving a “comprehensive” program that allows students to experience a “spectrum of the
curriculum.” In other words, in their district, students who participate in the Dual Language
Immersion Program will be able to learn a range of academic content areas through two
languages, preparing them to be not only bilingual speakers but to also position them to be
completely biliterate, fluidly switching between two languages and, essentially, two worlds with
comfortable proficiency.
Elizabeth defined her school and district’s vision for their Dual Language Immersion
Program by stating the following, “The vision of the program is [that] all students leave the
program bilingual and biliterate.” Hailey, a DLIP teacher at Elizabeth’s school, articulated the
vision as, “Students [will] be able to perform at a proficient level in their second language by the
time they finish high school.” And Adrianna, another district level administrator in Elizabeth’s
district, explained that:
The vision of the program is to make sure that all of our students who are participating in
the [DLIP] are proficient and biliterate in two languages when they promote from
[elementary school], and that they are able then to continue into middle and high school.
If they wish to go into a university in that country where that language is spoken, they
will be accepted and they will be able to be as proficient and successful as if it were a
native born student.
From the principal to the teacher (Hailey) to the district level administrator (Adrianna), there is a
common undercurrent that they were able to articulate and which drives their work in the Dual
Language Immersion Program. All three of them described language proficiency as it relates to
academic achievement. Leanne, who is also a district level administrator in Elizabeth’s district,
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 133
bluntly described bilingualism as being an outdated idea. When ideas and methods are outdated,
there is a measure of courage that one must draw upon to initiate that change. She said,
I think promoting bilingualism [is] outdated because speaking is just a first step. I think
we really need to blow the glass ceiling off of that and really promote it [to] biliteracy
and academic bilingualism so that it’s not just [the ability] to order at a restaurant [or] ask
where the bathroom is. Really promoting bilingualism [is] promoting language
proficiency in whatever language or languages you learn in, [hitting] those higher-level
proficiencies.
By differentiating the ideas of bilingualism and biliteracy, Leanne revealed that bilingualism is,
in reality, a surface level goal. She and her colleagues want students to be bilingual for the
purpose of interacting deeply and meaningfully with content-rich learning, achieving biliteracy.
They courageously dare to want more for their students, again, building a dream for them they or
their parents could not possibly dream for themselves. Ultimately, when biliteracy is attained,
students will not only receive a seal of biliteracy on their high school diplomas after taking the
biliteracy competency exam, they will have a world of options to seek additional schooling or
employment in a different country.
Having a distinct and consistent vision, shared among key stakeholders, supports the
principal’s work in implementing the vision and coordinating the effort to realize it to fruition.
Without knowing what the goals are and how to get there (the plan), it will be impossible to
identify success or failure. Setting directions and the work involved with it such as building the
vision, developing collective goals, and outlining expectations is part of being a transformational
leader that applies to student achievement outcomes (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2006). Creating a plan
that is shared among constituents to put the vision in action is a foundational aspect of the work
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principals (and leaders) do. As the literature and the research suggest, having a vision does not
stop with coming up with good ideas. Given the complicated nature of building buy-in and
collective ownership that is required to put the vision in motion, principals need courage to reach
out to people, some who may be recalcitrant and tied to what is only familiar to them. Principals
must also have the courage to motivate others to adopt the vision and tend to it in their roles so
that ultimately, it becomes the beacon by which the school operates.
Staying the course. As a principal of a school with a Dual Language Immersion
Program, being a steadfast visionary means being deeply dedicated to this vision because
throughout the course of implementation, one’s decisions and actions may be constantly
challenged. Those who do not understand the purpose of this specialized program or who are not
part of it may question the vision. Even those whose children are in the program but who may
not trust in the model when they see them facing difficulty with the language will have trouble
buying in to the program model and supporting the vision. According to Marzano, Waters, and
McNulty (2005), second order change may be characterized with resistance because “only those
who have a broad perspective of the school see the innovation as necessary” (p. 113). The
decision to stay the course to enact the second order change takes courage. Leanne explained,
The principal has to have that unrelenting will to follow this model. We are going to be
rigorous. We are going to support this. We are going to believe in the transfer [of
language]. We are going to hold the parents’ hands when the child does not become
proficient magically in the second grade to say, ‘Please, you said you’re going to stick
with us. Stick with us. Don’t drop. Let your kids struggle because they will achieve on
the other end of it.’
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In this statement, Leanne brought forth an example of parent ambivalence to the model if they
don’t become “proficient magically,” and stated the importance of the principal staying the
course by convincing the parent to stay the course. Emily also reiterated the doubt parents feel
about the efficacy of the program especially when students start out learning the target language
for the majority of their instructional time.
The parents’ big concern is that [their] kid [wasn’t] spelling any English [or reading] in
English. Now in third grade, this is where [we can expect] to see that shift and we [keep]
on telling them, ‘Just wait. Believe us, they’re going to get there,’ and now they’re there.
Now parents are like, ‘That’s what you kept on telling me.’ There is a lot of trust.
In any program or school context, parents place an unspoken trust in their children’s teachers to
attend to their needs and provide meaningful learning experiences that leave lasting impressions.
However, when a program is unconventional and outside of the mainstream like the DLIP, there
is an added layer of trust that must be built so families stay invested in the program. That trust
must also extend to the working relationships between the principal and the teachers in the DLIP
for the program’s success. Emily, a teacher who feels a trusting relationship with her principal,
put it this way:
There are a lot of questions, which are natural, I’m sure, as a parent. With that said,
there’s also a big sense of entitlement that come with [this] group, and they want a lot of
things; some things that are far-fetched. It’s been good to know that I have the support of
my principal. Regardless of what’s going on, I feel like she trusts me. I feel [there is]
mutual respect [and] mutual trust. I feel like she trusts my decision as the classroom
leader, and I feel very comfortable approaching her. I think that that’s powerful.
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Emily essentialized trust as one of the foundational aspects of her professional relationship
between Yvonne and herself. Fullan (2014) stresses the importance of “relational trust” as a
factor in leading successful schools. He defines relational trust as that which “pertains to feelings
that the culture supports” to inspire “continuous learning” and growth “rather than judgments
about how weak or strong” people are (p. 75).
A principal must recognize how vital trusting relationships are to the sustainability of the
vision by creating ownership. The collective support of the district office and classroom teachers
must champion this vision of reaching academic biliteracy in two languages in all phases of a
child’s experience within the program, from recruitment to graduation. As Leanne put it,
“Having that vision at every step” is critical. The literature on transformational leadership
addresses this philosophy. Giles and Hargreaves (2006) underscore that in order to sustain school
success, the capacity of key school stakeholders to develop people, including self-renewal, is
required. A supportive organizational structure that includes a shared commitment and
collaborative culture among its stakeholders, while having relationships built on trust, is
necessary for principals to courageously lead the school towards improvement despite the
challenges and criticism they may face.
Part of being this visionary, then, is to also be the torchbearer of the program; the one
who will communicate its merits and follow through with the supports necessary to see it
succeed. This characteristic is reflected in what district leadership look for when recruiting DLIP
principals. Richard’s approach in selecting a strong principal for a school with a DLIP starts
with:
…[identifying] and [placing] folks that have that strong belief in the Dual Immersion
Program. I think that helps to reinforce that belief in the program. The one thing I would
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say is that if you didn’t have a principal who believed in [the DLIP] and believed that it
could work, your program is not going to be successful. You have to have a principal that
buys into it and a staff that is willing to accept it, as well, too.
Adrianna agreed with Richard’s statement of a principal needing to have a strong belief behind
the work. She said,
[principals] have to be willing to become a student, sort to speak, of the language and of
the culture, and they have to be a cheerleader for that language and that culture. If they’re
not willing to deal with it, that’s not the right principalship for them. Because no matter
how good you are, if you don’t believe in it, it shows. How can you stand there in front of
your students and your parents and try to sell a program that they can tell you don’t
believe in? You’re not going to support them if you don’t believe in it, no matter what
you say.
As Adrianna alluded to above, there is a difference between being an effective principal and an
effective principal of a DLIP school. The latter must believe in the program wholeheartedly. It is
not simply enough to be a deemed a good principal.
This idea of being the primary promoter of the program was also communicated by the
district level leaders in the study. And while they agreed that, on the surface, there are no
distinguishing differences between effective principals and effective principals of Dual Language
Immersion Programs, this notion was refuted by what the principals reported and contrary to
some statements made by the district level administrators. Leanne, a district level administrator,
stressed how “critical [the principal] is and [how important it is to make] sure the [school and the
principal are] a match.” She gave a couple of examples where the district was able to bring in
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principals with “strong backgrounds” or those described as “really dual solid [principals]” with a
“strong dual immersion vision” due to voluntary transfers or retirement.
It was very easy to choose [Nicole McMahon, another principal] for [name of school]
because she had such a strong [target language] bilingual background. You want the right
match of principal and school site, and dual just adds another layer of complexity to it.
What Leanne described speaks to the intricate nature of matching the school’s needs with the
background and skill set that the principal possesses. If there is a Dual Language Immersion
Program at the school, the principal’s repertoire needs to include characteristics and practices
that can properly support the program. Leanne affirmed that adding the element of “dual” onto
the work of an elementary principal, which is already “so hard,” necessitates a leader who is
“passionate and [who can] thrive.” Principals of DLIPs are called to be strong supporters of
multicultural education and especially sensitive to minority issues, communicating this vision
with the entire school community (Aguirre-Baeza, 2001).
Principals cannot separate the vision for the program and the people involved in it.
Elizabeth explained how principals of schools with DLIPs are different from those who do not
have such a program at their schools. They have to be “out there” and “visible.” She defined this
as being:
…less task-oriented and maybe more people oriented. You have to be immersed in the
people part because [you’re dealing with] people’s feelings [and] their emotions.
She explained that decisions necessitate having an understanding of her stakeholders and
considering their needs. This can be achieved in large part by being “immersed in the people
part” through visibility and accessibility.
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Elizabeth fought to keep her program from being split between two schools. She believed
wholeheartedly that the program should be housed from kindergarten through fifth grade at her
school site instead of students being sent to a different school in the district to continue the
program for fourth and fifth grades, an idea that was proposed prior to her tenure to address
space concerns. Parents in the non-DLIP complained about the lack of space at the school and
the increase in student population that the DLIP created, causing constraints in classrooms and
resources, and, consequently, pushing out the neighborhood families to involuntarily transfer to
another school site. Elizabeth, believing in the importance of continuity for the students and
families in the DLIP as well as refusing to see them as “those kids,” ones who are not quite fully
vested members of the school community, advocated fervently to keep the entire elementary
program at her school and succeeded. She explained,
[Those in the DLIP] should have a program that’s continuous so that they’re not
constantly moving. That’s a lot of moving. You want to build a community, and how can
you build that community if half of your school is only going to be here K-3 and then
they’re going to move to another school?
An aspect of what makes the principals different is their background and experiences
working with language and different populations of students. There is an expectation and a
necessity to “know your bilingual research” to adequately support the program. As the reader
will recall from the principal participant backgrounds, Elizabeth is a former bilingual teacher and
well versed in language acquisition. Yvonne, though not a bilingual, was a former English as a
second language teacher and a curriculum specialist who had a solid grasp on this language
learning as well. Emily felt strongly that principals who support the DLIP “should definitely be
aware of the theory” to answer questions from parents such as the differences between 90/10 and
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50/50 programs, the best methods to start integrating English, the recommended age to start
reading and when it should only be oral in the target language. Edward, a non-DLIP teacher,
stressed this aspect of a DLIP principal, as well. He said,
A principal needs to understand the theory behind what makes Dual Language effective
or what can bring down its effectiveness. Having a solid foundation of theory, the
methodology, common concerns parents would have, [and] understanding how language
is acquired [is important].
Even a teacher who does not directly interact with students acquiring and learning content
through another language saw the importance of a principal being well versed in the theory
behind the DLIP. An additional difference is in the attention given to specific practices like
advocating for the DLIP and having the courage to see it through despite the challenges that may
accompany it. Elizabeth identified one of her biggest challenges in promoting the Dual Language
Immersion Program is the constraints placed upon her and what the school can accomplish
because of a lack of time. She not only regularly meets with her staff, teachers both in and
outside of the program with an added layer of time given to her DLIP teachers, but she also often
meets with parents in individual conferences to address their concerns or in DLIP-specific parent
meetings a couple of times a year. Elizabeth expressed her belief by saying,
You’re constantly having to message; that messaging over and over that [students] are
outperforming their English counterparts in a school with high performance. I just believe
in the program so much. I don’t want the kids to drop out. The time factor that you need
if you really believe in the program [to spend] the time with parents to talk to them and
[to spend] time with teachers... is exhausting. There’s a lot of time commitment.
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Elizabeth’s statement illustrates that staying the course and being dedicated to the program’s
vision entail a significant amount of time. Acting as the chief advocate for the program requires
additional time on top of a principal’s basic duties to meet the needs of parents, students, and
teachers involved in the DLIP.
Leanne described being an effective principal of a DLIP school this way:
If you have a Dual Immersion Program at your school, you need to become that principal
regardless if you’re a bilingual [or not]. If you happen to be the principal that has a Dual
Immersion Program, then you better become a big cheerleader and very proficient at Dual
Immersion. If I’m at a Dual Immersion School and I’m bilingual/biliterate, great. It’s an
easier match but not a deal breaker. No matter what the school is, there [are] going to be
matches for your personality, your background, your history, and there [are] going to be
areas that you [have] got to learn or add to your toolbox.
Adrianna concurred that the programs that are at the principal’s school site are the ones they
need to believe in, stand behind, and support. Promoting the program vision takes deliberate
effort and courage in adversity. She said,
[the principal] you put there has got to be somebody who’s going to be a proponent of
what is happening at that school site. I would say that for anything. If you have a STEAM
school, you need a principal who’s going to support STEAM programs there. Maybe you
have an arts magnet, then you need somebody who doesn’t have to be an artist
themselves, but who’s going to be a supporter and advocate for the arts. It’s the same
thing for a Dual Immersion school. Somebody’s going to be an advocate for that.
Richard defined the principal as the “point person” of the program as he noted,
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I believe that principals want to be the torchbearers for the programs at their schools and
they want to believe in those programs, and they want to exhibit talk communication and
expectations about those programs and how successful those programs are. Maybe they
don’t have that background, knowledge, and experience, but, over time, they are going to
learn more about it, and they’re going to be the standard bearers for that program. Maybe
on day one, they don’t have that background knowledge, but they will grow into it.
All of the stakeholders in the Dual Language Immersion Program, not just the principal, need to
share a commitment to the program, and, in a sense, a commitment to one another to uphold the
vision. It is, however, a principal’s responsibility to firmly press on and continue to
collaboratively work with other key players in the organization to fulfill the promises of the
program’s objectives that are not always in alignment with others outside of the program. Leanne
urged principals to commit because
…you’re going to get that criticism. You’re going to get the ignorance, or the anxiety, or
the anger from whomever it’s coming from. You have to be able to smile your way
through it without insulting them or disenfranchising them, but you still know we can do
that. That was really our Board and our leadership at that time, their commitment to Dual
Immersion in the wave and in the phase of [Proposition] 227 is what is notable because
the entire state had said, ‘No, every student should be learning [in] English,’ and [our
district] still [taught in the target language].
According to Leanne, criticism is inevitable given the political implications associated with the
Dual Language Immersion Program. Laws like Proposition 227 outlawed bilingual education in
the state of California in 1998, “forcing” instruction to all students in English-only contexts.
Principals need to be leaders who hold onto their vision and conviction for what is best for
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students and must be willing to walk through this oppositional firestorm with calm and grace.
Adrianna explained this idea succinctly, “Your decisions have to be based, first and foremost, no
matter how much we want what’s best for [adults] in many cases, on what’s best for kids.”
Principals must never lose sight of this fact that they are creating a path and a promising future
for kids.
For Elizabeth’s district, the decision to transition from their established bilingual program
model to the Dual Language Immersion model, demonstrated their professional judgment as
educators to provide effective instruction using students’ native languages while also staying
within the boundaries of the law, disallowing a disparity of expectations and outcomes for
different populations. Their vision and the actions that followed remained unwavering despite
changes in the law. Furthermore, their decision to convert their bilingual program into the Dual
Language Immersion model is evidence of their commitment to students by providing a pathway
to grow their language proficiency while not compromising quality in their learning.
Remarkable differences between principals of schools with or without Dual Language
Immersion Programs may not be readily apparent, however, the choices they make that benefit
students and address their needs speak volumes about the courage it takes to creatively reinvent
ways to deliver valuable instruction for student success. Neither principal in the study sought out
a site leadership position that specifically had a Dual Language Immersion Program, but
knowing that it was a high profile, flagship program at their schools and in each of their districts,
both principals quickly became adept in learning about and advocating for the program. This, in
turn, deepened their belief in the program. This finding is substantiated in the literature. As the
reader will recall, Elmore (2006) explained that leadership practices could be defined and
learned, both replicated and repeated as practice is not synonymous with characteristic. Hitt and
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Tucker (2016) found that leadership practices could be improved upon with effort, positively
impacting student achievement. The practices, or behaviors, are malleable and can change with
deliberate consideration (Hitt & Tucker, 2016).
Summary. Being a steadfast visionary, then, does not only entail having a distinct
purpose and believing in that, but it also means that as a principal, you are an active part of the
program. Adrianna put it in these terms: “It is that ability to become a part of the program that
allows you then, as a principal, to fight for your program.” Given the complexity of needs and
dynamics in schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs, principals who are change
agents, instructional leaders, and those who are adept at managing racial tension and inequities
are indispensible (Calderon & Carreon, 2000). And despite the challenges that come with
supporting and advocating for the program, particularly because it is unconventional, principals
courageously stay the course with the vision. They are marked by determination, knowing where
they are headed is not only powered by others who share in these beliefs but the conviction that
where they are going will serve students judiciously.
Upholding High Expectations
Dual Language Immersion Programs were designed to be different from remedial and
subtractive (typical of traditional English Language Learner programs). Rather a key
characteristic is that they are additive in nature (Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005). An
additive model is one that allows students to develop high levels of proficiency in both the
primary and target languages by using students’ native tongues, focusing on academic rigor and
forming positive attitudes about different cultures (Howard & Christian, 2002; Thomas &
Collier, 2002). While integrating language with rich content area instruction, DLIPs are meant to
raise the bar for all students who then become the beneficiaries of broad opportunities. Schools
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must place high expectations for academic achievement while instructing English Language
Learners (August & Hakuta, 1998). However, the implementation and ongoing support of DLIPs
must balance two different priorities: (1) seeing the DLIP as a vehicle for teaching minority
students with high quality instructional methods using their primary language and (2) promoting
second language acquisition and bilingual proficiency with mainstream children (Valdez, 1997).
Although the involvement of mainstream children has elevated the status of the Dual Language
Immersion Program to one of enrichment and not remediation, it is crucial to remember that in
the effort to bring together cultures, languages, and people, we cannot have different
expectations for students; having over-inflated reactions to mainstream students learning the
target language while for language-minority students, learning English is a given, something to
be taken for granted (Valdez, 1997). Leanne emphasized this point this way:
Dual Immersion cannot be bilingual [education] or the stereotypical bilingual [education]
before 227. It can’t be lower expectations. It can’t be watered down. It has to be
academically more rigorous, more supported, forward thinking. I think why we’re seeing
results in [this school] is because we keep pushing the rigor in the target language. The
kids achieve.
To Leanne’s point, the rigor requires support for students to meet proficiency in the target
language by providing rich curriculum in that language as well as in English. In both of the
districts represented in the study, there was a robust presence of both arts- and technology-
integration in addition to having the Dual Language Immersion arm as part of their instructional
offerings. There was no “watered down” curriculum that provided a fraction of the learning to
students. In fact, it was quite the opposite. They staffed Teachers on Special Assignment to write
grants and provide professional development to enhance its efficacy in schools while also
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providing funds for assemblies, materials, teachers, and other resources, fostering growth in
other aspects of learning at their schools.
In order to provide appropriate resources, principals need to have a strong understanding
of how students acquire language and develop academically in order to properly identify and
address their needs. Leanne explained how:
…the principal really needs to understand that every child who is a little below shouldn’t
qualify for special [education]. You don’t have to retain them, but you need to have high
quality instruction and support in your program.
What Leanne brought up addresses the trajectory of learning in a Dual Language Immersion
Program that principals need to be acutely aware of. As second language proficiency takes
approximately six years to acquire (Collier & Thomas, 2014), in the first two to three years of
the program, while students are still in the development stage of second language acquisition,
their assessment data will reveal a slight underperformance compared to their grade level,
English-only peers. However, as students are exposed to rich content instruction delivered in
both their primary and target languages, their academic performance increases over time and
becomes equivalent, if not exceeding, those of their English-only peers (Collier & Thomas,
2014). Principals must have a strong base of knowledge to advocate for retention in the program,
calming parents’ fears of their children in the second and third grades who may not reflect
proficiency in high-stakes assessments.
Principals also have the responsibility to build social and emotional intelligence for the
benefit of all students. Elizabeth clarified student success this way:
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For me, success is not only academic success. It’s being good citizens, self-confident,
emotionally, and physically sound. The leader is the person who sets the vision in motion
and supports everybody in the school community to making that happen.
Yvonne also reiterated this idea by saying,
[My position entails] making sure instruction is being delivered, what’s required of them;
[Making certain] that the kids are safe [and] that the kids are growing. I also feel like a
role with my Dual Immersion is their social and emotional [growth].
Both Elizabeth and Yvonne described their mission to address the whole child, not just ensuring
that cognitive learning takes place in their schools, but that social and emotional learning has an
equal place in developing citizens who will be active participants in society. In so doing, the
principal must uphold high expectations for the support and development of these different
facets.
Observing and guiding instructional practices. Upholding high expectations for
principals means tending to the work that happens inside classrooms by observing and guiding
instructional practices. To challenge outdated forms of pedagogy that may be familiar and
comfortable but ineffectual requires having to have courageous conversations with teachers,
many whom are veterans in the profession. While the daily work of interacting with students
happens at the classroom level between teachers and students, the principal is the one chiefly in
charge of setting the tone and mindset of the program and making larger instructional decisions
regarding staffing highly qualified teachers, funding and resource allocation, and monitoring the
instructional environment in the school. Adrianna described principals as:
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…the instructional leaders of the school site. That’s the number one priority. [Principals]
are active participants in [professional development], and in [this] district, is part of the
team that delivers the professional development, being the lead on district initiatives.
Pavan and Reed (1994) highlight the importance of instructional leaders being engaged in tasks
related to instruction especially as it relates to upholding high expectations for all students.
Richard stated:
The role of the principal is extremely important, but I think the day to day workings of
that program is so dependent upon students and teachers. If the students weren’t learning,
it would be a detriment to the program. I think it is because of the teachers and their
families, coupled with the principal’s leadership, [that builds] that really positive
learning environment.
Again, while Richard described the teachers and students as critical to the learning endeavor, the
principal provides the leadership to make learning happen.
An example of instructional leadership is when Elizabeth set a school-wide expectation
that writing would be an area of focus, whether students were in the Dual Language Immersion
Program or not. She wanted ample writing opportunities for all students across curricular areas
because she noticed that writing was not happening as frequently as it should in classrooms. She
said,
When I first came here, something I noticed was [that] I didn’t see a lot of writing, and it
really surprised me at a high performance school like this. I think because for so long,
reading was an emphasis, we went through Focus on Results. Most schools identified
reading as a focus area. I think because of that, at least at this school, writing was put to
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the side. Writing is challenging. I just said, ‘I’m [going to] collect writing every two
weeks.’ That’s one way that I ensured writing was taking place.
While Elizabeth was not the one in charge of doing writing instruction, her leadership, through
gentle mandate, made it happen. And while she recognized the challenges associated with what
she was asking her teachers to do, she had the courage to lead that challenge. Annette, a teacher
at Elizabeth’s school, described this requirement in a positive light as she shared how presenting
writing samples to her principal validated the good work happening with her instruction and
highlighted the progress students were making throughout the year. In fact, she commented on
how Elizabeth not only reacts to the writing samples as a whole, but she also writes comments
back to individual students from time to time:
You don’t have to turn in a book of writing, but she does want to see writing on a
[regular] basis. She’ll write things on mine [like], ‘Wow. Some of the writings are really
great.’ She said, ‘I noticed [Jason] has really improved.’ You’re thinking, how could she
remember [Jason]? You’re seeing the writing of the entire school, [and] she knows
[Jason] made progress. Wow. She seems to really retain what she’s looking at. You don’t
feel like you’re turning it in and getting it right back. Many of them, she’ll even put ‘nice
printing’ or ‘good spacing.’ She’ll put a little note on their paper, and they get that from
the principal.
Despite being responsible for the “entire school,” Elizabeth’s follow through with her
requirement allowed this to be a meaningful instructional activity for students and teachers
through her individualized comments rather than a compliance oriented one.
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Elizabeth not only required writing to be submitted to her on a bi-monthly basis, but she
also conducted frequent walk-throughs in classrooms and provides descriptive feedback to her
teachers and her students. She described her presence in classrooms in this way:
Everyday, unless there’s something specific going on, I’m in classrooms. We have 30
classrooms here, so [I am in] every classroom at least twice a week. Sometimes it’s for
formal evaluations, but mostly, it’s informal. When I first started here, that was not the
practice in place. I think teachers were a little concerned and worried. I started off by just
commenting on what they were doing well, practices that were positive. Then later, in
time, I would start asking questions or making a note as a suggestion. Then I leave notes
for kids, usually trying to find the kids that need a little extra praise to catch them doing
something good. Parents always tell me that [their] kids put [the notes] on the
refrigerator.
Like Annette’s pleasantly surprised attitude about Elizabeth’s notes to her and her students,
Elizabeth’s own anecdotal evidence suggests parents, too, value her instructional leadership.
Hailey described Elizabeth’s strong interaction with students when she visits classrooms:
She’ll give little stickers and communicate with students, too. She’s letting the students
know that she cares, too, that she wants to be involved in the classroom. She [has these
target language] stickers that [say], ‘You’re doing a great job. From Principal [last
name].’ She has it on a sticker already printed.
She remembers individual students, taking the time to make note of their learning and
acknowledge the good work she notices. By leaving notes and stickers, Elizabeth was reinforcing
the importance of holding high expectations for the school community for both students and
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teachers. She communicates that learning is a priority at the school. Annette showed appreciation
for Elizabeth frequently visiting classrooms:
She is here so often. I would say at least every other week, if not weekly. Sometimes
briefly and other times, [she will] take the time to write notes to the kids. She walks
around and asks them what they’re working on, asks them to read something. The quality
of her time is really good.
Hailey also expressed her enjoyment in being observed by Elizabeth in broadening her teaching
practices:
It’s like an evaluation in a way because a lot of the questions she asks are to further my
instruction. If I had 20 or 30 more minutes, what could I be doing? What different things
could I have done to make [the lesson] better? It’s always great to have different
perspectives thrown at me. It’s a great way for me to not only evaluate that current
lesson, but to [also] take it further and see what could be the extension of [the] activity.
Elizabeth also commented in the weekly bulletin to the staff about effective strategies she
noticed during her walk-throughs by communicating statements like, “I saw a lot of writing
taking place this week” or “lots of teachers were showing accountability by using white boards
to check for understanding.” Acknowledging and highlighting these pedagogical methods also
indirectly informs the staff of examples of what she would like to see during her observations.
Maintaining high expectations for students also goes in tandem with holding teachers to a high
standard. School leadership has been well documented as the second most important influence on
student achievement next to teacher quality, but maintaining teacher quality relies on strong
leadership (Fullan, 2001; Leithwood, Harris & Hopkins, 2008; Marzano, Waters & McNulty,
2005). This work involves observing and guiding classroom practices regularly, facilitating the
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role of the instructional leader of the school. Leaders do not demonstrate passivity or reactivity
and are, instead, strategic in harnessing resources and building capacity to improve the overall
performance of the organization (Elmore, 2006).
In addition to collecting writing samples and leaving notes for teachers and students
when she conducts walk-throughs, Elizabeth writes a note on every student’s report card at each
grading period (three per year). Writing short messages to students like, “Work on tardies,”
“super job in reading,” or I hope to see those Ns moved to Ss” motivate students and
communicate her close involvement in their learning. She also has teachers submit copies of
students’ progress reports and tracks them for two years. She carefully reads the comments on
both of those reports and tries to coordinate support for the students, following up with teachers
on their next steps for addressing their needs. For Elizabeth, accounting for each student’s
progress is a fundamental aspect of her function as the instructional leader at her school.
Yvonne also recognized that a vital aspect of her position as principal is to serve as an
instructional leader. When she first arrived at her school, she noticed that there was not a
systematic structure for Student Study Teams (SSTs) to streamline the process for identifying
students with academic or behavioral difficulties. She explained,
The SST process when I got here was awful. They would just bring in a sub and meet for
SSTs all day long. Things were not happening with those kids. I really had to come in
and put together a whole new system as far as meeting, documenting, sending out letters
in both languages and making next steps so that it was more systematic. When things
aren’t working, putting systems in place and communicating your expectations to
everyone involved on how we’re going to get through this process [is important].
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In addition to changing the system for SSTs, Yvonne, much like Elizabeth, also spoke to the
importance of observing in classrooms. There was also no informal observation form in place
that could be used for teachers to reflect on their teaching practices. Yvonne created both of
these in her first year as the principal of her school because of the value she saw in observing
inside classrooms. She stated,
The most important thing is getting into classrooms. What I did is put together a CSI
form. What you focus on is content, strategies, and impact. After I [walk] into the class
and [see], I document and write back a note to the teacher that this is what I saw, this is
what you were covering, [these] are the strategies you were using, and this is the impact
on student achievement. Then, I always make a little recommendation if I feel like
something could have been added to take it to the next level.
Identifying and responding to the instructional needs of teachers is key to holding high
expectations for the learning community. Principals must uphold these standards for all teachers
as well as all students from all backgrounds. This is true of all schools. However, for principals
of Dual Language Immersion Programs, the fight to raise standards for students who have
historically been marginalized is ongoing and pushes against the conventional, remedial ways we
have tried to support them. Principals are constantly challenging and correcting deficit mindsets
that have crippled minority students speaking a different language from advancing academically
and aspiring for more. The DLIP, with its integration of students of different language and
cultural, and sometimes, socioeconomic, backgrounds, is an appropriate and ideal vehicle for
these mindsets to be recalibrated and pushed forward. Noguera (2003) warned that when the
adults in the school do not believe in students’ abilities to perform, this minimized belief will
lead to less opportunities afforded to students that would otherwise accelerate them to realize
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their full potential. Noguera’s caution makes it all the more important for principals of EL
students to believe in their abilities and hold them to high standards.
What’s more, principals, sometimes, also have to exceed the expectations of families who
may have mediocre ambitions for their children. They have to convince parents that they can and
should expect more from their children in their language development. Leanne explained how
one parent community within her district only wishes for their children to be able to read and
speak in the target language. She stated,
[We need to make] sure that the parents’ ambition for language is as big as the language
is. That’s a whole other piece of that. The principal has to know and realize, ‘No. You
should want them to continue to study. You should want them to be the linguist, the
academically proficient person,’ but that’s hard.
Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs uphold high expectations for learning both
languages at a rigorous academic level. There is no room for excuses. Yvonne revealed,
The biggest challenges that I’ve had that I would not have if I was just a principal of an
English-only school is [that] not only am I monitoring [student] progress in English, I’m
monitoring their progress in [the target language]. We’re having to thoughtfully look at
our day to make sure that what we’re doing is effective to promote both of those
languages and that I have resources in both.
Part of not accepting excuses for students not learning at high academic levels is to constantly
monitor their progress in both languages. As Yvonne shared, it is important to ensure that
structures are in place so students can attain academic success through the vehicle of both
languages. Both principals also have a deep commitment to making sure that students in the
program do not “fall through the cracks” especially as they are “in the spotlight” as participants
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in the Dual Language Immersion Program. Elizabeth allocated site funds for [target language]
interventions during the instructional day and/or after school. Yvonne provided [target language]
interventions that were embedded in the classroom with the addition of bilingual instructional
aides to support struggling students. Those having trouble with language development receive an
extra dose of language support during the day if they are having difficulty with it just like they
would with English Language Arts or Math. While both principals held high expectations for
their students and staff, they also recognized their role in dedicating sufficient time and funding
to ensuring the success of their Dual Language Immersion students. For both Elizabeth and
Yvonne, providing these necessary resources is an imperative to support the program as setting a
high bar necessitates reciprocal accountability to accomplish both the program and teaching
objectives.
Aspirational goals for self. Principals are not only responsible for the learning and
progress of those at the school, which includes both students and staff, but they are also
responsible for their own learning (Senge, 1990). A principal’s primary role is to be a lead
learner at the school, one who leads teachers while also learning alongside them (Fullan, 2014).
Upholding high expectations first starts with the principal setting the example through modeling
preferred behaviors like participating in professional development, staying abreast of policies
and changes in education, and exchanging ideas with those both in and out of the organization
through collaborative meetings, networking, or using social media tools.
In the era of building 21
st
century skills in schools, leaders must become familiar with all
aspects of addressing the learning required for students of this day and age. Principals must be
adept and comfortable with technology, fluidly using tools that are used by teachers and students.
Leanne shared, “We’ve really come so far, but if you’re not comfortable with smartphones, if
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you’re not comfortable with technology, you have to be that kind of leader who learns it and
thrives in chaos.” Leanne went on to explain that we are in the era of having 20
th
century leaders
leading 21
st
century schools. It is vital that principals be willing to learn different aspects of
education to give them a sufficient foundation to either be the experts or to learn alongside their
teachers. As there is constant shifting in education, whether it is the Common Core standards,
accountability measures, or assessment, principals need to be up to date on this moving
landscape. Adrianna said,
What happened today, what you did today is not necessarily going to work tomorrow.
Your school site is also changing. Your students change every year. Your teachers
change every year. There’s change every single day, and [professional development]
helps you [build] the next phase to you can continue to improve [your school].
Her statement points to the ongoing and ever-evolving work of learning and stretching one self
to remain relevant. This work is not only an imperative for principals, but it is a mandate they
must continue to foster in their staff through their example, allocation of time, and strategic
planning. In other words, principals must make learning a priority for themselves and those in
the organization. Yvonne reported, “I always sit in on any kind of [professional development]
that we do, so I’m learning alongside of [teachers].” Adrianna explained how principals in her
district approach professional development:
Our principals are the instructional leaders at [their] school sites. That’s the number one
priority, so [with professional development], depending on the subject matter, they are
active participants in PD. At every site, our principals are part of [teams] that deliver
professional development, sometimes… most of the time. We believe strongly that [PD]
should be a team of teachers with the principal as part of that team.
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Adrianna talked about how principals are leading the PD at times, but they also work on the team
that sets the direction for professional development at their schools.
Principals must have the courage to admit that they do not hold all of the answers nor
have all of the knowledge required to address every concern that arises. Yvonne, though a
relatively new administrator, understood how she would like to improve as a principal.
Throughout her interview, she responded with candor and vulnerability when she revealed what
she felt was lacking in her own practice and what she would like to do more of as it relates to
enhancing instructional practices:
I would love to have individual teacher meetings to look at their data and their classroom
and check in. I haven’t gotten there yet. My hope is to get into classrooms [with more
frequency]. I really feel like I need to be seeing what is happening at my school. I will tell
you my hope and [what] actually realizes itself do not always connect. Really, my goal is
to get into every classroom at least once every two weeks. Some weeks, it’s just not even
possible.
By indicating her desire to “get into classrooms” more often, Yvonne understands the impact of
her involvement with instructional tasks and how that heavily influences student achievement.
Yvonne also thought about enhancing the Dual Language Immersion Program by sharing its
components with the larger student body:
I feel like one area that I need to do better on is to bring more [target language
opportunities from the outside]. I was also thinking, even my school-wide assemblies that
I conduct all in English, I really should have a [target language] portion. I really would
like to bring my [target language] student speakers in and maybe have them [say] in
[target language] what is said in English.
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Exposing the target language and its culture to the whole school so that more students can
expand their world view and observing teaching practices in classrooms more often are
aspirational goals that Yvonne hopes to achieve as she maintains high expectations of herself.
The desire and duty to improve upon one’s own practice also applies to seasoned
administrators. Elizabeth, who had over 15 years of experience as a site principal, confessed,
There are definitely other principals who are better at managing that data piece. I feel like
that’s an area that I’d like to get even better in. Fortunately, I’m in a school where there
aren’t a lot of kids that [are struggling]. Some people are really good at posting it,
keeping track of it regularly.
She also commented on integrating the aspects of the Dual Language Immersion Program with
the entire school population:
We need to do more. I don’t think there’s enough. [There’s] a little bit of [sharing the
culture], but not so much with the school. My 5
th
grade teacher does a drumming program
and anybody can be a part of that. You don’t just have to be [part of the target culture].
Then they do an end of the year [performance] at one of our spirit assemblies. I think it
would be great if we could do more of that.
Having high expectations for the program and school begins with the one who leads and
oversees both. Both principals modeled ongoing reflection in their practice, seeking growth and
improvement to be a more effective leader for those in their charge. The admittance of
identifying areas that need to be refined was a testament of their strengths as principals rather
than weaknesses. As the literature shows, learning to lead involves reflection, evaluation, and a
commitment to personal learning and development (Ramsden & Lizzio, 1998).
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Establishing equal language status. Having high expectations also means establishing
equal language status in the school, building students’ language and cultural capital. Principals
accomplish this by funding the resources available in the library that are in the target language,
through signage and bulletin boards that are displayed in the common areas throughout the
school like the office and hallways in both languages, observing cultural celebrations of the
target language, and through the principal’s staffing choices, hiring those who are bilingual to
work in non-teaching positions to support the students’ language development in indirect ways at
the school. These deliberate decisions to promote the target language with as much importance
as the English curriculum validates the learning in the DLIP, even if the principals do not share
the same cultural background or speak the target language. Yvonne communicated her strategic
staffing choices this way:
I hired an RSP teacher that speaks the [target language] and a librarian that speaks the
[target language]. I feel like I have enough support here through the teachers and the
support staff. These specialists speak the [target language]. Everybody else around me
speaks the [target language], so I really do utilize them in helping to build that part. I
knew I was lacking in that department because I don’t speak the [target language].
By Yvonne adding staff members and “specialists [who] speak the [target language],” she was
balancing the English speakers with those who also speak the target language, inadvertently
establishing equal status between the two. Yvonne projects the utility and value of the target
language by having bilingual speakers on her school staff.
Providing equal status to both languages is also reflected in how principals communicate
with the school community, whether in written or verbal ways. Elizabeth attempts to incorporate
the target language as she communicates with staff and students:
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 160
We’re doing a better job of signage. In fact, I do have a writing board, too. When I collect
writing, I’ll select some pieces so you’ll see some [target language] writing that’s been
posted.
The writing samples from all of the classrooms are displayed side-by-side, demonstrating
content-area writing from different grade levels, written in different languages. When I walked
through the school to conduct my interviews, I was able to substantiate Elizabeth’s statement
with observational data. What is notable is that high-quality, thoughtful learning was on display.
There were examples of biographical writing in two languages, highlighting the
accomplishments of famous people in the past as well as astronomy related concepts such as the
earth’s rotation around the sun and the elements of the solar system displayed with both
illustrations and writing. Not only does the student work reflect both languages being used, it is
evidence of the high expectations Elizabeth promoted in its quality.
Elizabeth also used the target language to reinforce the high expectations she requires of
her students. Hailey described Elizabeth’s adept skill at communicating with her DLIP students
this way: “The kids [get notes] in both English and the [target language]. They can read it in both
languages. The parents can see it, too.” Hailey’s comment that “they can read it in both
language” signals the high standards communicated by the use of both languages. Using both
languages proficiently points back to the district’s vision of all students achieving not only
bilingualism but also, more importantly, biliteracy by the time they graduate from the district.
Elizabeth modeled this to the best of her ability despite her limitations with the target language
taught at her school, and at the very least, demonstrated the value of both languages.
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When both languages are given equal importance, there should be visible signs and
evidence of both languages being used and valued at the school, not just the DLIP classroom.
Leanne said,
You’ll see student work in both languages. As much as possible, you’ll see the office or
support staff that’s comfortable in both languages. You want to reflect your parents.
When you have a dual program, you bring in a lot of parents in this particular language
group. You want to see resources in the library [and] in the computer lab.
Having equal language status raises the capital of the target language and those who speak it. A
culture of using dual or even multiple languages is not only accepted but also an inspiration and
ambition for students for which to aim.
Summary. While both principals recognized the special nature of the Dual Language
Immersion Program, they also accepted the responsibility of raising the overall level of
performance for all of the students in the school. Principals maintain the belief that all students
are capable, even when they may be the only ones who can see it in some students. They
continue the arduous but inspiring work of daring those around them to believe in their students,
pushing boundaries and shattering narrow-minded beliefs about what students can do. The
literature identifies this practice of debunking deficit mindsets and building students’ capital as a
paradigm of transformational leadership (Arriaza & Henze, 2012). Leanne described it this way:
We have got to move past the subtractive system where it’s English [at] the expense of
the other language. For Dual Immersion, I think it’s becoming an imperative like special
[education]. There’s such a need in the community and in our [students] for
[bilingualism], biliteracy, [and biculturalism], that as painful as it can be to do it, I think
we have a responsibility to expand these programs out.
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Creating a school climate of upholding high expectations actually strengthens the DLIP beyond
its classroom walls as this idea is permeated throughout the school community and owned by
those who contribute to it.
Unafraid to Take Risks
A key tenet of transformational leadership is acting as an agent of change. Marzano,
McNulty, and Waters (2005) characterize risk-taking, challenging established practices, and
enacting change without guarantees of success as key priorities for principals who seek second-
order change, one that is defined as drastic, dramatic, and requiring deep altering of fundamental
practices. The Dual Language Immersion Program necessitates leaders who are unafraid to step
outside of their bubbles and see things from multiple perspectives rather than clinging to
traditional American customs, such as shaking hands and making eye contact when meeting
people for the first time or questioning authority figures and challenging them. A principal that is
inclined to approach people, language, ideas, and culture with openness, even if it is vastly
different from one’s own background and experiences, is one who will make a positive impact
on the program and on the school’s ability to be effective overall. Leanne explained that being a
principal of a Dual Language Immersion Program means,
Going out on a limb and going outside your comfort zone; being a leader in a language
you don’t know and being really that cheerleader, an inclusive personality in embracing
that culture for the kids who are coming into the Dual Immersion Program that are from
that language and culture but also encouraging kids and families, ‘Hey, why English
only? No bilingual in your family? Come join our [target language] program.’
Leanne’s comments about “going out on a limb” and “going outside your comfort zone” speak to
qualities of risk taking and courage. Principals who are leaders and advocates of the program
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 163
rally others around language and encourage teachers, students, and parents to dive into an
innovative approach to learning. They lead by example when asking others to take risks by
operating out of their comfort zones, allowing others to follow and trust in the powerful impact
of the program.
Being a risk-taker means being comfortable with being uncomfortable. This idea may
seem counterintuitive, but leaders of Dual Language Immersion Programs are often forced into
situations that are new or foreign to them, literally and figuratively. Part of stepping out of one’s
comfort zone is in continuous learning. Richard described the purpose of professional
development as one that “questions one’s schema.” He said, “You’re moving beyond what
you’re comfortable with. You’re moving beyond your own personal experiences.” While this is
true for everyone in the profession who relies on continuous learning to stay relevant with
education’s changing landscape, it is especially imperative for site leaders. He went on to say,
“We need to challenge ourselves. I think professional development should be a challenge to us.”
For principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs, this learning does not mean being
bilingual or simply learning a few words or phrases in the target language. It includes knowledge
about language acquisition, Dual Immersion components and research, literacy development, and
culturally relevant pedagogy. If principals do not already have this knowledge, they need to learn
this as their jobs will entail meeting with parents and communicating accurate information
regarding the program in every phase of students’ participation, from recruitment, the duration,
and transition into a middle school program. Leanne specified,
[Principals] have to have a strong background in language acquisition. It can be for
English learners, but they have to become a student of dual immersion and be willing to
take that risk and believe in the Dual Program because you know with the research, you
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 164
don’t anticipate the kids to transition language or to flip language until [around] fourth
grade.
The fact that the results of DLIPs don’t present themselves until later in the program, there is an
element of risk taking on the part of all involved. Principals have to know and understand this
delayed outcome reality and be willing to take the risk needed to support the program. Reflecting
on the beginning of her district’s implementation, Leanne said, “Parents and staff alike, they
[went in] with a leap of faith in a sense because we [were] building the plane while we [were] in
the air.” The element of risk was palpable because the district did not have a concrete plan of
what the end would look like at the start of implementation. The program’s success relies on
principals who are well equipped and versed with this rhetoric because the messaging aspect is
so fundamental. Parents depend on teachers and especially the principal to help them navigate
their children through the course of the program, much of which is different from parents’ own
educational experiences. Due to the unfamiliarity of the program mixed with some parents’
inability to support the second language development at home, they are essentially taking a leap
of faith to trust in the efficacy of the program and the professionals who are educating their
children. Effective principals are invested in the program and act as stewards of this trust as they
consciously work to assuage fears and doubts that parents have. They also stretch parents’
thinking and design a vision for their children that is broader and more ambitious than the
parents’ own language proficiency levels, inviting them to dare to want more their children.
Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs also need to be comfortable with two
different sets of parents, people of different language backgrounds, and those with cultures and
customs that are dissimilar from their own experiences. Elizabeth had the opportunity to visit the
country of the target language represented at her school over the previous summer. This trip is
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 165
offered annually to teachers and principals by a non-governmental educational foundation to
promote understanding and offer support for educators in the United States who lead programs
that advance the language and culture of this country. The summer program for principals is fully
paid for, covering transportation, food, lodging, and tours throughout the country, highlighting
its history and culture. Emily described how her principal, Elizabeth, wanted to go mainly to
experience what it felt like to live in [that country]. Elizabeth came back from her trip abroad
with a newfound appreciation for the people as she learned about the country’s struggles, their
resiliency depicted throughout their tumultuous history, their strengths as a nation, and their
customs and practices that can be learned and adopted in America. She shared,
We should do more of those things. It’s not just ‘you’re in America; you only need to
learn about America.’ You can learn about other people and replicate [what they are
doing]. I’m super passionate about the culture now. After having been there, I’m just like,
‘Oh, this is so great. We can develop kids to have jobs in [that country’s capital city].’
In fact, she divulged that on the flight to the country, she had watched several American movies
to pass the time. On the flight home, she chose to watch movies in the target language because
she was “excited to hear and learn more.” The personal learning she participated in firsthand
fueled this zeal for the language and culture. Traveling to a foreign country whose people neither
speak English nor bear any resemblance to her demonstrated her willingness to take risks in
stepping out of what is comfortable and being open to taking on the role of “other,” one who is
the minority and not in a position of authority.
Incidentally, one of the first things I noticed upon getting situated at a circular table in
Elizabeth’s office where the interview took place was a traditional outfit from the country she
visited hanging from behind her door. This outfit was in her size, leading me to believe that she
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 166
dons the dress for cultural celebrations held throughout the year. Her enthusiasm exhibited by
her willingness to wear the traditional dress of the target language invites her families into the
school community with openness. Annette spoke of the importance of a principal’s role in
having a welcoming mindset:
A principal needs to be willing to immerse themselves in the culture that [is] perhaps not
their own culture. They [should] be very comfortable with the traditional school and the
[other] culture or language. They should be willing to embrace that, so that they can
effectively communicate and then help bridge that between the two different cultures. I
can’t imagine a school principal who isn’t very open and embracing of our heritage as an
immigrant nation.
By a principal being unafraid to “immerse themselves” in a different culture, it not only enables
them to interact effectively within that culture, it also then gives them an understanding that
informs their practices and helps others reach that level of understanding, too. Elizabeth
exemplifies a principal who readily and joyously takes risks, investing in her own learning to
better serve her school community. Adrianna echoed this idea about the principal devoting the
time to be involved in both the dual and traditional programs at the school:
When you have your principal who is going out of their way to try to learn a few things,
if they try and interact and make sure that they are spending their time equally between
both programs, they become a much more beloved principal by the people and a much
more understanding principal in order to make that program successful.
Taking risks encompass operating outside of the familiar, whether it is in the area of
professional development, furthering personal growth and learning, or in reaching outside of
one’s cultural and language comforts. It also includes leading others and showing them how to
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 167
be fellow risk-takers all in the name of bettering practices by teachers and furthering
opportunities for our students, enriching their learning and expanding their thinking.
Summary
Effective principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs are characterized by their
courage as the work demands persistence, conviction, ambition, and finesse with managing and
interacting with people. They are steadfast visionaries who have a clear purpose and mission to
the work they want to accomplish and have a systematic plan to realize it. They do not set out to
do the work on their own. It is quite the opposite. They assiduously harness the strengths of their
team (teachers, staff members, and parents) to address some aspect of the vision.
It is important to note that along with a vision that is shared among stakeholders, there is
a unified vision that is specific to the Dual Language Immersion Program that is equally shared
among principals, teachers, and district administrators. This unified vision for the program helps
individuals understand their roles and that of others in the organization in delivering an excellent
learning experience for students. Additionally, the unified DLIP vision informs the principal’s
practices in supporting and promoting the program effectively so students successfully attain
both language and academic objectives.
Principals who are courageous leaders also uphold high expectations for everyone in the
school community including themselves. They expect that teachers and students will engage in
continuous learning and demonstrate growth, and do not have dissimilar expectations for
different groups. Part of having high expectations is to demonstrate follow through with
accountability. Principals often engage in tasks related to instruction like frequent classroom
visitations, offering feedback in the form of validation or recommendations, having data
conversations, and analyzing student work and grade reports. They also establish equal language
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 168
status at their schools by strategically hiring bilingual support staff that reflect their parent
populations and display signage and student work in both languages. Principals also try to use
the [target language] to communicate in verbal or written communication to the extent they can.
Finally, principals who demonstrate courage are unafraid to take risks and seek to learn
outside of their comfort zones. They continually foster a community of learning, pushing others
toward meaningful and relevant professional development that addresses the skills required of
21
st
century learners. Taking risks also means having the openness to learn from others and their
cultures and see things from multiple perspectives rather than an ethnocentric one. They venture
outside of safe and traditional practices to challenge thinking and promote innovative approaches
to empower students and prepare them for global citizenship.
The following table summarizes the key findings of this section as principals of Dual
Language Immersion Programs are called summon their courage to lead.

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 169
Table 5.
How Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs Exemplify Courage

Principal
Characteristics
Supporting
Literature
Type of Leadership Practices Examples from Findings
Steadfast
visionary
! Kouzes & Posner
(2002)
! Slaughter (2012)
! Arriaza & Henze
(2012)
! Marzano, Waters,
& McNulty
(2005)
! Leithwood &
Jantzi (2006)
! Transformational ! Have a unified
vision for the
DLIP
! Stay the course
! Believe and
advocate for the
program
Yvonne:
“I see the big picture and can articulate our strengths
[and] what our next steps are. You have to be able to
develop that plan [based on] the data.”

Elizabeth:
“The vision of the program is [that] all students leave
the program bilingual and biliterate.”

Leanne:
“The principal has to have that unrelenting will to
follow this model.”

Richard:
“I believe that principals want to be the torchbearers for
the programs at their schools and they want to believe in
those programs, and they want to exhibit talk,
communication, and expectations about those
programs.”

Upholder of
high
expectations
! Freeman,
Freeman, &
Mercuri (2005)
! August &
Hakuta (1998)
! Valdez (1997)
! Pavan & Reed
(1994)
! Elmore (2006)
! Fullan (2001)
! Marzano,
! Transformational
! Instructional
! Observe and
guide
instructional
practices
! Reflective of
one’s own
practices and sets
goals
! Establish equal
language status
Leanne:
“Dual Immersion cannot be bilingual [education] or the
stereotypical bilingual [education] before Proposition
227. It can’t be lower expectations. It can’t be watered
down. It has to be academically more rigorous, more
supported, forward thinking.”

Annette:
“[Elizabeth] is here so often. I would say at least every
other week, if not weekly. [She will] take the time to
write notes to the kids. She walks around and asks them
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 170
Waters, &
McNulty (2005)
! Leithwood &
Jantzi (2006)
what they’re working on. The quality of her time is
really good.”
Yvonne:
“I would love to have individual teacher meetings to
look at their data and their classroom and check in. I
haven’t gotten there yet. Really, my goal is to get into
every classroom at least once every two weeks.”

Yvonne:
“I hired an RSP teacher that speaks the [target language]
and a librarian that speaks the [target language]. I feel
like I have enough support here through the teachers and
the support staff. Everybody else around me speaks the
[target language], so I really do utilize them in helping
to build that part.”

Risk taker ! Marzano,
Waters, &
McNulty (2005)

! Transformational ! Open to change
! Willing to be
uncomfortable
! Operating
outside of the
familiar
Leanne:
“[The principal must be willing to] to go out on a limb,
outside [their] comfort zone, being a leader in a
language you don’t know and being really that
cheerleader, an inclusive personality in embracing that
culture for the kids coming into the Dual Immersion
Program.”

Richard:
“You’re moving beyond what you’re comfortable with.
You’re moving beyond your own personal experiences.”

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 171
What Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs Must Consciously Do: Connect
While schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs have an overall vision for all of
their students, there is also a vision for the DLIP that is specific to the objectives of the program
and are limited to the program’s participants. Given this dynamic, different stakeholders within
the school community have disparate ideas, beliefs, and agendas about the direction of the school
and how resources are allocated and spent. As the Dual Language Immersion Program does not
yield direct benefits to each student in the school, the principal needs to stay attuned to the
misunderstandings or misperceptions of inequity and division among stakeholders and be ready
to address them through transparent and honest conversations all with the goal of keeping a
harmonious school community that interacts as one integrated, unified family. The prerequisite,
non-negotiable skills required to do this kind of work are having exceptional communication
skills, showing a willingness to listen, and being sensitive to the diverse participants in the
school community. Below is a table that shows the number of times administrators and teachers
mentioned “communicator,” “listener,” and “sensitive to diverse populations” as necessary
characteristics/practices of DLIP principals.
Table 6.
Prerequisite Skills of Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs

Characteristic/Practice Number of Times Mentioned
by Administrators
Number of Times Mentioned
by Teachers
Communicator 39 50
Listener 71 36
Sensitive (to Diverse
Populations)
70 21

Teachers in the study were more likely to identify being a strong communicator as a
critical practice of principals while administrators recognized being a good listener and being
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 172
sensitive to diverse populations with more frequency as necessary practices in their roles as
leaders in general but also with respect to leading Dual Language Immersion Programs.
As the reader will recall from Chapter Two, Riehl (2000) contends that there is a
compelling relationship between identity and practice, explaining how administrators who are
women or who are from minority backgrounds can provide fresh and new perspectives and
methods of practice from their unique experiences. Diverse administrators can contribute to the
transformation of schools to be more inclusive through the language that is used and accepted
and the priorities that are put in place that do not exclude or marginalize any one group. While
neither principal in my study is from a minority background, both have personal experiences or
relationships with people of different cultures, allowing them an almost first hand understanding
of seeing from another’s perspective.
Inclusive Mindset
The schools in my research study both had Dual Language Immersion Programs within
their schools where not every student participated. In both schools, the DLIP represented
approximately 25% or less of their overall student population. Due to this composition, it is
imperative that the principal embodies an inclusive mindset, one that is open and willing to listen
to multiple perspectives to make informed decisions to ultimately benefit student outcomes.
According to the literature, one way principals can actively listen to others is through a
framework called pluralistic leadership (Kezar, 2000), drawing on diverse voices from the
organization. In fact, Kezar (2000) argues that women leaders are inclined to view leadership
from a more collective rather than individualistic perspective, empowering others. Leaders who
also deviate from the traditional figure of a middle-aged, white male can offer alternative
viewpoints that could bring minority issues and needs to light (Riehl, 2000). The expertise and
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 173
experiences of diverse administrators can transform schools to be more inclusive places where
diversity is valued and accepted, where language that disrespects or marginalizes one group is
not tolerated, and where enriching educational opportunities are rights and not privileges.
Principals are well positioned to create a space for democratic discourse that is characterized by
honesty and non-manipulative discussions. Incidentally, both of the principal participants in my
study were women. They both demonstrated the willingness to draw in others, share leadership
duties with their partners in the organization, and seek input to inform their decisions. None of
these practices pointed to an inability or unwillingness to lead. These practices, actually,
illustrated the confidence and trust they were willing to impart on their colleagues in the work of
leadership.
Shared leadership was apparent for the two principals in this study. For Yvonne, she had
two key people on her staff to help support her work as a leader. She had a curriculum specialist
who shareed the responsibility of sustaining needs related to instruction, training, and curriculum
at her site. Yvonne also had a full-time intervention specialist whose primary task was to address
the academic needs of at-risk students and to give them strategic interventions in English
Language Arts and Math. Elizabeth also had two main staff members who shared the leadership
functions at her school. She had a full-time assistant principal who performed many of the
administrative duties that she does: teacher evaluations, meetings with parents, disciplining
students, and managing the operations of the school. In addition to another administrator,
Elizabeth also had a Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) who supported the Dual Language
Immersion Program. She is bilingual and bicultural, working specifically with the teachers and
families within the DLIP, supporting curricular needs and professional development, facilitating
parent meetings, and assisting with the recruitment and retention of students in the program. She
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 174
also wrote grants to help financially support the program’s needs. Elizabeth also shared that as
the rigor of lessons increases in the upper grades, she also relied on her TOSA to help with the
language aspect in the evaluations of DLIP teachers, as she was unable to understand the
questioning strategies and students’ oral or written responses. Elizabeth revealed, “I really rely
on [the TOSA] to tell me when the [target language] teachers turn in their writing. [I ask], ‘What
do you think? What does this look like?’ She’ll give me feedback.” It is also important to note
that although Elizabeth’s school is twice the size as Yvonne’s school in student enrollment, they
both had two additional de facto leaders who helped support the teachers and Dual Language
Immersion Program at their sites. Yvonne shared,
What’s been nice is we have a full time at risk intervention specialist who [has] been the
first buffer in sizing up [disciplinary] issues, so I’m not having to interview and get to the
bottom of every single thing that comes across my desk. That’s freed up a little bit of my
time.
Having a “buffer” to handle less urgent or significant issues allowed Yvonne to use her time
strategically towards leading rather than managing the organization. By having confidence in her
teacher specialists and allowing them the opportunity to step in and deal with situations as
needed also built their capacity as fellow leaders on campus, ultimately, serving the school
community more effectively as their needs were being met with the attention they deserve.
While being a woman, obviously, is not a preferred quality or a necessary one in a
principal, it can pose to be advantageous in some ways. They tend to have an inclusive mindset,
are open to hearing multiple perspectives, and are more inclined to share leadership as a way of
leading the organization. Both principals in the study, who happen to be women, demonstrated
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 175
their willingness to listen to others as an imperative to do their work effectively and had people
in place to assist with different leadership responsibilities.
Bridging Two Worlds
The very nature of Dual Language Immersion Programs is to concurrently acquire two
languages and use them as vehicles to access content knowledge and to demonstrate
understanding through those languages. In addition to the acquisition of the two languages,
participants in the program learn about the value and utility of being multilingual, and they gain
the exposure and interactions necessary to become culturally proficient. According to Lindsey,
Robbins, and Terrell (2009), cultural proficiency is defined as “a mindset, a worldview, a way a
person or an organization make assumptions for effectively describing, responding to, and
planning for issues that arise in diverse environments.” Cultural differences are not seen as
negative or problematic issues and, instead, are seen as resources for expanding learning. For
principals of DLIPs, those whose programs are a strand within a school, there is a considerable
amount of effort involved in bringing two different groups of people, those within the DLIP and
those outside of it, together. This effort includes bridging their different ideas, cultures, agendas,
and objectives and form a mutual understanding between them. It is essential that the principal of
a school with a DLIP work to constantly unify the two groups that have the tendency to want to
pull away from one another.
Building staff unity. For both principals in my study, their school communities (those in
and outside of the DLIP) were at odds with one another when they arrived at their sites.
Yvonne’s first impressions of her school based on her observations and in conversations with the
staff, were ones that were “very divided.” She expressed this by saying, “It truly was two schools
operating under one roof.” With the help of the district, principals prior to her began the attempt
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to make the school more appealing to members of the community. Her school was previously
known as an “academically struggling school” with a “huge Title One” population where only
the “dark colored skin” students attended. It was losing enrollment numbers as parents sought
out alternative options in the district. To remedy this, the school began to transform this
reputation by simultaneously addressing those who were not succeeding academically by
changing their intervention structure and by creating a program of attraction with the cooperation
and support of district leaders that would draw students and their families into the school, thus,
the work of implementing the Dual Language Immersion Program commenced.
The program drew in families that it would not otherwise attract to the school and started
to grow steadily in its student enrollment numbers, but this change, while it met the school’s
objectives, caused fission between the staff of those who were in the DLIP and those who were
not. Yvonne described,
It was definitely the Dual Immersion [school] and [the school]. There was a lot of
resentment [within] the staff when I first got here for the Dual Immersion Program. When
they put the program in, every time it grew, they got brand new furniture. They got brand
new everything. [The DLIP teachers] all got instructional assistants and the rest of them
had dingy old furniture, no instructional assistant, no new anything. They really felt like
this was shining star at the school, and the rest of the school was not. They [were] almost
forgotten, almost seen as not important, almost looked down upon.
In the effort to develop the program, they inadvertently created a disruption to the culture of this
small, struggling neighborhood school where many teachers were long time veterans. Those not
immediately involved in the program felt disenfranchised and less valued when they did not
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 177
“share in the pot of gold” or the “manna from heaven.” Richard offered this perspective on the
school’s growing pains,
Oftentimes, people don’t see how the two programs work together, and I think there have
been some experiences where there [have] been some jealousies between the Dual
Immersion Program and the regular school program. There have been times when they’ve
been separated and isolated, separate meetings for both communities [and] separate
meetings for the staff.
These structures needed to change to provide opportunities for people to interact more instead of
in silos. One of Yvonne’s first and ongoing priorities is to intentionally build unity within her
staff and to quell the pervasive feelings of unequal support felt by the staff in her attempt to
promote the Dual Language Immersion Program. She had to firmly enforce the idea of unity with
her staff:
We’re one school. We’re going to do this together. My Dual Immersion had never been
involved in school data chats because they just did their own thing. I said, No, we are one
school. We are all together. You’re going to work with your grade level team. You’re
going to be involved with data chats. We’re all going to work together because we have
to develop a school wide vision.
By bringing the DLIP teachers into conversations with the teachers in the regular program,
Yvonne sent the message that their practices must be the same, irrespective of their program
affiliation.
Similarly, Elizabeth expressed how important it is for principals of DLIPs to practice
inclusiveness because of people’s trepidation of possibly being pushed out by a new program
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 178
growing at the school. This feeling was shared among staff and families. She described it this
way,
I’ve seen this at both schools where I’ve been, and I hear it from the people, too. A Dual
Immersion Program comes in and the folks who aren’t in the program can sometimes feel
threatened. At some schools, the student population shifted and teachers actually did lose
jobs. I think you have to make everyone feel like they’re a part of the school.
Elizabeth shared that one of her “marching orders” was to “make the Dual Immersion Program
feel part of the regular program.” Another aspect of this effort towards unity is in bridging the
cultural differences among staff members and the larger school community with students and
families. Annette, who does not teach in the DLIP at her school, recognized the importance of
the principal’s duty in making everyone in the school community feel comfortable,
The principal needs to be willing to immerse themselves in the culture that perhaps [is]
not their own culture so that they feel comfortable with the traditional school. They
should be willing to embrace that, so that they can effectively communicate and then help
bridge that between the two cultures. I can’t imagine a school principal who isn’t very
open and embracing of our heritage as an immigrant nation. Traditional is afraid of the
other culture and the other culture doesn’t necessarily feel welcomed.
As data presented in the previous theme on courage showed, principals of DLIPs need to be at
ease with going out of their comfort zones to bring others in and make them feel like they have a
place and can feel a sense of belonging. In spite of cultural or language barriers that may exist,
adept and caring principals have an awareness about this need and find solutions to bridge people
to one another.
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One of biggest issues for a school administrator with a DLIP, according to Adrianna, is
maintaining one school with one culture; giving “both sides enough resources, enough
instructional support, enough visibility so it feels like one school with two different programs.”
The principal must fairly allocate resources to meet the needs of the program without sacrificing
the needs of the school as a whole. There must be an understanding of what fairness looks like.
What Adrianna described above does not point to equal distribution of resources, though, on the
surface, fairness might be measured this way. The distribution of funding or resources needs to
be based on equity and not equality, so that the needs of both the program and the traditional side
of the school are satisfactorily being met. According to the literature, equity has been defined as
students receiving the funding, time, and instruction they need to meet achievement goals
(Arriaza & Henze, 2012). It prioritizes the inputs needed so all students have the resources to
meet performance standards. Elizabeth described the challenge of communicating fairness with
resources in this way:
When you value everybody and believe that all children should be successful
academically, that you’re not shortchanging anybody, making it clear that communicating
that just because these students have this, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other
opportunities that everybody has. Yes, we want to be allocating funds for this, but if you
want this, we’ll allocate funds for that, too. We want to make sure that everyone knows
that no one is being shortchanged.
With this understanding, then, the principal of a DLIP must consider what each side needs to feel
supported, and in most cases, what they need will not be the same thing. It is part of the
principal’s job to message this clearly so that these issues do not create divisions or problems
among staff members. Conscientious site leaders need to communicate why certain classrooms
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 180
may be receiving materials or technology not available to all at one time. They also serve as the
voice to the community when donations and foundation grants are given to the school that those
funds are to serve the needs of the whole school, not just one part of the school when it is not a
language-specific grant. Principals have to address the feelings of inequity the English side of the
school may feel when there is funding that supports everyone including the DLIP students when
DLIP-specific funds only go to the program’s participants, refuting the notion that the DLIP is a
“school within a school.” They need to help them understand the differences between equity and
equality. It is on the principal to protect the staff from being in situations where conflict over
resources may arise by thinking with fairness and an equity mindset.
Elizabeth shared this sentiment of the importance of her teachers working closely
together to reinforce the idea of unity. She encouraged her DLIP teachers to be more active and
involved in matters pertaining to the whole school so that their support as teachers is not only
seen within the DLIP but also to the entire school through their presence and participation in
attending outside functions or serving on committees that are not specific to language instruction
like safety or technology. She also persuaded the classes within the Dual Language Immersion
Program to invite the traditional classes to celebrations and presentations that highlight the target
language’s culture or heritage as this serves to not only be opportunities to reveal learning
opportunities for all students, but it also fosters understanding from fellow colleagues and, in
turn, builds support for the program from those who do not teach within it. Elizabeth wanted to
make this more pervasive at her school:
The first grade [DLIP] team does the [target language] Thanksgiving feast. They’ll invite
the other classrooms so it’s not just for the [DLIP] families. They will invite everybody. I
think we’re moving into a better direction or having more outward [participation]. I
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 181
support and advocate and encourage anything they can do to include the other students
[and make them feel a part] of the program. The third grade teachers do a video on the
birth of the [target language] and then they will show it to the other classes, too. That’s
really fun.
She described the practice of including the traditional classes to partake in the learning of those
in the Dual Language Immersion Program because it creates cohesion and unity among the
school community. In addition to the example provided above, Kindergarten classes at
Elizabeth’s school saw the DLIP students in the same grade sing songs in the target language in
their traditional dress when they observed a holiday celebrated by the target language speakers.
Annette, a non-DLIP teacher, described how the exposure to the culture enhances her students’
learning and perspectives:
We got to see the presentation [where we saw them] sing songs [in the target
language]. My kindergarteners had a lot of questions about the clothing. Kindergarteners
are especially so open to learning about different cultures and different ways of
celebrating. They didn’t know what they were singing, but the dress, the songs, and the
tradition left an impact on [them].
While the invitation to attend the performance for Annette and her other non-DLIP colleagues
came from the DLIP teacher in the shared grade level, it was through Elizabeth’s encouragement
that experiences like this are formed. Elizabeth described the challenge of “doing more” to make
the school feel more “inclusive” and “integrated.” She aspired to “[Find] more opportunities for
all of our students to learn about the [target language] culture in ways that make sense.” Hailey
shared how Elizabeth “pushes” the idea of sharing the culture with the whole school whenever
possible, “[promoting] anything the [DLIP teachers] can do to [be inclusive].” She regularly asks
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 182
the DLIP teachers if they can “do something” at whole school events like their Spirit Assemblies.
Hailey said,
We had the entire third grade singing The National Anthem, [and] then the [DLIP]
students sang ‘God Bless America’ in [the target language]. Presenting different
performances like that to [the] entire school, not just within our program or our grade
level, [has] students being aware of the program.
Constantly creating ways for students to “be aware” of the program, to expose all students to
language and culture and “whetting their appetites” so they recognize the value of being a
participant in a global society is a responsibility Elizabeth was cognizant of and tried to address
whenever possible. Student performances were also showcased on the school’s website of
photos. While there was not video to hear what was being sung, there are several pictures of
students from the DLIP singing on the stage of their auditorium.
In the weekly agenda to her staff, Elizabeth highlighted DLIP performances so teachers
could attend, not on a mandatory basis but as a form of invitation. Hailey also explained that
Elizabeth communicated what the Dual Language Immersion Students were doing or
participating in through their weekly parent newsletter to continually build understanding and
awareness within the community. Elizabeth acknowledged the value in promoting the target
language and bilingualism in her school to all students, seeing that as an advantage for them to
view the world more broadly. The work of bridging is ongoing for a principal who has a DLIP at
their site. While constantly promoting the program, principals need to also balance this by
highlighting the accomplishments and good work of all students in the school. Elizabeth
expressed that she regularly shared her school’s successes in the community’s weekly
newspaper, being positive about it. It is important to remember that while a principal of the Dual
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 183
Language Immersion Program must be its chief advocate and “cheerleader,” she must do this
without underselling the merits of the traditional program at the school as this will create
resentment in those not affiliated with the DLIP. Annette revealed that her previous principal
made this mistake when the program began. She said,
The hard part is you have to sell [the program] to parents. I think in selling it to some
parents who were nervous about being at the beginning of the program, to some degree,
[the past principal] sold it as better than the traditional. That first group of parents [came
into the program with] this idea, and they had high expectations. They [thought] they
were special. Not just that, they [thought] the program was superior than [the traditional
side]. That started us off a little rocky with this school within a school [idea].
A conscientious leader must understand this delicate balance of speaking highly of the Dual
Language Immersion Program and highlighting its benefits but must do so without comparison,
as the previous principal did without considering how her approach would damage the
relationships within the school. It can have a negative impact on the school community that the
principal is always trying to keep together.
The importance of building relationships is foundational to creating a sense of unity in
the school. Elizabeth revealed,
When I first came in, [I was] just listening and hearing and figuring out the culture by
listening to people. [I was] going into the staff room, being there at lunch, [and was]
being good to people by bringing lunch for our first staff institute day. [I was also] going
into classrooms and finding the positives [and] having an open door policy.
Elizabeth described the ways she started to build relationships with her new staff, primarily by
being present and listening to them. Hailey described her appreciation for Elizabeth in the ways
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 184
she tries to build relationships with her staff. According to Hailey, Elizabeth demonstrates her
adept skill at developing relationships through her communication and visibility. Hailey said,
She always eats lunch with us. For me, personally, I like to reach out to her. [If there is]
any big event, any big news, I always share with her so that she’s aware of it, too. Any
personal crisis, she’s very understanding of it.
Elizabeth’s practice of “always eating lunch with us,” communicated an openness and
accessibility. Similarly, Annette depicted a “great practice” exhibited by her principal of posting
office hours on her door every day so staff members know when she has a block of time
available for any reason they may need to talk her. Annette also attributed Elizabeth’s prodigious
proclivity to writing handwritten notes and cards to her staff for birthdays, Christmas, or when
she needs to say thank you. She explained, “The handwritten special note makes you feel like she
really gave it more thought.” For Annette, the personal attention Elizabeth gave to her staff
enabled the building of positive relationships.
Both Elizabeth and Yvonne emphasized how they continue to make personal endeavors
to model the idea of building relationships among staff members. Elizabeth shared how her
school is “more harmonious” now compared to when she first started. She attributed this feeling
to “hiring really good people,” those who may be part of the Dual Language Immersion Program
but who are also great teachers. Elizabeth offered one of her newer DLIP teachers as an example
of someone who identifies himself as part of the school, “coming to the lounge and [eating his]
lunch so he gets to know other people,” though he may work in a specialized program. He was
described as “a great guy all around.” He did not separate or segregate himself simply because of
his affiliation to the program. In promoting positive informal interactions among staff members,
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Elizabeth has slowly transformed surface-level impressions and assumptions based on
misunderstandings that have previously hurt the dynamics of her staff.
Yvonne also consciously made efforts to build positive relationships that were not
exclusively professional. She instituted celebrating birthdays among the staff and organized a
monthly potato bar because she noticed that her teachers were not congregating together in the
lounge during lunch. It was a way to draw them out of their rooms and interact. Yvonne also
started buying food to create buy-in, giving her the opportunity to “start chatting” with her staff
and “finding out about them not just in this capacity of professional hats.” She elaborated on this:
Mind you, we’re not BFFs. I know my place. I’m the supervisor here, but I also need to
have that relationship, human relationships with them, so they can trust me, that they can
feel comfortable with me. [Also] being accessible and out there and open; my door is
always open for anything.
While Yvonne knew that her goal was not to befriend her staff, she understood the importance of
knowing them as whole individuals. Emily described her principal, Yvonne, as “just the most
personable person” who has a “sense of vulnerability” that conveys her ability to be “real” with
her staff, fostering trust. She is a “hands-on” type of leader who is “pushing that cart or helping
to lift up that table.” Her willingness to jump in and help is appreciated by teachers. Emily said,
I feel like on the teacher’s end, we’re able to see that she is working with us. We don’t
work for her. She’s working with us, and we work with her. I feel like there’s just this
sense of camaraderie.
In this example, Yvonne’s efforts to build staff unity also enabled her to share her leadership,
which as mentioned in the section above is an important practice of principals. Leanne, a district
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administrator who worked with Elizabeth, described this type of principal as one who is needed
in site leadership today. She said,
I’m looking for that person who is going to be a worker, but you need to be that leader
who is comfortable at every position of leadership. Sometimes you have to be out in front
of the crowd, and rally the troops, and convince them about your vision. There [are] those
times when you have be alongside them and be that collaborative person, a person who
will be comfortable in front, alongside, and behind to be a leader and manager; just be a
good person.
Leanne’s description above points to the complex role of being a principal, one that requires both
the tenets of transformational and instructional leadership (Kouzes & Posner, 2002; Elmore,
2000; Marks & Printy, 2003). Principals must have an awareness of how to exert their role in any
given situation. While they are always the leader of the school site, they never forget that they
are part of a team, which requires support from every angle. This perspective of leadership is true
for all principals, but being collaborative and relational, as described by the participants in the
study, are even more critical with principals of DLIPs.
According to Elizabeth, when asked to further describe what she perceived to be the
differences between a principal and a principal of a school with a Dual Language Immersion
Program, she used the word, “daunting.” She explained,
You’re really trying to make what some people think of as two communities, but you’re
trying to bring them together, and you have to be very deft at a lot of people skills. There
might even still be a little bit of underlying worry and concern. People think that the Dual
Immersion classes are taking away from the general numbers of students.
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A principal’s people skills are critical to bridging the gap between the regular and Dual
Immersion programs. Adrianna also underscored the marriage between possessing knowledge
and skills are intertwined for principals. She said, “If you don’t have the ability to work with
people, with all kinds of people, you’re not going to be successful no matter how knowledgeable
[or] how skillful you may be.” The ongoing need to communicate with folks thinking that the
other group is getting something more is part of a DLIP principal’s responsibility to help others
understand this.
Yvonne also believed that being a principal of a school with a Dual Language Immersion
Program is different than being a principal without a program. For her, this is primarily true
because of the challenges associated with running a DLIP. She expressed how principals of
DLIPs “have to be up to date on [their] knowledge and be able to alleviate fears on both sides. It
[also involves] bringing everyone together.” In other words, there are additional challenges that
DLIP principals must overcome, particularly as it relates to staff unity.
Another aspect of this work also comprises of facilitating opportunities for teachers to
collaborate and work together. Elmore (2000) illustrates productive environments as those
characterized by collaboration and ongoing improvement, where efforts are focused on skill
development on delineated goals. The literature also describes the principal’s role in supporting
this effort by helping coordinate the learning and collaborative professional development
(Elmore, 2000). Both principals built in collaboration days for their grade levels a few days a
year to plan lessons and assessments that align to the Common Core Standards as well as to
receive additional training addressing their new adoptions or subject specific curriculum by
arranging for consultants or specialists to work with them. Given the goal of DLIPs as being
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rigorous and standards-based, rather than a watered down, remedial program, this push for
collaboration across programs makes absolute sense.
For Yvonne, the grade level collaboration time for her teachers happened six times a year
or two per trimester. The collaboration time was generally flexible to the needs of the grade level
to use as they saw fit, and while Yvonne did not attend these collaboration sessions, she asked
for teachers to turn in a form that describes what they worked on, what they need, and the next
steps they will take. Edward, one of the non-DLIP teachers, expressed how much he valued the
time given to attend to instructional matters:
If it were just a [weekday] afternoon [to work on the writing program and assessments], I
wouldn’t have had the time or the energy for that. I feel like my writing is a lot better
than in the fall. I just think that allowing you to do it and [giving] you enough
accountability [so] that you’re not going to go waste your time [matters].
According to Yvonne, the collaboration time that grade levels participated in was different for
those in the Dual Language Immersion Program. The DLIP teachers at her school collaborated
with others in their grade level in the program from a different school site because at each of the
DLIP schools in their district, they only had one DLIP classroom per grade level. They would
meet to “pace, plan, and bounce ideas off each other.” The collaboration for Yvonne’s school
stayed specific to grade level teams and whether or not they were in the DLIP. Other than having
whole staff or grade level meetings, teachers within and outside of the DLIP did not collaborate
extensively to deeply discuss matters pertaining to instruction.
At Elizabeth’s school, one meeting a month was devoted to a staff meeting for everyone.
It was at these meetings that she incorporated team building activities and professional
development. Elizabeth also provided collaboration days for teachers to work on instructional
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tasks. At her school, all of the teachers in the grade level, both those in the DLIP and those in the
traditional program, met together. Hailey expressed how these grade level meetings allow for
teachers to “see [from] different perspectives” and are opportunities to “push boundaries” as the
other grade level teachers can see the DLIP students learning the standards and acquiring similar
skills by doing the same projects while creating different products. Hailey, a teacher within the
DLIP, described this as “a gift,” something that teachers would not be exposed to unless they
were at a school with a Dual Language Immersion Program. Meeting together as a whole grade
level team allowed for this type of introduction to the language and culture of the target language
for all teachers, which, ultimately, builds an appreciation and support for the program by those
not directly involved. Hailey also identified how important it is for principals of schools with
DLIPs to manage the staff “with sensitivity,” bring the staff together instead of as DLIP teachers
or non-DLIP teachers, making sure “there is no division within one site.”
Like Yvonne, in addition to within-school grade level collaboration, Elizabeth also
encouraged cross-school collaboration among her Dual Language Immersion Program teachers.
In fact, Elizabeth personally visited the other school in the district that had the sister program and
gathered ideas and resources that she brought back for her teachers to try. Instead of impressing
her newfound information on her team, she asked them what they thought. According to Hailey:
She’s very aware. She doesn’t put the [DLIP] as her second priority. She always wants to
make sure that the amount of energy that she puts in for [the school] is the same energy
she is putting for the [DLIP]. She really does value the Dual Immersion Program, and
you can see that.
Elizabeth’s investment in providing resources or time for teachers to develop excellence in the
DLIP also translates to fostering excellence at her school overall. Her Teacher on Special
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Assignment who supported the Dual Language Immersion Program helped facilitate some of
these meetings as teachers have their own collaboration days on top the grade level meetings,
allowing for vertical alignment discussions about the way the standards and units of study are
presented to students in the different grade levels. They also discuss what types of terms and
vocabulary would be used to present, for example, mathematical concepts in the target language
throughout the grades to create consistency in learning and minimize confusion. The DLIP
teachers also met with their DLIP/grade-level partner from the sister program in the district,
allowing for further cohesion of instruction specific to the target language. Adrianna underscored
the importance of a leader who encourages “one school [that] is going to learn together” to
further the idea that what is good for some could be good for all.
The work of building unity among staff members is reflected in the literature on best
practices of Dual Language Immersion Programs. According to Lindholm-Leary (2005), the
principal, as the main advocate for the program, must act as a liaison, working closely with all
invested stakeholders, to ensure adequate training and needed resources to address the program’s
goals, helping facilitate staff cohesion and collaboration. Furthermore, the research on both
transformational and instructional leadership include this aspect of developing people in the
organization, creating opportunities for continued learning, improving instructional practices,
and designing structures for collaboration.
Summary. To be an effective principal, building staff unity through fostering
relationships takes a deep understanding of how to position oneself in different situations.
Sometimes, there are directives that must be communicated to keep the staff operating together
like what Yvonne had to do when she affirmed the idea of one school with her staff. There is
sensitivity to the interactions among people, the language and discussions taking place, and
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assuaging fears about the future direction of the program and how it fits within the vision of the
school. Principals of DLIPs work to connect people and ideas together to build relationships that
strengthen the school community made up of staff, parents, and, of course, students.
Without compromising the integrity of the program, the principal must make conscious
effort to integrate the program into the fabric of the overall school community to minimize
tendencies to isolate and instead encourage the staff to work together toward overall school
goals.
Bilingual and bicultural factors. Research on the components of Dual Language
Immersion Programs (Lindholm-Leary, 2005) does not address the necessity of principals or
other leaders to be bilingual or bicultural. The research emphasizes that teachers within the DLIP
have native or native-like ability in the language, but it does not raise the concern of principals
being able to speak the language. Across all of my study’s participants, they concurred that
bilingualism is preferred in a principal of a school with a Dual Language Immersion Program but
not essential. Bridging two worlds, then doesn’t require that one be located in both worlds
through language ability or culture, although if one is, it can be seen as an asset. Elizabeth
explained the idea in this way:
I think it’s like being a teacher. You don’t have to have kids to be a good teacher but
having kids does inform your practice in a way that’s different. I think the same thing for
a principal. I don’t think it’s a prerequisite, but I think it’s really helpful. I think it does
inform your practice in a different way. I am not a native Spanish speaker. I had to learn
it. I do think I have an advantage over people who were not bilingual teachers. I think
having gone to [the target language’s country], I feel like I have a deeper understanding
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of my parent population. I think it enhanced my biculturalism [though] not completely.
It’s an asset.
For Elizabeth, being bilingual allowed her to be informed by that experience in different ways
compared to a principal who is not bilingual. Leanne also expressed this skill as a bonus, not a
requirement. She said,
I think it’s a bonus if you have that cultural match, but if you [do], then your challenges
for the English side of the school is to make sure that as a leader, that principal gets buy-
in and collaboration [from both] the Dual Immersion Program and the English-only
program.
This statement shows that either way, the principal must work to bridge the two worlds. If there
is a cultural match between the principal and the DLIP, efforts must be made to get buy in from
the regular program staff. If there isn’t a cultural match between the principal and the DLIP on
the other hand, efforts must be made to get buy in from the DLIP staff. She provided two
examples of principals who demonstrated this in her district, one from her own personal
experience when she occupied a previous role as a principal with a Dual Language Immersion
Program:
The principal at [name of school], a [target language] bilingual, had to really consciously
work at creating those relationships with the parents in the non-dual side who aren’t [part
of the target culture] so that they knew that she was there for them, too. When I was the
principal at [a different school], I had the English side of the house. Now, I knew as a
leader, I had to consciously work to be the biggest cheerleader for my Dual Immersion
Program even though I didn’t share the language.
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According to Leanne, the idea that the parents can “see themselves” and “see the future of their
kids in the principal” is important in a leader who may be bilingual or bicultural, but it is not a
“deal breaker.” It can make the work easier as a representative of the target language and culture,
but it can, conversely, create an unintended problem when some stakeholders conclude that the
principal does not “care about the English side” of the school simply because of his/her bilingual
or bicultural background. What is essentially the priority to remember, then, is to be an advocate
of bilingualism and language learning through the promotion of the specific language or culture
at the school site.
Communication and building good relationships with those who share the language and
culture are certainly made easier if there is a shared background and experience between the
principal and parents. Yvonne pointed out “you can’t do anything if you don’t have
relationships,” and lamented that building relationships with those whose first language is not
English would be more easily facilitated if she were bilingual. She said,
Dual Immersion is a little different, and it is an area that often worried me because I do
not speak a second language. I thought, how can I be a principal of a school when I can’t
speak the target language, and I think it would be much easier if I did, especially to build
community with that target language’s population, the families.
Emily shared Yvonne’s sentiment of how helpful it would be if the principal could speak the
target language to bridge the communication between the school and families:
We have one family who is actually very outspoken, and they’re a [target language] only
family. When they have concerns, it’s a barrier of communication. You can tell [the]
parents are trying to say something, but it gets lost in translation. I feel in that case, it
would help. I also think maybe there would be a greater trust in the program when we do
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tours. If there [are target language] speaking families, and if the principal was able to
speak [the target language], they could do a [target language] tour.
Elizabeth also confessed that she sometimes felt “bad that [she] doesn’t represent the
community,” not being from the target language’s ethnic background or from any minority for
that matter. Hailey also discussed how her DLIP parents are hesitant to approach the principal
and get involved in the school due to language and cultural barriers. She explained,
The majority of the [target language]’s parents, they’re first generation, so they’re not so
comfortable with English. [They don’t understand that] speaking with the principal [is]
not always a bad thing. The principal can make jokes and have a casual conversation, but
some of the parents don’t want to offend her by asking simple questions or asking [for]
small requests. They hold a lot of things back.
Hailey’s explanation points to cultural differences, not just language differences, which can
disrupt relationships between the principal and target language families. Hailey shared that
Elizabeth started to notice this tendency from her DLIP parents to be reserved and made a more
concerted effort to be more visible and approachable, encouraging parents to feel comfortable to
come talk to her. While Elizabeth did not acquire the language to bridge the distance, she
changed her approach and practice that allowed parents to feel welcome to want to interact with
her, even on a casual level. She strives to project her passion and excitement about the program
through her interaction with parents.
Bilingualism has practical benefits beyond being able to communicate with more
families. Yvonne reflected on how helpful speaking the target language could be in her teacher
evaluations. She explained,
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I don’t speak [the target language]. I think it would definitely be beneficial, but I can
survive with not [speaking it]. I evaluate teachers without even understanding the
language. I know best practices. I know engagement. I can follow along in that regard, so
I can see the critical components play out even though I don’t speak the target language. I
will tell you that [as we go up in grades], I’ll have to bring someone with me. It’s gone
now beyond my level of understanding.
Elizabeth intimated the same thing about relying on her TOSA for similar information whether it
is in conducting formal observations or when examining student work samples. While being able
to better access the lessons in Dual Language Immersion classrooms, bilingualism can be a
“plus” according to Hailey because principals would be able to “understand what the students are
going through.” When principals have that understanding and, sometimes the hardship, of
acquiring another language, they are able to draw from that personal experience to empathize
with students and their families. There is a greater level of awareness and appreciation for the
challenges students who are learning another language face. She went on to say,
I don’t think it’s necessary [to be bilingual or bicultural], but it’s always great to have it
[in] their background if they already went through some years of learning [a] new
language or living in a different country.
In her statement above, Hailey acknowledged that one’s own experience of living abroad or
learning a new languages sheds light on the challenges associated with that, thus being able to be
more empathetic. With that greater awareness comes the ability to mediate and offer support to
minimize the challenges.
Although Edward is not a DLIP teacher, he guessed that the necessity for a DLIP
principal to speak the target language may depend on how much of the school’s population was
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involved in the program. At his school, it was a “fraction” of the school, not demanding that the
principal have that language background. If the school had a more robust target language
population, he felt that it would be “very important” for the principal to be “very much
connected to the community” and “embody” everything that it is. However, despite these school
factors, the requirement to be bilingual was deemed to be a “bonus” and “an asset that’s helpful”
by everyone in the study.
Adrianna maintained that what is most important in the principal’s role extend beyond
being able to speak the languages represented at the school. She said,
Some people will tell you [principals] have to speak the language, [that] they have to
have a cultural role in it. That [is] always great, but those are very limiting factors. I’ve
seen excellent principals of Dual Immersion Programs who didn’t speak the language,
but who were willing to learn the culture, not only of the language and the history of the
specific language being taught, but also [of] the culture of the school itself. They were
willing to maintain a culture of duality at that school.
In Adrianna’s mind, more important than being bilingual and bicultural is a principal’s
willingness to embrace a culture of duality, and to continually strive to bridge the two worlds by
learning more about the world that is more foreign to him or her.
Summary. For a principal of a school with a Dual Language Immersion Program, having
the ability to speak the target language or have an intimate understanding of the culture can make
particular aspects of facilitating the program easier and effortless. They are able to communicate
directly with all parents, drawing them in informally or encouraging them to get involved in
greater ways through committees that require parent participation. Principals are also able to
understand the challenges that students face in the program and, thus, support their needs better
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with well placed resources. The ability to evaluate teacher lessons and boost their efficacy by
seeing its nuances is also made easier.
While bilingualism and biculturalism remove barriers that hinder first-hand
communication and the ability to build relationships, it is not a necessity, a foundational
characteristic or practice that would deem a principal effective. What is more important, then, is
for principals to have a clear vision for the program and the school, which, incidentally, should
not be in competition with one another. They need to recognize and eliminate obstacles that can
impede communication and, instead, find solutions and strategies to allow for their better access
to the language and culture like relying on other staff members to fill in those gaps. Furthermore,
principals need to remain a student of bilingualism and language acquisition, understanding the
components of the Dual Language Immersion Program. They need to be a proponent of the
program while serving the larger school community, continuously bridging understanding,
appreciation, and support for all teachers, all parents, and, of course, all students. The effort to
unite is a daily task, and principals of DLIPs must be sensitive of this and never forget their
purpose in each conversation.
Partnering with Parents
The literature on the essential components of Dual Language Immersion Programs or
those that address the needs of English Language Learners emphasize the active role of parents
and families in the program and school community (Lindholm-Leary, 2001, 2005; August &
Hakuta, 1998; Alanis & Rodriguez, 2008). The connection parents make with the school is a key
factor in predicting positive outcomes for students (August & Hakuta, 1998). In examples of
successful Dual Language Immersion Programs, parent involvement was reported to be high,
evident from regular volunteerism in classrooms and in facilitating the learning process that
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extended outside of school (Alanis & Rodriguez, 2008). Parents also participated in their own
learning as partners of the DLIP to increase their own knowledge about literacy, bilingualism,
and biculturalism. These learning opportunities occurred in regular parent meetings. It is
important to note that the emphasis on learning within the DLIP did not only include students, it
stretched out to their parents for maximum efficacy and support.
Appreciate their differences. Like the students who come in to the Dual Language
Immersion Program, the parents also come with different language proficiencies and educational
backgrounds. Just as good teachers would not treat all of their students with a “one size fits all”
model, it would be a mistake to treat all parents in the same way given their various differences
and needs. Effective principals of DLIPs recognize these differences in their parents and adjust
accordingly to attract diverse families into the program, build relationships, effectively
communicate, and welcome their involvement in the larger school community. Adrianna
explained how principals need to learn the culture of their communities:
They learn about the [target language] culture in order to be able to ensure that the [target
language] community is feeling welcome at the school site because it their home, too. If
the principals don’t do that, if the principals don’t start talking about that culture to
teachers who may not know that there is a bit of a difference in the culture, not bad, just
different, there could be misunderstandings that arise that are going to cause problems.
It’s our job as administrators to cause as few problems as possible, to alleviate those
problems before they become problems.
Learning the culture is a basic first step in partnering with parents. Principals must seek to be a
student of the culture with the intent of building strong relationships with parents and involve
them in the school as active participants who will support student learning.
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In both districts in my study, the Dual Language Immersion Program was “extremely
popular.” Richard explained that in his district, where Yvonne worked:
We have waitlists that people are dying to get in. People have been waitlisted on for
Kindergarten going into first grade. I have parents who take their children to after school
programs to learn Spanish so they could test into the program as a Spanish language
model for the program.
In Elizabeth’s district, thousands of students are enrolled in the DLIP with waiting lists that far
exceeded actual capacity. It is noteworthy to clarify that the program in Richard’s district was
found to be popular among English-only families, not necessarily target language speaking
families. The waiting lists exclusively were of students who came from English speaking homes.
In fact, Richard shared that one of the challenges of supporting and sustaining the Dual
Language Immersion Program in his district was sufficiently recruiting enough target language
speaking students to fill the classes at the ideal ratio they were seeking, which was 50% English
proficient and 50% target language proficient. He explained,
We don’t have enough [target] language models in our classrooms. In our experience, we
have a very hard time getting our [target language] students into the program. We have
some students in some of these schools that could transfer from that school intra-district
into a [DLIP] school. I think transportation is an issue. I think there’s also a belief going
back to parents’ experiences that [target] language learning was not a cool thing. Now
they’ve carried that with them as adults with their children, and I think they’re hesitant to
go ahead and say they want to place their children into [target language] dual immersion
because of their personal experiences.
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What Richard was referring to was the issue of recruitment. Leaders, both district and site
administrators, need to think about the differences in families when trying to promote and attract
students into the DLIP. Yvonne also shared the struggle of balancing the classes with an
adequate number of target language speaking students. It is extremely difficult to add students as
the grades advance because of the language proficiency requirement. She tried reaching out to
fellow principals in her district asking for target language speakers who were new to the country.
She wanted to consider enrolling newly arrived immigrants in her Dual Language Immersion
Program to offer a smoother transition for students who would have the ability to learn content
while using their native language and to also help the program stay strong in its enrollment
numbers because natural attrition does occur as students move away or voluntarily drop out over
time. She explained,
We need to do a better job of recruitment. Again, I think it’s making the other principals
understand that this is so beneficial for those students, but I also think we need to do a
better [job at public relations]. We need to either go to where [the target language
families] are going, whether it’s the markets or the churches and really make a push for
PR that way or make personal phone calls.
As this statement shows, student enrollment has much to do with the principals’ and districts’
ability to partner with families from the target language so as to encourage them to consider the
DLIP. Emily also expressed her concern about not bringing in enough target language speakers
into the program, feeling that for her district, the program has predominantly served as a “form
of enrichment and more of a way to give [the English only] kids another boost in life.” She
passionately believed that the Dual Language Immersion Program was meant for English
learners. She said,
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We see so many English learners just fall behind in English-only classrooms, and Dual
Immersion overall really meant to serve them in so many ways. We’re really working on
getting more English learners in the program because [there’s] just a lack of information
in the community. Many of our ELs and their families just don’t know the benefits of
Dual Immersion and what that looks like. They don’t know what that means. My kid
already speaks [the target language]. What is the difference between bilingualism and
biliteracy?
Emily recognized the DLIP as a program that may benefit all students but it is especially
powerful in teaching English Language Learners who have been historically relegated to
remedial, subtractive programs (Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2005; August & Hakuta, 1998).
This belief that the Dual Language Immersion Program was designed for the English learners
first is validated by researchers Thomas and Collier (2002, 2012, 2014) whose meta-analysis of
school effectiveness for language minority students’ long-term academic achievement
underscore the power of the DLIP model. Having examined over eight million student records
from a national database, Thomas and Collier concluded that the DLIP is an “achievement
amplifier,” finding no other instructional program more effective in increasing student
achievement on a long-term basis for all but especially that of historically marginalized minority
students. Meeting the needs of English learners must come first even within this positive surge of
popularity of native English speakers seeking to enroll in DLIPs. They urged,
Most dual languages directors recognize they must first serve the most ‘at-risk’
populations. With English learners at the top of the list of those needing dual language
programs (given that they have the largest ‘gap’ to close in second language academic
achievement), it is crucial that at least half of each dual language class be reserved for
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these students, when the partner language is the English learners’ heritage language
(Collier & Thomas, 2014).
For Yvonne’s district, which has a significant population of language minority students,
attracting more of these students in the DLIP would greatly improve their educational outcomes
while implementing the program with true fidelity in providing strong language models.
Convincing the target language families in the community that the Dual Language
Immersion Program could be of great benefit to their children is an area that requires special
consideration and attention. In order to provide enough peer language models in classrooms,
principals (and district personnel) need to approach the target language families with data and
facts that are compelling, use language that is inviting, and welcome them into the school
community for open discussions where they feel comfortable enough to ask questions. The
ability to attract more target language families into the program with a specialized lens will
ultimately benefit the students who will participate in the program no matter what their initial
language proficiencies are.
In contrast to the target language families, Yvonne shared how most of the parents in the
DLIP are “intelligent professionals [who] really [did their research to find] programs that they
wanted their students [to be] involved in.” As the DLIP classes were not perfectly balanced with
a 50/50 model of English to target language students, most of the parents were those of the
majority in these classrooms, the students who spoke English proficiently. These parents were
unabashedly vocal about their “demands” and needs. In her district, at the request of the parents
in the Dual Language Immersion Program, an adult education class was offered to teach the
basics of the target language to allow parents to better support their children at home. The
parents took it upon themselves to contact the adult school, advertise the class, and essentially
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create the opportunity to learn the language, mainly for others like them who had English-only
backgrounds with children in the DLIP but also available to anyone who wanted to come learn.
Interestingly, there was no mention of DLIP parents, predominantly speaking the target
language, attending English classes to help their children with language acquisition, although
Yvonne mentioned that she taught English to adults in the district earlier in her career.
While Yvonne’s most involved DLIP parents had “higher educational and economic
backgrounds,” in Elizabeth’s school, the parent groups were mostly the same in this regard.
Their biggest difference was in language and cultural norms. The reasons for implementation at
the two school sites were different. As the reader will recall, Yvonne’s school was suffering from
academic underachievement and declining enrollment. For Elizabeth’s school, the
implementation of their program was in response to high community interest in having the
standards taught partially through the target language spoken by a sizable residential population
of the school’s community. Regardless of how and why the programs were started, what
remained the same across both sites was that those parents who were found to be the most
insistent and involved tended to be the English-only parents (not necessarily those affiliated with
the Dual Language Immersion Program) who were assumed to be the most comfortable
interacting with school personnel and its structure. At Yvonne’s school, these were the parents of
the DLIP who were largely made up of families from English speaking backgrounds, who had
the educational and professional capital that most of the traditional families did not. Elizabeth’s
school, situated in a high socioeconomic area, was one that “[does not] have a large [English
Learner] population. The most active parents in the organized parent groups were those in the
traditional program who were made up of mostly English speaking families. Those who did not
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participate in the parent groups minus a couple of exceptions were associated with the DLIP,
who at this school, were comprised of a high percentage of target language speakers.
At both schools in the study, regular parent meetings specific to the DLIP occurred a few
times a year with district members, parents, some teachers, and the principal also attending.
Emily explained that while these parent meetings were intended for everyone involved in the
program, “[English Language] parents never go” referring to parents who primarily spoke the
target language. When asked if translation was provided at these meetings, her answer was no.
Parent representatives of the target language tended to be less involved, according to Emily, thus
their concerns and needs tended to take a back seat to those who were able to vocalize their
concerns to the principal or district administrators facilitating the meetings. At Elizabeth’s
school, the TOSA served as the facilitator and translator at the parent meetings. While the parent
meetings were mostly conducted in English, the PowerPoint presentations were projected in both
languages and the TOSA offered clarification in the target language as needed. Knowing the
differences in how the two parent populations may interact and get involved is necessary for the
principal to understand who must focus on both groups equally and ensure they feel like a
valuable part of the community.
Both principals also reported having regular morning coffees with their parents. In order
to encourage more parents to come out and participate, at Elizabeth’s school, she started to
couple the coffees with “Student of the Month” recognitions. Elizabeth asked her DLIP teachers
to attend some of the meetings to help the target language families feel more comfortable in that
setting. It is important to note that Annette, a non-DLIP teacher, pointed out this fact, which led
me to believe that the entire staff was well aware of this priority, to boost parent involvement and
especially those in the Dual Language Immersion Program. She also expressed the need for the
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school to “make more of an effort” to find out what types of activities or events their “second
culture” would be “really comfortable with” to increase participation from this set of parents.
Additionally, because DLIP parents at Elizabeth’s school were less likely to attend all school
parent meetings, the principal had to adjust her strategy to approach them from an angle of
comfort and familiarity. Hailey explained,
When [Elizabeth] needs help, she always asks us. [When trying to] get the parents
involved, a lot of communication comes to the [target language] teachers to let them
know, ‘It’s okay. Please come join us at PTA meetings” through [the target language].
Maybe they feel less intimidated [getting the information this way] compared to [getting
it] in English.
Elizabeth also reached out to parents, asking them questions about what they thought about
different topics. Hailey pointed out that the cultural differences in how DLIP parents viewed the
principal prevented them from having more frequent interactions between them. She explained,
As far as [principal] practices, being visible around campus and [having] open
communication with parents [is] a big deal. It may be different depending on the
language or the culture. [The principal needs] to understand that the parents from [a]
specific culture may not react [in] the same way as the majority of the school. She is
always trying to break that barrier, letting them know, ‘It’s okay. Come talk to me.’ I
think it’s good that our parents are able to see a principal like that so that it makes them a
little bit more comfortable.
It is the responsibility of the principal to remove any “barriers” that unintentionally separate the
DLIP parents from feeling at ease and welcome at school. This effort must be initiated by the
principal and not by parents. Examining what the cultural differences are or what type of
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interactions would help parents feel comfortable at school events is a consideration that a
principal of a DLIP must keep in mind. They are characterized with sensitivity toward these
subtle signs so that they can adjust their practice and not make assumptions about their parents
and their perceived lack of involvement.
Both principals also spoke in length about visibility being a key factor in welcoming
parents and in building relationships with them. Yvonne tries to be accessible for parents
however way she can:
What I try to do is get out on the curb and just be available if anybody has any questions.
I find if I make myself visibly available, I spend less time in [the office] on emails and
telephone calls if I’m just present.
Emily concurred that Yvonne “attends every PTA meeting, every booster meeting. She attends
most Dual Immersion meetings. She’s at every event.” For the principal to be present at school
events and meetings not only communicates how important those gatherings are, but they also
serve as platforms and opportunities to engage with parents and work with them in discussion or
in actual tasks toward common goals. Adrianna described a principal’s visibility this way:
You show you care about the kids. You show that you are part of the school community.
That means you show up to all of the events. The community expects the principal to be
there. It’s still the principal’s responsibility to be there, to go out and to promote the
program, and to keep the school united.
Being visibly available then is a way to facilitate partnerships with parents, in contrast to being
in the office, out of parents’ sight.
Like Yvonne, visibility was a priority for Elizabeth, who started off each morning with a
“visible open door” to signal her availability to teachers. She then spent her time “greeting
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people, going out to the traffic light, opening doors [of cars], and being in the transition zones
greeting students.” Elizabeth shared that she “could not imagine” not attending all of the site’s
events, as this would be the minimum level of visibility required of a principal. She emphasized
the impact of being involved with the community, attending its events such as the city town
council meetings or the Chamber of Commerce events as these opportunities build connections.
Annette affirmed her principal’s dedication to be everywhere she could:
She shows up to everything. We have a dance. We have the carnival. We’re doing a skate
night this month. Everything we do, she goes to. She’s game. She’s not behind the ticket
booth. She’s not hiding. She is very present in our picnics. She’s out there meeting
people. She’s very outgoing and very approachable and personable. I think everyone feels
her warmth.
As mentioned in the previous section, as both principals did not speak the target language
taught at their schools, it is essential that they surround themselves with other personnel to draw
in those who do not speak English or who are not comfortable with Americanized cultural
norms. Principals must create ways to minimize barriers to communication and access by
offering practical solutions like translation, language support for parents, and relying on the
DLIP teachers to participate in meetings to make parents feel more welcome and comfortable.
These practices only bolster partnerships with parents. Elizabeth described how important it is to
“treat parents fairly” by “allowing them to come in” with a translator if that is the easiest way for
them to communicate with her. Fair treatment is providing what they need to bridge that
communication gap, thus creating a true partnership, not one that is hierarchical. That
responsibility rests on the principal. Additionally, thinking about the way in which meetings are
organized and how agendas are structured, it is also vital to remember the audience and to whom
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the message is being delivered. If the focus of the parent meetings is intended for those who are
not familiar with the target language from English-only backgrounds, the target language
families will feel invisible, and consequently will not be inclined to participate in subsequent
meetings. If the meeting’s focus is only on the target language families’ needs, then the English-
only group will not be able to relate. Elizabeth said,
For me to be able to communicate with [parents] is really important. I’m sensitive to
parents. Hopefully, being sensitive means presenting yourself [in a way that] a person
could feel comfortable to share what their needs or challenges are. I think it’s really
important to allow parents to speak the language that they’re comfortable with. I know
people can be judgmental, and I’ve always felt like it’s not fair to judge people by that.
In this statement, while not speaking directly to how meetings are organized for parents,
Elizabeth relayed the underlying message of building accessible pathways for parents to
communicate with the principal, to allow for both the reception and expression of information to
be given in the language with which parents are most comfortable. Taking the cultural norms and
a group’s needs into consideration will allow for the principal to support the parents more
effectively.
The reader will recall that Valdez (1997) warned against the possible negative effects that
minority students could experience depending on how professionals perceived the purpose of the
program. They could either view the program as one that primarily serves as a vehicle for
teaching minority students with high quality instruction in their native language, or they can see
it from the perspective of promoting second language acquisition and bilingual proficiency with
mainstream children (Valdez, 1997). A program can have goals in place that simultaneously
address both of these priorities, but she argued that the outcomes and expectations for students
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are not equal depending on whose perspective is influencing the practices. Emily expressed her
“frustration” and “outrage” for her English Language families who do not necessarily reap all of
the benefits of the program because of the distance they feel from those in position to hear their
concerns and their inability to directly communicate with them. This distance is an unintended
obstacle that affects parent involvement, one that the principal must try to minimize however
way she can whether it be through her visibility, communicating through the assistance of others,
or being acutely aware of parents’ needs and anticipating ways to help them feel heard and
valued at school.
Harness their capital. Building strong relationships with parents is an imperative for
principals. For principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs, parental involvement in the
program and school has more implications than in a traditional setting. Principals must embrace
their parents and partner with them to not only increase the learning outcomes of their students,
but also to keep them invested in the program model and entrenched in the belief of the transfer
of language and attainment of academic achievement that takes time to accomplish. Parents bring
their own social and cultural capital and can be valuable resources for supporting the program
and the school’s objectives. Leanne described the immense capital the parents add to the school
community:
With our Dual programs, the parents are so invested. You’ll see a lot more parent
involvement with the Dual schools than with the non-Dual schools. You’ll see our Dual
schools that never had a [Parent Teacher Association] (PTA) all of a sudden have a PTA
or a foundation.
Parents wanting to immerse themselves in the school by establishing a PTA or a foundation
speak to the tremendous amount of volunteerism they are willing to contribute. Their self-
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initiated altruism is certainly an asset that principals can harness to further the vision of the
program and the school. Similarly, the DLIP parents in Richard’s district had the same type of
drive and motivation to participate in making an impact at the school:
Because of the commitment that our dual language families have, they outshined and
outperformed and out-volunteered compared to our regular education folks. They felt as
though they wanted to go ahead and have the benefits of their fundraising. As a school
totality, they had a raise in volunteerism and a raise in opportunities to fund projects at
the school where everybody benefits from. It’s a success story.
While parents showing initiative with helping with their time, finances, and resources are great
ways to support the school and the principal’s efforts, the challenges that surfaced were when
parents wanted to fundraise or establish parent groups that were exclusive to the Dual Language
Immersion Program. The principal must make sure that parents do not drive their own agendas in
the name of participating in the school’s efforts, and, instead, are extensions of the mission for
the Dual Language Immersion Program and the school that the principal and district have put in
place. Their time and energy need to be funneled into the school and district’s vision. Leanne
explained,
I think one of the challenges is the ‘us versus them’ [mentality], not letting them isolate.
For some of our schools, the dual families created a foundation [who said they] wanted to
fundraise for the dual program. [I had to say], ‘No, you need to fundraise for the whole
school. We’re not just fundraising for a program. We fundraise for the whole school, and
we serve all the programs at the school including the dual program.’ That’s a challenge
for principals.
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Yvonne shared similar challenges at her school that were more pronounced at the beginning of
her tenure when there were parents who “came in with an agenda” and felt like the school
policies and rules did not apply to them. She described them as being “very aggressive,” wanting
to create their own Dual Immersion booster club that would fundraise specifically and
exclusively for the program. Richard recalled,
The parents of the Dual Immersion Program fundraised and [allocated the] dedicated
money for classroom libraries [and] field trips. The money would stay within that
program. It was like two separate schools under one roof.
There was a lot of work to do to change this mentality of the program being one school with one
booster club and one PTA, according to Yvonne. Richard explained that it was through the
“great leadership” exhibited by his principals of the DLIPs that this mindset started to change.
He disclosed that when the district first implemented the program, the “separation” and
“isolation” of the staff and parents did not allow for the two programs (DLIP and traditional) to
understand one another. He said,
[There were] separate meetings for both communities [of parents and] separate
meetings for the staff. Over time, [the principals] said, ‘No, we’re going to go ahead, and
we’re going to do programs and [offer] opportunities and include everybody together.
There might be some unique situations where we go ahead and do some off shoots, but
we do want to do some activities together, quite a few, and not work in isolation of each
other.’
By altering the way in which people met, actually bringing them together physically, allowed
principals to bring people together in their thinking and help build a community under one
school.
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For both of the districts in my study, the parents of those in the Dual Language
Immersion Programs were identified as being involved, educated, outspoken, and savvy. At
Yvonne’s school, because the program drew in a different set of families who would have
otherwise attended a different school, these parents stood out in stark contrast to the rest of the
parent population. According to Emily, these parents were “the most involved, the most affluent,
and probably have the most connections” and because of this, there seemed to be “more catering
towards them.” Yvonne bluntly described her DLIP parents as “high maintenance.” She
explained,
They’re very demanding. They definitely feel that everything should be dropped, and
we should be catering to their personal agenda. I found that they are also a little entitled,
where they thought they could just walk in the front door and go into the classroom and
visit the teacher or, after performances, just walk past and enter the campus without going
around and signing in like everyone else. I’ve done some work in that regard. When [the
district] first started [the program], they were trying to appease [the parents]. I definitely
had to do some work in that regard.
As this example suggests, DLIP parents’ social and cultural capital can pose a challenge for
principals who must balance the parents’ desire to do what they feel is right for their children
while also keeping the school’s best interest at heart.
Advocating the idea of “one school” is something both principals continue to champion
so that the benefits of parent involvement reach the entire school community. Emily described a
parent from the “English-only” side spearheading a school wide arts program that has been well
received, and the DLIP parents were “doing a ton” for the school because that was something
Yvonne “stood strong on” to avoid a “divide between us and them.” Although the first few years
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of recalibrating parents’ thinking and messaging the importance of operating as one school were
difficult, Yvonne spoke fondly of her parents during the interview and how their contributions to
the school have made a difference:
I feel like because of this dedicated, loving, professional, educated group of parents have
come into this school, it [has] had a ripple effect on what [is] provided for all of our
students [through] their involvement and resources. Our community is just coming alive.
Ironically, Yvonne’s DLIP parents were mostly from English-only backgrounds whereas the
“English only” side of the school was from largely diverse, minority backgrounds. The cultural
and social capital that drew the DLIP parents to a DLIP, then, was ultimately used as an asset to
benefit the entire school community, including the program that houses more disadvantaged
students. In contrast, at Elizabeth’s school, which was located in a high socioeconomic area, the
DLIP parents were more representative of the culture of the target language, and the English-
only side had an already robust volunteer base with parent involvement already being part of the
culture. Here, the social and cultural capital of the DLIP parents just added to the already
developed culture of parent involvement and volunteerism.
Just as the principal strategically creates ways for the staff to work together regardless of
having the Dual Language Immersion Program distinction or not, she must also concentrate this
type of effort for the parents at the school. Beyond informal coffees with the principal or PTA
sponsored events like a Father/Daughter dance where not all families may participate and
intermingle, the principal must, in a sense, recruit and partner with key parents who can help
bridge the divide. Through established committees and groups that require parent participation
like School Site Council and PTA, key parents can shed light and understanding that can travel
between groups of parents. Leanne shared, “Principals really [have] to be very proficient at
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bringing people together across groups [and] within groups.” The principal must truly exhibit
strong interpersonal skills to do the work that Leanne’s described.
Above the front entrance of Elizabeth’s school was a prominent banner that says, “Ohana
Means Family,” a daily reminder of the belief the school was trying to project. Elizabeth’s DLIP
parents have been more tentative to get involved in formal volunteer roles at school, especially
those that extend outside of the program. Elizabeth has managed to do some “outreach” to
acquire a couple of DLIP parents on her PTA Board, shifting the balance of representation
among this group. She said, “We need to have those people. This PTA has been very open to
that, too.” As a result, at the time of the interview the PTA had voices for the program and an
additional lens from which to view their planning, allocation of fundraising resources, and how
their decisions make an impact on different students on campus. Moreover, Elizabeth also
highlighted how valuable it is to show appreciation for parents in keeping them involved at
school:
We have a really strong [target language] club. I hope that they see I accept and
appreciate them. They not only do one of the days for teacher appreciation week, last
year to celebrate our [high] scores, they brought in a lunch for the staff. That does make
people feel [appreciative of the parents’ time and effort]. They’re very generous. I can’t
even stop and say how generous they are.
Seeing the effort parents are willing to make and accepting the ways they feel comfortable
getting involved and giving to the school takes a measure of flexibility and open-mindedness.
Not every parent may fit into a PTA mold or will feel at ease with existing volunteer structures.
Elizabeth explained how she attempted to involve parents in supporting student learning:
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Definitely [giving parents] access to volunteering; Promoting that, encouraging that.
Communicating the importance of that, whether it’s coming [into] the classroom and
helping out or [cutting] paper at home. [They can be the] room moms. Bringing them in
for conversations if we have concerns about [a student’s] progress. There [are] lots of
ways.
Aside from volunteering and fundraising for the school, parents can also be valuable resources
for furthering language and culture. Adrianna described parents this way:
Parents are part of the children. Work with them. They don’t have to agree with
everything you say. You don’t have to agree with everything they say, but make them
part of the decision making that’s going on, the change that is happening, so there is a
collaboration between the teachers, the parents, and students. You will get support.
When asked about how the schools in her district promote cross-cultural understanding,
Adrianna emphasized how advantageous it is to have parents who are native speakers be a part of
the school community. She explained,
Besides the cliché of the food and the assemblies, I think it’s having the parents. Since all
of our dual programs are 50/50, we have a lot of native speakers. A lot of native born
people or first generation families who are not afraid, like my parents were once upon a
time, to go on to campus and talk to the class and share their experiences. Share their
dress, share their culture, share their customs. People in Dual Immersion Programs want
to joyfully come onto the campus and share that, not only with their class, but also with
that English only class across the hall as well.
The principal needs to understand and identify parents, all parents, as sources of knowledge,
experience, language models, and those who can share the load of channeling assets into the
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school. Finding a place or a way for parents to take part in the work of community building and
supporting the program and school is a job for the principal to strengthen the bond with her
families.
It is also important to not only remember the different types of parents within the Dual
Language Immersion Program and create access points for them to exercise their strengths but to
also include the non-DLIP parents in the mission and work of the program so that everyone’s
efforts are aligned and not in opposition with one another. Whether or not parents are part of the
Dual Language Immersion Program, it is critical that principals nurture strong relationships with
all parents so that they can all be supporters and advocates of the school.
Manage difficult conversations. In any organization or school where many people
interact with one another, conflict or misunderstandings are inevitable. Administrating a Dual
Language Immersion Program that is embedded within a larger school body is a challenge due to
its perceived advantages and an unspoken elite status, distinguished from those who are not part
of the program. There are differences in opinion, agenda, values, and beliefs that are unavoidable
and exaggerated. In addition to the principal having to mediate these differences, many more
conversations about the program and its efficacy arise because parents are not familiar with the
specialized make-up of the program as it was not available to them when they were going
through school. There are doubts and uncertainty that the principal has to alleviate. Having
proficient people skills to listen, being accessible to parents, and communicating with them in a
way to help them understand are necessary to sustain the program over time. Principals need to
be earnest in their endeavor to bring people in, physically and emotionally, to create that sense of
belonging, and, furthermore, need to bring people together to connect them despite their
differences.
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As mentioned earlier, having relationships with others, teachers and parents, is key,
especially when going into charged conversations or when there are strong disagreements.
Yvonne shared, “I’ve turned some pretty hard parents around because of developing that
relationship and calling them [to talk] to them.” Elizabeth also believed that “building
relationships is essential because we’re working together.” A significant part of building
relationships starts with the art of listening. Hailey reported how Elizabeth was “great at getting
back to parents. Even if it takes her until 7:00, she always reaches back to the parents to let them
know [their] message was [received].” Annette identified strong leaders as those who are able to
listen and take that information to bring the community together. She described her principal,
Elizabeth, simply hearing people out when mediating conflict:
She lets people talk. Sometimes, she doesn’t really have an answer. You never leave
thinking you know how she feels about it. She doesn’t weigh in too heavily on one side.
You feel like she’s kind of facilitating or taking notes [in order to] make an effort to
either address those [concerns, but] sometimes, you feel like it doesn’t get anywhere. It’s
just voiced.
Annette’s comment that “sometimes… it doesn’t get anywhere” was not communicated as
something that was negative. Sometimes, giving people the space and time to vent their thoughts
is enough to communicate that the principal cares, even if nothing immediate can be done about
the matter. Elizabeth advised her teachers to “let parents talk” because that’s mostly “what they
want, to be heard.” Some situations may warrant a more hands-on approach, giving people
advice on how better to communicate to minimize problems like calling people on the phone or
speaking face to face rather than through email, which can be misconstrued.
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When there have been concerns raised about the Dual Language Immersion Program by
parents, Elizabeth brought these matters to the teachers’ attention in a private manner for a
couple of reasons. First, she wanted to include the teachers in addressing a solution to the issue,
and secondly, she did not want to bring negative attention to the program that could hurt its
image and reputation. When teachers were criticized, Elizabeth took the time to hear what the
parents had to say and at the same time, communicated with her teachers how she could support
them.
Managing feelings of fairness is a constant for a principal of a Dual Language Immersion
Program. The traditional side at both schools has expressed feelings of being less important or
valued as the DLIP and has voiced wanting to be included in opportunities given to the DLIP
students. Principals must seek to be as inclusive and invitational as possible to keep enrichment
opportunities such as programs, assemblies, and special performances available to all in order to
keep the school as one. Richard described his principals trying to incorporate some target
language visual and performing arts elements into the schools as of way of teaching all of the
students more about the culture of the target language while continuing to promote the learning
under the vision of the DLIP. Integrating content areas, in this case, the visual and performing
arts with language and culture, is another way to efficiently serve all students in the school.
Leanne also underscored how important it is to listen to concerns (if the criticism about the
program is coming from someone outside of it):
A lot of times, the concerns [stem from] that competition for resources. [They’ll say,]
‘You’re in America, speak English’ or whatever that fear [is] based. ‘I did fine without it
so [those] kids should do fine without it, too.’ That anecdotal, ‘The parents should teach
you the language at home.’ I think it really does become this fear of difference, and this
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desire for an American identity that’s English driven without realizing that that was never
America’s identity. When we talk about the United States on an international scale, we
shouldn’t have to wait until high school to teach language.
She went on to explain that the United States tends to operate from a lens of ethnocentricity, and
because of this tendency, there is less tolerance for ideas or customs that are not identified as
American. There is a small mindedness that principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs
need to dismantle, prejudices they need to dispel. Those who criticize the program have less
understanding or support for learning multiple languages, less acceptance for international or
global thinking, and less openness toward the inclusion of others. Principals should not only have
an awareness of this type of thinking among their constituents, they need to intentionally work
on changing these beliefs and turning them on its head. They are working to create cultural
legitimacy within the school community by giving the target language status, power, and a place
of prominence within the school. Biliteracy and cross-cultural competence must also be
perceived and embraced as 21
st
century skills in addition to critical thinking, creativity,
collaboration, and communication. Without addressing these concerns in a respectful,
constructive tone, divisions will tear through the school and destroy the program.
Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs spend a tremendous amount of time
with parents in conversations about the program. They calm doubts about parents’ decisions to
enroll their children in the program, build their confidence and understanding of the program and
its objectives, and communicate reasons for persevering through the program to reach its
ultimate benefits. They need to support the program not only through adequate funding, offering
their time, channeling resources, and touting its success; principals must also be open to
feedback and criticism. In addition to having an openness to listen to others, Elizabeth shared
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another challenge as it pertained to managing difficult conversations, the demands that were
placed on her time:
I think one of the biggest challenges is time. I meet with parents all the time, whether
they want to exit the program, so taking the time to explain the program to them. We do a
couple of [target language] parent meetings a year. That’s a challenge. Every time you
think we’re in a good spot, some parent comes [in and says], ‘I want to drop out of the
program because [my kid is] not learning the [target language].’ I say, ‘Okay, here we go.
Let me explain to you about [how] it’s going to take time. It takes time to learn a second
language, and they’re learning it 50% of the day.’
Yvonne revealed similar difficult conversations she has had with her parents where she had to
“really listen” to what their concerns were:
Really, the biggest one I’ve had is, ‘I’m afraid my child’s not going to learn English.’ As
much as you know they are and they’re going to be fluent in [the target language] so
you’ll have this longevity of your culture and nationality, and then they’ll be strong in
English as well. It’s just convincing them. They just don’t believe it.
They both supported the program by constantly messaging its key components and promoting it
through both collective and individual meetings, reinforcing beliefs and ensuring the retention of
its participants. Without the principal spending the time to have these conversations with parents,
fighting for every student to remain with the program, it will die quickly. The program’s success
depends on a collective belief and investment of time, resources, and energy contributed by not
only the school staff but also by parents who also play a significant role in promoting the
program to other parents. Elizabeth succinctly described her role in relation to parents this way:
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I think being visible, listening, attending meetings, building relationships with parents,
just listening. I really believe an open door is essential to have access. I’d rather have
parents coming in and being a part of [the conversation] than holding them at bay.
Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs must be willing to work together with parents
as a team to have hard conversations and attempt to make those steps toward understanding one
another. While mediating conflict may not be limited to schools with Dual Language Immersion
Programs, the nature of politically charged concerns require an added layer of sensitivity, highly
cultivated communication and relational skills, and a strong respect and value for all people that
is free from judgment or prejudice.
Summary
Effective principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs constantly seek to connect
others and bridge understanding among their stakeholders. This work begins with an inclusive
mindset, one that is not held to biased beliefs and stereotypes and one that involves a pluralistic
leadership approach. The principal models this inclusivity in the way she listens to others and
values their input in making decisions.
Bridging two worlds by building staff unity and partnering with all parents is also a
central aspect of the work that principals with Dual Language Immersion Programs do. The
essential work of bridging people, values, and culture are in supporting and sustaining the
programs within schools is not widely addressed in the literature, but every participant in the
study brought up the idea repeatedly. The idea that the principal must maintain one school and
act as a bridge to connect people, values, and culture especially when there is a DLIP strand
within a school was emphasized over and over. Leanne said,
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If the principal is really being effective, you’ll see the school as a united community, not
a school within a school. It’s not us and them. The more integrated you see them across,
the more effective the program is.
Leanne identified a “united community” as one that does not have distinguishable groups of
people and instead see the program woven into the school community so seamlessly that they
become part of the school. Adrianna echoed this idea:
It is very hard to maintain two separate and parallel schools within one school building
that makes it feel like one school. That’s what a principal is supposed to do. A good
principal has got to be able to bring everybody together, and that’s what we look for in a
dual when we’re looking for a dual principal, the ability to unite two different programs
into one umbrella.
Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs need to always frame their decisions with the
program in mind, however, they need to always consider the school as a whole. Principals know
they serve those in the program who, at times, have disparate needs from those in the traditional
program, but they are the leader of the entire school and need to consider everyone. The vision,
agenda, and purpose of the DLIP must be intertwined with that of the whole school or else the
program cannot thrive and a climate of negativity will tear apart the school.

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 223
Figure 3.
Representation of Findings for Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs

The figure above illustrates the specialized nature of being a principal of a school with a
Dual Language Immersion Program strand. To assume that a principal of a generic variety could
effectively administer a school with a DLIP without consideration for its specific needs and
nuances could hurt the program and do a great disservice to some of the most vulnerable
students. Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs, first and foremost, must be strong
transformational and instructional leaders. That foundational layer requires non-negotiable
leadership skills such as being a visionary, holding high expectations for all students, and
Bilingual & Bicultural
*Knowledgeable about DLIP *Sensitive to Diversity
*Believes in & Advocates for the Program *Takes Risks
*Willingness to Learn *Globally-Minded
*Builds Unity/Inclusive * Culturally Responsive & Proficient
* Establishes Equal Language Status
* Sets Direction/Visionary * Holds High Expectations * Collaborative
* Exercises People Skills * Listens Intently * Flexible * Remains Visible
Observes & Guides Instructional Practices *Communicates Effectively
* Partners with Parents
Asset
(not required)
Characteristics &
Practices Specific
to Supporting
DLIPs
Necessary
Characteristics
& Practices of
All Principals
District Context
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 224
communicating effectively, to name a few (see figure above). These qualities must be in place
before even considering an individual for the principalship of a school with a DLIP. They must
be active in influencing sound instructional strategies, encourage and facilitate collaboration,
have exceptional social skills, and be flexible. Before even stepping into a DLIP school, the
principal, must, at minimum, be deemed an effective, solid leader.
On top of that, a principal of a Dual Language Immersion Program has a set of
characteristics and practices that are specific to successfully support and sustain the program and
to promote bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding in their schools. The second layer
depicts the qualities that an effective principal of a DLIP must have according to the research
study. Participants emphasized being knowledgeable about the program’s components and
language acquisition research, advocating for optimal student outcomes, and are passionate
believers in the program. Effective principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs promote
the equal status of both languages, are inclusive and sensitive to diversity, and are culturally
responsive and proficient. As the vast majority of principals do not receive the training and
support that are needed to lead a DLIP when they matriculate through a graduate program in
educational leadership or even as an active principal, it is important that principals receive
adequate training and instruction related to the needs of the school to administer the program,
and, ultimately, the school successfully. As Hitt and Tucker (2016) found in their extensive
research of empirical articles on leadership, effective practices required of leaders could be
improved upon with effort and deliberate consideration, positively impacting student
achievement. Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs require training that specifically
addresses the program model and instructional practices of teaching the target language
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 225
proficiently. Without a deep understanding of the program and its needs, principals stepping into
this role will be ill prepared to serve each of the stakeholders well.
The last layer at the top of the model, or “the icing on the cake” as described by Leanne,
represents the final characteristics of principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs, being
bilingual and bicultural. As the data suggests, being bilingual and bicultural certainly has its
practical advantages in the ability to communicate directly with families (and students) in the
language that makes them feel comfortable and welcome. There is also a short hand in
understanding customs, allowing for the principal to interact with families appropriately. Even if
a principal does not speak the target language of the DLIP at the school, simply being bilingual
benefits her knowledge base regarding language acquisition and its structures. Also, being
bicultural, even if the culture is not the shared culture of the target language group, allows one to
be more attuned to the differences that may exist and adjust their practices accordingly. All nine
participants in the study wholeheartedly agreed that a principal of a Dual Language Immersion
Program does not need to be bilingual or bicultural to be effective. They all deemed both of these
characteristics as assets that could certainly help in many ways but not necessary.
What is, then, important to remember in a strong principal of a Dual Language
Immersion Program are the foundational characteristics and practices of transformational and
instructional leaders. In addition to the principal having mastery over the basics of being a site
leader, she needs to have a firm grasp on the characteristics and practices required to be an
effective principal of a Dual Language Immersion Program. Principals who possess proficiency
in both the first and second layers are strong leaders for their programs and schools. Those who
have all of the characteristics and practices in the model are truly exceptional and ideal
candidates to lead in this setting.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 226
Table 7.
How Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs Connect

Principal
Characteristics
Supporting
Literature
Type of Leadership Practices Examples from Findings
Inclusive ! Kezar (2000)
! Riehl (2000)
! Transformational ! Actively listens
! Employs the
tenets of
distributive
leadership
Elizabeth:
“I really rely on [the TOSA] to tell me when the [target
language] teachers turn in their writing. [I ask], ‘What do
you think? What does this look like?’ She’ll give me
feedback.”

Bridge of two
worlds
! Lindholm-
Leary (2005)
! Transformational
! Instructional
! Builds staff unity
! Collaborates
! Creates a
collaborative
culture
! Develops
relationships
! Communicates
with all
stakeholders
! Learns about
language
acquisition and
culture of the
target language
! Bilingual and/or
bicultural
(preferred but not
required)
Annette:
“The principal must be willing to immerse themselves in
the culture that perhaps [is] not their own culture so that
they feel comfortable with the traditional school. They
should be willing to embrace that, so that they can
effectively communicate and then help bridge that
between the two cultures. I can’t imagine a school
principal who isn’t very open and embracing of our
heritage as an immigrant nation.”

Yvonne:
“We’re one school. We’re going to do this together. My
Dual Immersion had never been involved in data chats
because they just did their own thing. I said, ‘No, we are
one school. We are all together. You’re going to work
with your grade level team. You’re going to be involved
with data chats.’ We’re all going to work together
because we have to develop a school wide vision.”

Leanne:
“I think it’s a bonus if you have that cultural match, but if
you [do], then your challenges for the English side of the
school is to make sure that as a leader, that principal gets
buy-in and collaboration [from both] the Dual Immersion
Program and the English-only program.”
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 227
Parent partner ! Lindholm-
Leary (2001,
2005)
! August &
Hakuta (1998)
! Alanis &
Rodriguez
(2008)
! Collier &
Thomas
(2014)

! Transformational ! Appreciate their
differences
! Harness their
capital
! Manage difficult
conversations
Adrianna:
“They learn about the [target language] culture in order
to be able to ensure that the [target language] community
is feeling welcome at the school site because it is their
home, too. If the principals don’t do that, if the principals
don’t start talking about that culture to teachers who may
not know that there is a bit of difference in the culture,
not bad, just different, there could be misunderstandings
that arise that are going to cause problems. It is our job as
administrators to cause as few problems as possible, to
alleviate those problems before they become problems.”

Leanne:
“With our Dual programs, the parents are so invested.
You’ll see a lot more parent involvement with the Dual
schools than with the non-Dual schools. You’ll see our
Dual schools that never had a [Parent Teacher
Association] (PTA) all of a sudden have a PTA or
foundation.”

Elizabeth:
“When you value everybody and believe that all children
should be successful academically, that you’re not
shortchanging anybody, making it clear that
communicating that just because these students have this,
that doesn’t mean there aren’t other opportunities that
everybody has. We want to make sure that everybody
knows that no one is being shortchanged.”

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 228
Where Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs Work Matters: Context
In this chapter so far, the principal of a Dual Language Immersion Program has been
described in many ways: steadfast visionary, upholder of high expectations, fearless risk taker,
passionate believer, enthusiastic torch bearer, strong advocate, continuous learner, unifier of two
worlds, collaborator, parent partner, listener, and communicator. The layer of knowledge and
skill set required to lead a school with a Dual Language Immersion Program is above and beyond
what is expected of a principal without such a program with all of its intricate needs. The
participants’ descriptions in this study suggested that the job of a principal with a DLIP is
rigorous and multifaceted.
While the principal’s effectiveness plays a crucial part in the overall effectiveness of the
program and, ultimately, how it affects student outcomes (Fullan, 2001; Leithwood, Harris, &
Hopkins, 2008; Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005), the principal cannot and does not work
alone. Principals not only work with a team of capable teachers who are responsible for
delivering quality instruction to students daily, but they also work with a supportive staff who
ensures that the campus runs smoothly. They also function in cooperation within a larger district
team comprised of a network of fellow principals and central office administrators. Even beyond
the district’s boundaries, principals also work with community partners and businesses and
sometimes build relationships with foreign consulates, foundations, and non-profit organizations.
An effective principal is one who recognizes and employs, to one degree or another, all of the
important people and groups in one’s context. The previous section of this chapter elaborated on
the vitality of the principals’ ability to make connections in order to boost the health of
relationships across stakeholders who interact within the school community. While that remains
as a primary responsibility of the principal, she is also bounded by the relationships that may
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 229

already exist or are established by those in the district office, with whom district administrators
choose to forge relationships.
This section will bring attention to the context in which principals of a Dual Language
Immersion Program work and how that contributes to their ability to be successful in supporting
and sustaining their programs as they also focus on promoting bilingualism and cross-cultural
understanding. Furthermore, I will build the case that a principal’s effectiveness is limited to the
capacity of the district, specifically the strength of its personnel and leadership, its resources, and
connections. While this study set out to examine the characteristics and practices of successful
principals, I would be remiss not to include the external and contextual factors that facilitate the
principal’s job by allowing the principal to engage in the practices that make him or her
successful.
Profiles of District Office Administrators
The administrators at the district level who are working “behind the scenes” to support
principals are absolutely critical to the success of both programs and schools and to the
principals, themselves, to function effectively in their positions as site leaders. Without these key
leaders who make significant decisions regarding the budget, resource allocation, staffing,
professional development, and who shape and guide the vision and direction of the Dual
Language Immersion Program, voting in its favor and cooperating with their principals, the
program cannot thrive and grow. In this section, I will delve into the backgrounds of the three
district level administrators in my research study. Two of them, Leanne and Adrianna, work in
Elizabeth’s district, and they are considered senior management or cabinet level members.
Richard works in Yvonne’s district, and while he may not be identified as senior management,
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 230

he occupies a supervisory role and is directly involved in supporting the principals of the schools
with Dual Language Immersion Programs in his district.
Leanne. Since her start as a professional educator, from student teaching to her present
position as a high-level district administrator, Leanne has been in her current district. Over the
course of her career that started in the early 1990s, she has been a teacher and a TOSA (Teacher
on Special Assignment) who focused on designing professional development related to
addressing the needs of English Language Learners. Later, Leanne transitioned to administrative
roles, such as being an assistant principal and then became a principal for several years at a
couple of different elementary schools, including a school with a Dual Language Immersion
Program. While in her role as a principal of a school that housed a DLIP, she also authored a
grant that brought a “magnet school” distinction to a few schools in the district, raising their
status as high-performing schools. She eventually became a director of a district-wide program
and then settled into her current role. Even though Leanne admitted that she was not primarily
responsible for “launching” the DLIP in her district, she was “on the periphery of being involved
with the categorical department and helping out with grants.”
Adrianna. Before I present Adrianna’s background as an educator and how her journey
evolved, it is pertinent to disclose some facts that she shared going back to her experience as a
young child and her interaction with language learning. She entered elementary school at a time
when the needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) were not strategically addressed and when
teachers were not required to have certifications to instruct ELLs like they do today. Adrianna
recalled,
When I started kindergarten, I spoke absolutely no English and my family didn’t speak
English. When I was going through school, there was no ability for anybody to speak
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 231

any language other than English in the classroom. As a matter of fact, you were
punished if you spoke any other language. I remember vividly being sent to the corner
because I would ask in Spanish, ‘What is the teacher saying?’
Adrianna’s experience of being humiliated for not speaking English echoes back to a time when
there was little cultural or language awareness and little tolerance, if any, for diversity. Although
only a kindergartener, I believe the incident was so painful and discouraging that it made an
indelible impression on her, influencing her sharp sensitivity and filtering her perspective on
ELLs, language learning, and advocacy.
Many years later, when she did step into education in the early 1990s, Adrianna began
her career as a bilingual teacher in a neighboring district. She said,
I remember those days [as an elementary student], so when I became a bilingual teacher,
I was a big proponent of [bilingualism], of helping my students not only become
proficient in English, but also [in maintaining] their native language. I don’t ever want a
student of mine to feel [the] way [I did].
Adrianna was able to take her unfortunate personal experiences as a student and channel it into
becoming a supportive advocate for her students who did not come to school with language
capital. She started the work of changing perceptions about the value of having more than one
language as a bilingual teacher.
She then assumed a role in her current district as a teacher specialist or TOSA, whose
primary responsibility was to support the bilingual programs in the district. When she held this
position, Proposition 227 passed, eliminating the use of languages other than English to be used
for instruction in classrooms across California. One of Adrianna’s first priorities as a teacher
specialist was to “figure out a way to continue the bilingual program” in the district given the
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 232

newly passed law at the time. She co-wrote a Title VII Dual Immersion grant that started the
program at its first school, paving the way for others to follow.
From there, she moved into administrative positions, one being an assistant principal and,
later, serving as the principal of two other schools in the district, including schools that had Dual
Language Immersion Programs. She then relocated to the district office after almost a decade of
site leadership, where she currently works today as a senior administrator. She also shared that
her child was enrolled in the Dual Language Immersion Program. She summed up her affiliation
with the DLIP by saying that she had been “involved in the Dual Immersion Program in [name
of district] since its inception, in one form or another.”
Richard. For the past almost 40 years and across four different states, Richard has
devoted his life to being an educator. He started off as an elementary school teacher, who after
several years, specialized in teaching gifted students. He eventually transitioned into a role at the
district office, supporting over 10,000 teachers and over 1,000 administrators in professional
development and staff training. Coupled with that was the responsibility for the administrator
appraiser or administrative evaluation system, as well as, the teacher evaluation system, which at
the time, in this particular state, was run by the state department of education.
When Richard moved to California, he took on a district level position overseeing
categorical programs for various curricular areas for their elementary schools. He then became a
principal in another local district with a high Spanish speaking population and extremely low
achievement scores. He shared about the status of the school of his first principalship:
It was a very low achieving Title I school. Half the classes literally didn’t have books.
[The teachers] were developing lessons on their own. Things were not aligned to
standards, and they didn’t even know what the California State Standards were at the
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 233

time, I hate to say. We had to baptize folks in the California State Standards and also on
the requirements for state textbooks in all classrooms and every student eventually being
required to have a book with [the] William’s Law. We had to clean up a lot of that, but
our primary focus with the staff was on instructional strategies. Through Project GLAD
(Guided Language Acquisition Design), we generated together a focus on instructional
strategies.
Richard made it his aim to simultaneously provide the necessary resources for teachers and
students to succeed and to also elevate pedagogical practices that required both the alignment to
the state standards and appropriateness to mediate the needs of his large English Language
Learner population. During his tenure as principal, in a few short years, his school raised their
Academic Performance Index (API) score by almost 200 points. He attributed a lot of their
success on the following:
It took a lot of people skills, a lot of negotiating, a lot of facilitating. It required a lot of
honest conversation. People in the schools there, generally are generational employees
who don’t leave and move. They have their own ways of doing things and [are] very
isolated. I had to get them out of that shell and [expose them] to go visit other schools so
they could see the world.
The increase in scores at his previous school did not occur by accident. Richard pointed to
specific practices that prompted the change in thinking and teaching practices. He identified the
foundational skills of effective principals (as outlined in the Representation of Findings of
Principals with Dual Language Immersion Programs), that of having people skills, listening and
communicating adeptly, and holding high expectations through reciprocal accountability (giving
teachers release time to visit other instructional programs) to raise his school’s performance.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 234

What was also implied by his statement was that he invested a significant amount of attention
and time to have these “honest conversations” that were probably uncomfortable as he
confronted his staff to admit to their ineffectuality. By handling his school’s unfortunate but
accurate academic conditions with honesty, Richard was able to initiate change within his staff
towards significant improvement.
During his final year as principal, he started a newcomer’s class for the district at his
school, designed for students who had less than a year in the country, primarily made up of
Spanish speakers, reflective of his district’s population. During this time, his district considered
adopting a Dual Language Immersion Program model but, ultimately, decided against it because
of a dearth of English speaking peer models, little “teacher buy-in” due to fear of the California
State Standards having “very strong English expectations,” and a community wide concern that
the program would “focus on the Spanish,” putting students’ English acquisition at a
disadvantage.
Finally, after leaving his principal position, he became a district level administrator in his
current district, working closely with the Dual Language Immersion Program as one of his many
responsibilities.
Summary. All three district level administrators not only had extensive experience in
various leadership roles, including principalships, but they also occupied positions working
directly with the needs of English Language Learners and making decisions to improve their
educational pathways in their respective districts. Both Leanne and Adrianna assumed the role at
the district office, at different times, of overseeing the Title VII grant, a federal grant that
enabled school districts to implement innovative programs addressing the needs of students with
limited English abilities. They worked on both the program aspect of utilizing the grant as well
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 235

as in designing professional development for teachers who worked with this population of
students. They were also former principals of schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs,
understanding firsthand the details of the program, its needs, and the dynamics among all of its
stakeholders. Although Richard did not lead a school with a Dual Language Immersion strand,
he was a principal of a school with a heavy ELL population coupled with an unfortunate tradition
of low achievement. He had to act with strategic urgency to address several serious areas ceasing
the cycle of underserving this population. By courageously having honest conversations about
what was not working at the school while providing desperately needed resources and
administrative support to make deep changes in established teaching practices, Richard was able
to move his team, and, more importantly, his school toward increased academic achievement and
staff self-efficacy.
Table 8.
Profiles of District Administrators

Name Years in
Education
Non-Administrative
Experience
Administrative
Experience
Language
Background
Leanne Over 25 years ! Elementary school
teacher
! Teacher specialist
! Elementary school
assistant principal
! Elementary school
principal
! Director
! Cabinet level
administrator
English
Adrianna Over 25 years ! Elementary
bilingual Spanish
teacher
! Teacher specialist
! Elementary school
assistant principal
! Elementary school
principal
! Cabinet level
administrator
Bilingual
(English &
Spanish)
Richard Almost 40
years
! Elementary school
teacher
! Gifted program
specialist
! Director
! Elementary school
principal
! District
administrator
English

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 236

Common Beliefs and Alignment of Vision
As mentioned in the first theme of Chapter 4, a program’s success is heavily reliant on a
strong vision and the collective belief and commitment to that vision. From a principal’s
perspective, it is important to not only have that vision for herself, but it is essential that
everyone at the site, extending outward who are involved in the school community, understand
and support this vision as well. This community includes teachers, support staff, students,
parents, community partners, and, of course, district administrators from the Superintendent on
down and the Board of Education. As the reader will recall, each participant in the study, no
matter their roles, was able to articulate a vision for their district’s Dual Language Immersion
Program that was consistent across stakeholders in the same district. The commitment to a
singular vision as carried out by many team players is crucial to sustaining a robust program.
Those in high-level positions, poised to make decisions that have wide implications on the health
and future of the program, must have a similar vision Whereas vision and beliefs are overlapping
ideas, beliefs reinforce and help shape the vision.Without district level leaders who believe in the
program and will fight for it on behalf of their principals, teachers, students, and parents, the
DLIP cannot thrive. Richard expressed his thoughts related to supporting DLIPs and their place
in addressing the needs of students:
I always have [had] positive first impressions [of the Dual Language Immersion
Programs] absolutely because I’m a very strong believer in language learning, multiple
language learning in giving that opportunity to our students in particular and our teachers
because I definitely see the benefits of it in the long run.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 237

Being a “strong believer” must, at minimum, be the stance that district administrators take when
many rely on them for support. Leanne explained that having administrators who believe in the
program helps especially when there are difficult decisions to be made:
Having someone like me [who] get the Dual beliefs [ensures that we] will fight for [the
DLIP]. We will do it. It’s like, ‘No, you will find it in the budget’ because we have to.
It’s [a significant percentage of our population].
Her comment is in reference to the resources districts must commit to providing Dual Language
Immersion Programs at their schools. When there are budget constraints, it is natural for districts
to start looking at programs to reduce or cut, but by having those who strongly support the
program and value its place among students, they will not let that happen before seeking
alternatives first. To offer an analogy, district leadership comprised of the Board of Education,
the Superintendent, and senior level administrators are essentially guiding a peloton, a team of
racers (principals of schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs carrying their schools)
through a challenging landscape until they ultimately reach the finish line (having their students
attain proficiency in two languages, academic achievement, global competence). The principals
of schools with DLIPs rely on their district leaders to map out the course, draw on their
resources, and are propelled by their support and encouragement. District leadership, therefore,
must bear the responsibility of navigating the course for each of their cyclists to get to their
destination, minimizing obstacles, road blocks, or bumps that could derail their ride.
This vertical alignment is important so everyone knows where the ships are headed.
Adrianna described the idea of her district having a collective belief in the Dual Language
Immersion Program. She said,
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 238

We believe in the program and that’s from the teacher to the Board member on the
administrative side, to the students and the parent and the community on the non-school
side.
She affirmed that the belief is shared among many individuals and across different roles in the
district. The principal nor individual schools were working in isolation to stand behind the
program’s vision. There was a team effort that supports the DLIP with its vision and goals.
Leanne described the importance of having a unified vision across the district:
If there wasn’t that articulation of vision from the Board to the superintendent, to senior
management, to the community, to the sites in the community that it wasn’t a top-down,
it wasn’t only a bottom-up initiative, [we could not have implemented this program]. It
really was a partnership at all levels. If you didn’t have that [articulation] in the season of
declining enrollment, [although] it was our motivation in some regards, [we wouldn’t be
in a situation where] we are not bringing in that many kids from outside [of the district].
Adrianna echoed the dedication that is shared across hundreds of stakeholders of those in her
district, “If you don’t have a school board that’s going to support it, then the dual program in the
school district is not going to work.” Adrianna continued to say,
They believe in it. I think if it [was] some other district that did not have that built-in
support of knowing that we have board members who speak two languages and they
value that continuation in students, it might have been a different story.
The “different story” is in reference to how different the circumstances would be had not her
district adapted when Proposition 227 was enacted into law, abolishing bilingual education in
California classrooms.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 239

Sharing the high degree of commitment involved to start and support the program can be
the only way to sustain it for multiple years and into the future. This belief, vision, and
commitment must be inclusive of everyone in the district. Leanne went on to explain that the
DLIP was a shared priority among those in the district, and the leadership from the top of the
organization, the Board of Education, is dedicated to it. She said,
[The Dual Language Immersion Program] is the district’s commitment. This is our
Board’s vision. [Others may get] upset because [they] think resources need to go over to
this program over here, but the Board is committed. It’s a lovely thing to fall back on.
The Board of Education, in Leanne’s district, modeled and set the tone for everyone else who is
positioned to support the program. The principal’s advocacy for the program is underscored by
this alignment of the vision buttressed by the leadership at the Board and district office levels,
removing bureaucratic obstacles from her work. Additionally, those on the Board of Education
demonstrated a personal commitment to the program, as Leanne revealed that “the Board
members’ kids are enrolled in Dual Immersion.” The investment in the program is deep, as
demonstrated by Leanne’s statement about Board members enrolling their own children in the
program. They recognize the merits of the program and also its structure to be one that serves the
students in the district to attain language proficiency and prepares them to be globally
competitive. Leanne further explained,
Our board vision, and this is part of their strategic plan, is for all students to be bilingual
and biliterate. The Dual Immersion program has a K-12 pathway with the intent that our
students are prepared not only for career but for international career so that if we do it
right, [students] could not only go to a university in the United States, but they should be
able to comfortably go to a university in [another country]. As much as possible, where
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 240

we have it, we have our kids take the international assessments so that they can prove
proficiency equivalent to somebody from those countries, but it is very much a
[kindergarten] through 12
th
grade vision. Our vision very much is to serve the
community, as well as to create a program that really self-sustains, to have a strong
enough applicant pool and interested families to fill the classes, to recruit the best
teachers because it not easy to get California-credential teachers who are equally
proficient in English and [the target language].
The vision for the stakeholders in Leanne and Adrianna’s district surpasses their district
boundaries and extends broadly into the world. They want to prepare students not just for a
career but an “international career” where they could compete with any native speaker of that
country. This vision speaks of their district’s ambitious dreams for their students to provide the
footing they would need for worldwide opportunities should they so seek them.
It is evident they heavily rely on the Board’s support and partnership in their own work as
district administrators to reinforce the objectives of the Dual Language Immersion Programs
across their schools. The mentioning of the Board also demonstrates how important their role is
in setting the district’s priorities in order. Because of the Board’s strong commitment, they are
able to dedicate adequate funding toward the program. Leanne said, “The fact that [Dual
Language Immersion] is one of our Board priorities, we do allocate the resources for our
programs.” Leanne said, “That support at [the district] level, that courage, and leadership trickles
down to involving the principals and the teachers.” In other words, the support, courage, and
leadership from the Board and the district level administrators are models for principals and
teachers to communicate the district’s commitment to the Dual Language Immersion Program to
the rest of the school community.
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There is also a strong commitment to the purpose and objectives of the program from the
community at large. Adrianna described that the belief is strongly supported by the area residents
because multiple languages and cultures are part of the community’s make up. She said,
It is obvious that there are different languages and cultures that fit into the greater [name
of city] community. We have lots of cultures [where] maintaining that second or that
native language [and culture] is extremely important. It [was] not a big deal when the
Dual Immersion Program came in [with its] philosophy because it [fit] completely into
the greater [name of district] way.
In this statement, Adrianna alluded to the built-in, informal support for language learning that
already existed in the community through its diverse heritage and cultural compositions. Also,
given that this district already had a tradition of teaching in bilingual classrooms that was
accepted before laws changed the ability to do that, residents in the community were familiar
with this form of practice, that of teaching in a language other than English to students.
In summary, both a common belief in the Dual Language Immersion Program from
multiple stakeholders and a vertical alignment of the vision are needed to support schools in this
endeavor. From Board of Education members down to the parents of the students enrolled in the
DLIP, a unified commitment is necessary for a robust program to operate and expand. Principals
who oversee these programs cannot work alone. They cannot shoulder the tremendous
responsibilities to recruit and train teachers, advocate for resources at every level, and also
maintain a network of professional development and foreign office resources to enrich their
programs. District office administrators, those who believe in the DLIP and will advocate on its
behalf at the district level, are crucial to the programs’ overall success. The next section will
delve into their responsibilities in more detail.
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Responsibilities of District Leaders to the Dual Language Immersion Program
One thing to keep in mind about each of the district level administrators in this study is
that supporting the Dual Language Immersion Program is not their sole function. In fact, similar
to the principals in this study who have a DLIP strand at their school sites, the DLIP is one of
many programs in the district they are asked to manage and champion. Richard explained,
[The DLIP] takes a lot of commitment. It takes a lot of energy. It takes a lot of creativity.
You have to be willing to go the extra mile for the program. There are time demands on
my schedule that add on to my roles and responsibilities here in the district, too.
Given that adequately supporting the program necessitates an added layer of time and facets to
their positions, others in the organization must understand and appreciate the complexity of what
they do, the constraints placed upon their schedules, and how important they are to the success of
others in the district. Without their key leadership guiding the Dual Language Immersion
Program, among other programs under their purview, principals would not be sufficiently
equipped to do their jobs nor would they have the assistance and cooperation from the central
office to support their teachers, students, and parents.
As clarification, while the research study’s focus was the role of principals in Dual
Language Immersion Programs, in discussing the idea of reciprocal accountability with district
administrators, a further exploration of their responsibilities seemed relevant to include in the
case study. The extent of support they provide to principals greatly influence the principals’
efficacy and impact on their respective programs and schools. Therefore, it is germane to
highlight the work of district office administrators as it relates to that of the DLIP principals in
this study.
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Mapping. One of the areas that district office administrators are responsible for is to
ensure that a comprehensive plan from kindergarten through 12
th
grade is in place for students
enrolled in a Dual Language Immersion Program. Leanne explained,
I think the biggest responsibility of the district is to have the pathway, the multiyear plan
in place so that change in leadership at the school site doesn’t derail the program. We
really need a K-12 pathway plan for all of our languages. ‘What are we committing to?
Where are they going to go? What middle school? What high school?’ so that it’s clear
for principals to communicate to the parents [what] the pathway [is] and [what] the
expectations [are].
What Leanne described is a 13-year commitment to educating a child on a Dual Immersion path.
As districts recruit students to enter into kindergarten, it is important to also keep the entirety of
their educational experiences in mind, after elementary school and into the secondary schools.
She also noted that Dual Immersion is becoming more prevalent and pervasive, necessitating
more expansion in their schools:
For Dual Immersion, I think it’s becoming an imperative like special [education]. There’s
such a need in the community and in our students for [bilingualism], biliteracy,
[biculturalism], that as painful as it can be to do it, I think we have a responsibility to
expand these programs out.
Her statement highlighted a burgeoning movement not only in her district but also throughout the
country where more and more children are being taught academic content in multiple languages.
The Dual Language Immersion Program, due to its proven ability through longitudinal research
to be the only pathway to successfully educate English Language Learners towards proficiency
and/or mastery of content areas standards, will continue to gain steam as it develops throughout
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the nation (Collier & Thomas, 2012, 2014). But Leanne’s comment also doesn’t ignore that this
expansion brings with it challenges. As she said, “as painful as it can be do to it,” it’s important
to have district administrators who can plan for the expansion of the program throughout the
grade levels.
Funding. Due to the specialized nature of the program and the needs that accompany it,
districts must commit to budgeting sufficient funds to start and continually sustain the program.
The financial commitment supports justifying the number of personnel who works within the
DLIP as well as covers other areas such as providing release time to teachers for training,
curriculum development, translating, and attending meetings. Leanne explained her role in
allocating funds as a priority to maintain the program:
[One of our responsibilities is] advocating for them for resources at the district level.
Making sure that when we’re doing or having those staffing conversations that, yes, we
do need that extra teacher. No, the principal is not being unreasonable. Yes, we’ve got to
support them. That’s not optional. We do allocate extra funds [for the Dual Language
Immersion Program], and it’s a pittance. We allocate above the regular general fund
allocations. They get an extra $10 a kid in the Dual Immersion.
When district office leaders have discussions about how to spend their limited funds and make
decisions about what resources are needed or not, having that shared commitment to the program
that is in line with the principals’ priorities ensures that they will advocate on its behalf.
Furthermore, having had previous experiences of working with disadvantaged populations,
language minority students, or directly with the Dual Language Immersion Program is valuable
to draw upon when encountering difficult choices about funding. As past work experiences
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inform future practices, having administrators with a depth of knowledge that allows them to
understand what principals and sites need supports their work that much more effectively.
A challenge with which district administrators must grapple is with attrition as cohorts of
students matriculate through the grade levels. As classes shrink in size from that of an average
load, approximately 24 or under for primary grades (depending on district standards), and
approximately 34 or under for upper grades, to far less in enrollment, the district has to discern
whether or not they will fund a full-time teacher or find an alternative. Adrianna explained,
I think the hardest part for us [is] with the numbers [as it relates to] attrition. As we keep
going up [in the grade levels], we don’t [always] have the number of students necessarily
to sustain a class. When we went to 6
th
grade in [target language], we had six students.
We had to maintain a class for six students. The district had to be willing to do that.
While the cohort Adrianna described only had six students by the time they reached sixth grade,
the district provided a teacher to not only continue the Dual Language Immersion Program for
these students but to also grow the program into the secondary levels. Leanne described the
reason for committing a full-time teacher even under these difficult and less-than-ideal
circumstances:
When you have a leading-edge class, your attrition is higher because the parents don’t
know what’s next. You have that pioneer, three years, the first three years of any
program. The classes get smaller and smaller because those kids move or drop out, but
you have to keep investing. I’m going to give a full teacher. I’m going to fill the dreams.
I’m going to build this program even though I know that I’m not covering the teacher’s
salary with the ADA [Average Daily Attendance]. It’s weird that leading edge becomes
expensive, but it’s also that opportunity for teachers to create curriculum with the smaller
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group of kids knowing that behind them is a much larger group coming up. It’s always
this push and pull with HR [Human Resources] and with our resource allocation. I have
42 students at [name of school]. Yeah, [and I let Human Resources know that they’re]
going to give me two teachers because I can’t put 42 in one class.
From the district’s standpoint, while the “leading-edge” or “pioneer” class is “expensive,” they
are looking at it as both an investment in the students and into the program as teachers create the
curriculum for future classes to come.
An additional challenge, then, in supporting and sustaining Dual Languages Immersion
Programs, involves the expense of purchasing or creating standards-aligned curriculum in the
target languages. Leanne explained,
[There is a] lack of resources. It’s expensive. We purchase curriculum from other
countries. They’re not going to have the California missions. There’s California-specific,
unique US history lessons. How we teach math could be very different than the other
countries. There is an impact on the teachers and an expectation that they create the
curriculum. Just when we thought were there, the Common Core came through. Now, we
have to recreate a lot of the curriculum, which is good, but it’s a challenge.
District office administrators must allocate adequate funding to principals’ budgets to allow
DLIP teachers to create standards-aligned curriculum in the target language, as not all curricular
materials are readily available. If adopted curriculum does come with a target language
component as in the case of Richard’s district, providing training in the target language can give
teachers ample interaction with the academic language as they acquaint themselves with the
material and learn to present it using the content-specific vocabulary they are expected to use in
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class. Providing this level of high quality training addresses the work of the DLIP and the
support principals are trying to give to their teachers. Richard explained,
[My role] is to support [principals] along the way, making certain the professional
development is there to support them. As an example, we adopted the [name of publisher]
series this past year. With our Dual Immersion teachers, our principals, and [my team of
district personnel] together, we provided our teachers with trained professionals from
[name of publisher] who can support their language instruction in the [target language] so
[they] are well versed in the [target language]. With the mathematics, too, the
professional developments are provided in [the target language] to the teachers so they
can work on the content language and reinforce that, too, because they are a bit rusty
[with the academic language].
Having appropriate curriculum in the target language alone is not enough to implement an
academically rigorous program to students. District administrators must constantly anticipate and
provide the resources needed to maximize student achievement. These decisions are not made in
isolation. There must be an ongoing, collaborative dialogue between the central office and school
sites. Both districts in my study have regularly scheduled Dual Language Immersion meetings
where the principals get together with district office administrators for this purpose and to also
provide professional development for the leadership, which will be explained in further detail in
a subsequent section.
To revisit the issue of funding districts must set aside to address the lack of curriculum,
districts like where Leanne and Adrianna work, where they are several years in implementation
of their DLIP, can reflect back on practices they would have changed based on their experiences.
One area would be in devoting more time to developing curriculum in the planning phase.
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Adrianna explained that instead of burning out her current DLIP teachers, as they have to
dedicate additional time to create curriculum in the target language on top of their normal
teaching duties, she wished she allowed time before the program’s actual implementation to do
this. She said,
The one thing I do would [differently] is to invest more money into [creating] a
curriculum at the front end. Knowing [what the progression will be] from Kindergarten
through 12
th
[grade and] how it’s going to go, so we can be prepared for it.
Dedicating funds during the preparation and planning phase of the DLIP could have prevented
some of the overload that many teachers experienced during the school year although not
everything could be planned in advance. Leanne explained how giving teachers time to work on
curricular matters during the year is sometimes unavoidable:
There’s an element at the Dual Immersion Schools where you have to pay more to get the
benefit. They need the same training as a non-dual teacher, but then they need time to
translate it into the language and the language structure because our students who are
learning certain [target languages] can’t perfectly pick up the English phonics lesson and
translate it. You have to give that time and that resource either paying or [getting them a]
sub.
While the professional development given to teachers looks the same for both DLIP and non-
DLIP teachers, there is an added layer of responsibility that DLIP teachers have, that of
translating and/or creating curriculum in the target language. The release time given to teachers
in the Dual Language Immersion Program is one tangible way principals and district
administrators ensure that the curriculum in both languages is reflective of the rigor the
California State Standards require. Hailey explained,
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[Elizabeth] allows all [of] the [DLIP] teachers to get together from kindergarten through
sixth grade. If they’re teaching [the] solar system in sixth grade [in the target language],
and we’re not covering anything to do with space in kindergarten through fourth grade [in
the target language], when they get into sixth grade, it’s a lot [to learn]. We’re really
having to look at what’s important to hit in kindergarten through first, second, and third
so that when they get to [the] upper grades in four, five, and six, we’re able to take
whatever they’ve learned and go deeper. She [has] always been really open to giving us
that time so that we can not only plan [with the] same grade, but we’re [also] able to plan
all together as a whole program.
Hailey explained how Elizabeth also supports the DLIP teachers with additional training in the
content areas with subject specialists. She gave an example of working with a math coach from
her district:
[Elizabeth] offered to release time to [the DLIP teachers] to work specifically with our
math coaches. We [had the opportunity] to ask them about translating or how [the lesson]
should be [taught] when half [the day].
Not only did Elizabeth create an opportunity for focused math training for her DLIP teachers, but
the district also had math coaches already in positions to help teachers with their curricular
needs. In Elizabeth’s district, teacher specialists are also built into personnel to provide support
to the principals specific to the Dual Language Immersion Program. Adrianna shared,
We have teacher specialists assigned to every language. They might go to a specific
conference that’s attached to that language. [We try to] always send somebody who’s
working directly with a specific language to assist.
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Having additional subject or language specialists provide a strong base of support to both
principals and teachers who do not have the time or expertise to learn these areas deeply.
Principals, in cooperation with their district leadership, must recognize the need for specialists
and the time to develop and/or learn curriculum and provide the funding to accomplish this.
Finally, although most of the professional development may be similar for all teachers
and are not program specific, the district does commit to external learning opportunities for its
staff at national and statewide conferences. Emily, a DLIP teacher who works in Richard’s
district, appreciated the funding her district allocates for teachers like her to go learn at key
conferences. She said,
Every year, we’ve been able to go to the ATDLE (The Association of Two-Way and
Dual Language Education) conference. [The district] has sponsored us to go. They’ve
paid [for] the whole thing. It’s a very pricey conference so it’s very generous of the
district to sponsor us to go.
For Emily, her district made a financial commitment to send their teachers and principals to this
“pricey conference” each year so they can be best equipped to handle matters pertaining to Dual
Language Immersion and learn about ongoing effective practices in language learning.
In summary, while Dual Language Immersion Programs cannot be supported and
sustained without financial backing from the district office, for Adrianna, the support she aims to
provide her principals and teachers goes beyond the financial:
We are supporting the dual immersion programs, financially as well as emotionally and
instructionally. We fully embrace that role. We’re very proud of the fact we have Dual
Immersion Program.
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District administrators voice the needs of the program as well as echo and amplify what
principals are asking for at their sites as they advocate for their teachers and students when
decisions are considered. As Leanne put it succinctly, “their action and their vision are in
alignment.” I would argue that because their vision is very much entrenched in a shared
commitment across many stakeholders, their actions also fall in line to not only uphold this
vision, but also by fortunate consequence, support the work of principals and their staffs across
the district.
Hiring. Recruiting qualified administrators and teachers for the program is a big
responsibility. Selecting the “right” principals to lead schools with Dual Language Immersion
Programs falls on the shoulders of district level leaders, one that is not an easy process when
taking the unique needs of the school into consideration and matching that with a principal’s
experience and skill set. Leanne explained,
Each [school has] very much a different layer when you’re selecting the principal. I think
we have to be very careful about which principals we put at a Dual school, and what their
goal is. If you’re program-appropriate or you’re not, if you put a principal [who is mainly
concerned about] the API (Academic Performance Index) (I’ll talk about API even
though I know it’s outdated), [and] that score is what drives them at a Dual
Immersion Program, that would make me very hesitant. [I would be concerned]
especially in those primary grades because they have to understand [to] focus on the rigor
[and] not the language of delivery. Don’t chip away at our model [of the program]
because of anxiety about an end goal.
Building upon the characteristics and qualities that are needed of principals who lead Dual
Language Immersion Program strands in their schools as presented in second theme of this
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chapter, principals must also faithfully follow and stand behind the program model, champion its
efficacy and communicate that to doubters, and, as the quotation above suggests, must not be
hung up on state assessment scores as their first priority. The principals’ goals must be in line
with the district’s overall vision for the program. District administrators must conscientiously
hire individuals who are “program appropriate,” who can serve as an extension of the district’s
set initiatives. They bear the responsibility of hiring principals who will support the site with
strong leadership practices and who will consider the unique needs of the DLIP.
Additionally, staffing qualified teachers who have both foreign language proficiency in
academic areas and who have the necessary credentialing required to work in California public
schools is a challenge as the Dual Language Immersion Program grows. District administrators
also stay abreast of matters pertaining to the Dual Language Immersion Program by
strengthening their network comprised of other administrators who support the DLIP at their
schools and districts. According to Adrianna, this network serves as a place to obtain
information, advertise available teaching positions, and recruit teachers. She said, “We post it out
there, and the network starts passing it around.” The district office must examine all of their
options, sometimes in non-traditional settings, and recruit strategically.
Adrianna shared,
[We look] everywhere and anywhere. You approach all [of] the universities. We have
really good relationships with embassies and so they recruit for us. They put things out in
their newspaper to try to let their ex-patriots, [so] to speak, who are living in the country
who might be interested in [positions]. You start recruiting internationally.
Most job openings in education are advertised on websites such as Edjoin but given the unique
nature of skills required for teachers in Dual Language Immersion Programs, looking beyond job
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sites and even out of the country are necessary to finding the best candidates. Principals do not
have the time or the resources to search for qualified candidates for their programs. District
administrators do the leg work such as posting job openings, recruiting through traditional and
non-traditional mediums, and networking with other leaders in the field who are connected to
those looking for teaching positions in the DLIP. The task of recruiting teachers is another way
district office administrators support the work of principals.
Procuring qualified personnel to place in various certificated positions within a school
district is no different for district administrators without a Dual Language Immersion Program,
however, when hiring for the DLIP, special consideration should be given to match the vision
and needs. Richard explained,
We talk about the Dual Immersion Program from a curricular point of view. We talk
about it in terms of the systems that we’re going to have, the assessments and monitoring,
the professional development and the budgeting. It’s similar, mirrored to our English
regular [education] program. It’s kind of the same conversations only with the focus on
the systems we’re building for Dual Immersion: the hiring practices, how we’re going to
support the teachers, the whole parent piece, too. The regular [education] program
mirrors my [target language] Immersion Program.
While the practices of supporting the DLIP may be similar to other programs that district office
administrators oversee, they need to look through the lens of Dual Immersion. The success of the
program rides mostly on its high-quality teaching staff. Richard shared,
The teachers that we have to lead the program are extremely strong. I would even say that
they’re even stronger than our principals. [Others may] disagree with me, [but] the
program is extremely dependent upon our teachers and the day-to-day role they play. I
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think our teachers are the mainstay of the program. It’s not to say that our principals are
not, but I really believe in strong teachers and the work [they] provide.
Hiring well with the program’s objectives in mind is crucial for district administrators to
consider as they partner with their principals to put the most effective teachers in place. While
this should be a goal in all schools irrespective of the programs that operate within them,
Richard’s comment above points to the sentiment that DLIPs cannot function without high
quality teachers.
As the district administrative team relies heavily on quality teachers to deliver a top-
notch instructional program for students, they must also be willing and open to inviting their
input to inform their decisions regarding the program. Emily described her district’s willingness
to stay attuned to the classroom this way:
One of the things that I’ve appreciated about [this district] in particular, and it could be
because, again, it’s very grassroots at this point, but [the district office] is really taking
into account our opinions and our experiences in the classroom, [considering] what’s
worked and what hasn’t worked. I feel like we’ve been helping to form what it looks like
and what it feels like. I feel like that’s been great not just from the principal perspective
but the district in general. Being able to listen to what the teachers need in the classroom
[has been great] because they’re the ones putting it in action.
Emily shared how at her previous district, this was not always the case. She said,
When I was in [name of district], it was definitely from the top down. People making
decisions for the Dual Immersion Program, for lack of a better word, seemed a little
clueless and uninformed as to the decisions that were being made for Dual Immersion in
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terms of assessments and in terms of the percentages and it trickled down into the
classroom.
District administrators need to keep the lines of communication open, welcoming input and
feedback from their teachers and principals. When they hire whom they believe are the right fit
for the program, they must release the reigns, and they must work together, exchanging ideas
from the “top down” and bottom up. As such, hiring a team of qualified and knowledgeable
individuals for the Dual Language Immersion Program takes careful consideration.
Training. For both Elizabeth and Yvonne, their districts opened up opportunities to
attend conferences focused on Dual Language Immersion for their own preparation as principals
of these programs. Depending on the extent of resources and information district administrators
had to offer, principals were encouraged to attend training sessions and/or be paired up with
other principals whose schools offered a DLIP in the same target language. Leanne explained,
Our most recent [principal to help train and prepare for a Dual Language Immersion
Program] was [name of principal]. When we knew we were going in the planning stages
to start a Dual Immersion for the [target language] program there, we partnered her up
with a Dual Immersion School, [name of school within the district]. We sent her to
CABE (California Association of Bilingual Educators) and Two-Way CABE. We do look
for what trainings are available in Dual Immersion. There’s always the San Diego
Conference. We send her and [another principal] to Minnesota for CARLA (The Center
for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition). It’s their language academy up there.
What’s unique in Minnesota [is that they highlight] the non-English alphabet languages.
For Leanne, sending her principals to learn deeply about certain languages even if the
opportunities were not convenient was important to prepare them. Sending her principals to
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conferences regarding language learning, although useful, were not sufficient for her principals
to understand particular aspects about the target languages they were supporting at their schools.
She went on to share that professional development is individualized for principals in her district.
Leanne revealed,
It is tailored to the person and [based on] their prior knowledge. For any principal, [we
look for] the areas we need to build. If that’s Dual, then we’re going to build that muscle.
If it’s management, assessment, whatever that is, [the district office has] to provide that
so they’re successful. For someone like [name of principal], we didn’t need to send her to
more Dual Immersion conferences. She already knew it. We sent her to conferences to
build her capacity as a principal but not Dual.
Individualizing professional development for principals, as Leanne described, strengthens their
capacity as principals come from different backgrounds and work experiences. They do not all
come with the same set of knowledge and skills. Adrianna also elaborated on conference
opportunities that principals frequently attend, although, again, the decision to go to these
external learning opportunities is individually determined:
We provide CABE and a couple of other Dual Immersion conferences. [Going to
conferences] depends on the situation and what conferences are available and what
resources we have. Whether [principals] select it or not depends on each individual.
When we do GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) strategies for our new
teachers, new principals are encouraged [to attend] if they haven’t gone through it so they
understand.
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Adrianna highlighted an important element in the way principals support their teachers and
sustain a high quality program, that of attending intensive trainings like GLAD to understand the
details of pedagogical strategies to address the needs of ELLs.
District administrators also coordinate professional development opportunities for all of
their principals with shared responsibilities especially as they continue to support the DLIP.
Leanne shared,
We’re rolling out [Professional Learning Communities] and doing a lot of principal
professional development this year so the principals can help and collaborate with their
teachers to roll it out moving forward, but we’ve got to provide that foundation for all of
our principals so that they know what it is to get on board with it, lead it, and then cheer-
lead it.
Creating time for shared learning also helps to foster a sense of camaraderie among principals of
DLIPs. As they learn together, they also become a network of support for one another as they
tackle similar issues at each of their sites. Having consistent meetings as a team of Dual
Language Immersion leaders is key. Leanne described,
We have in-house meetings with all of our Dual principals. With the Dual teacher
specialists, it’s monthly or more frequently depending on what we’re working on. With
the principals, depending on what’s happening, it can be as frequent as once a month or
every other month.
Holding regular meetings as a DLIP leadership team with principals and district administrators is
important for ongoing planning, addressing program needs and concerns, and for mutual
assistance and collaboration.
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District administrators also forge working relationships with consultants who are known
experts in the area of Dual Language Immersion Programs to train their teachers and principals
as well as to support specific program needs as they arise. Leanne explained,
I have fallen into partnerships with [well-respected leaders in multiple language learning]
and [a professor] at [a local university] who have very much a bilingual program and
philosophy that they work on. They have a multilingual conference. Our paths cross so
much professionally that they need me to present at a conference. It’s more of that
partnership.
These partnerships allow for the Dual Language Immersion Programs to be implemented with
fidelity and efficacy as the consultants help monitor the process. For teachers, principals, and
district administrators, learning about DLIP needs and concerns are also deepened through
discussion with these experts. Richard described how his teachers and principals are better
equipped to teach and mediate DLIP issues through their close work with a renowned consultant.
He said,
We had [a consultant], who works out of the two-way Dual Immersion group,
working on writing instruction with the [DLIP] teachers. We pulled all of our [DLIP]
teachers in the district. They all got together [even if] there are varying grade levels and
all focused on writing instructions [in the target language].
He had explained that writing was a need identified by his DLIP teachers and concurred by their
principals as an area of weakness that necessitated strategic support. He elaborated,
[Principals] knew that [writing in the target language was a need] because many of them
[came] from [target language] countries where writing was taught differently. They knew
that there was a difference in what they were teaching and then what they had
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experienced in their education, but we just didn’t address it at the time. Now, we’re
making some efforts to go ahead and address it.
Ensuring that target language specific professional development is available to teachers in the
Dual Language Immersion Program also strengthens their ability to use academically
sophisticated vocabulary and their pedagogy, which may be substantially different from English.
Working closely with consultants also helps those in the DLIP grow the program effectively.
Richard explained,
[The consultant] is our primary consultant for our Dual Immersion Program. We expect a
lot out of her as we develop our program because we just put together our master plan.
We’ve been in an infancy stage all along the way, but now it’s becoming more
formalized. Her expertise [as] she’s on the side whispering, ‘Think about this. Think
about that’ and then asking us questions [helps us] formulate our program to make it
stronger.
By district administrators relying, in part, on consultants who have program expertise in Dual
Immersion, they can provide hands-on, real-time, applicable and practical support for those
directly involved in the program.
Providing ongoing opportunities for learning is valuable for both principals and teachers.
Another way district administrators provide support to their principals in regards to professional
development is by giving them enough autonomy to make their own decisions about how best to
meet their site’s needs. Elizabeth explained,
Our district is very supportive of [professional development]. If you want it, [and] you
can afford it, go for it. There’s a lot of autonomy with that. There [are] some overall staff
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development days. Really, for the most part, the district leaves [professional
development] to us.
Elizabeth’s comment revealed an implied trust that district administrators have in allowing
principals to make training decisions for their staff. According to Leanne, the district also has
the obligation to provide resources and appropriate training to the school site because everything
is promoted at the school level. Leanne said,
It always starts with that expectation in providing the resources and the training to do it.
Providing, because [principals] are expected to promote everything at the school, the time
and the training for them.
District administrators are responsible for giving the time and learning opportunities to their
principals, as Leanne described, because they are ultimately the ones to work directly with the
program. The individualized training and frequent Dual Language Immersion leadership
meetings provide support for principals to be the strong, informed, and confident leaders that
their programs and schools need. It is the district administrators’ duty to strengthen their
principals’ capacity.
Partnering. The last way district administrators support their principals and the Dual
Language Immersion Programs is through developing partnerships with businesses and foreign
consulates or foundations. Opportunities open up through these relationships as well as the
availability of resources in the foreign language, recruitment of qualified teachers, and financial
donations to enrich language learning at the schools.
Businesses can offer resources that districts and schools often cannot provide. Edward, a
non-DLIP teacher who works in the same district as Yvonne and Richard, described how local
businesses add to their program. He said,
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I would say the principal certainly manages well having our extra volunteers come in. We
have volunteers from [name of major corporation A]. Last week, we had someone from
[name of major corporation A] come read us a book. A few times a year, we have an
animator that comes and gives drawing lessons. That’s certainly enrichment that I
wouldn’t be able to give [students] on my own.
It was through the coordinated effort of the principal and her cultivated relationships that created
these unique opportunities for his students and for the school to be cared for. He went on to say:
I think [my principal] does make sure that we have good relationships with the
community. I think it was [name of major corporation B] came in and did murals for us. I
know that wasn’t easy to organize.
Both schools and districts look to external sources for support, as federal and state funds are
often limited and insufficient to cover needs beyond the basics. Yvonne underscored the
importance of her business partners to her role as principal:
I’ve gotten great [responses] from my business partners because I’ve developed
relationships with these people. Now, they’ll call me first to say, ‘Hey, I’ve got this. Are
you interested? Do you want to do this?’ You can’t do anything [without] solid
relationships.
With these relationships in place, Yvonne no longer has to be the one to reach out for assistance.
The businesses know which schools they can contact if and when they wish to have their
employees conduct community service and volunteer hours. Also when they have new products
or programs, they have students who can pilot them when these relationships are already
established. It is mutually beneficial for both businesses and schools.
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In addition to creating relationships with businesses, districts also rely on their contacts at
foreign consulates and foundations to support their work. They can be a treasure trove of
resources and contacts. Adrianna described how the foreign embassies have provided a form of
professional development for her DLIP principals:
There are cultural opportunities that Dual principals have [because] we have
relationships with the embassies. Our principals get invited to visit the countries.
Oftentimes, these “cultural opportunities” are fully paid for or heavily subsidized because
foreign offices want to support schools, and thus principals, in their work as they promote their
country’s languages. Leanne also explained how their partnerships with consulates extend to
networking and financial contributions:
We get a lot [of resources] like different programs. We get a good chunk of change,
money from our consulates. We [received] funds from the [target language] consulate,
and [the principals] get lovely perks and get to go to the diplomat’s house every year. It’s
beautiful. They want the principal. They really want the people who are at the school to
meet the dignitaries. We’re happy with that because then they sell the program and give
us donations, like the [target language] Foundation and the [target language] Business
Organization. Recently, our principal at [name of school] got to go to [name of country]
on a cultural exchange. Our principals at [name of school] and [name of school] were
sponsored by the [target language] Consulate to go to [name of country] on a cultural trip
during the summer. They come back just the biggest cheerleaders for the program. We
have close [relationships] with the consulates and foundations. We’ll have the [target
language] diplomat at [name of school] come every year with really big checks.
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The consulates are big proponents of their national languages and cultures being taught and
shared in American schools. By providing opportunities and resources to the Dual Language
Immersion Programs, they are supporting that work and, consequently, helping the schools in
their endeavor to promote biliteracy and cross-cultural understanding. Again, the effort to teach
and promote these ideals effectively cannot stop with the teachers and the principal. District
administrators must support this effort and build the capacity of their teachers and principals
through the relationships they build with external organizations like business, foreign consulates
and foundations.
While having these external relationships enhance the schools in many ways, it is
important to note the differences in the relationships each district had. For Yvonne, she made the
effort of forming connections with the business partners that supported her school with
enrichment opportunities and beautification projects. Also, the nature of this external support
was not specific to the Dual Language Immersion Program, although this does not mean that the
students in the DLIP did not benefit from their involvement. I only note this to make the point
that the business partners did not contribute to Yvonne’s work as a DLIP principal such as
building her cultural competency or gaining an understanding of language learning. Her district
office did not demonstrate an effort to reach out to these businesses or other organizations to
support her work other than having a Dual Language Immersion consultant on retainer to meet
with the administrative and teaching teams for planning and professional development.
On the other hand, for Elizabeth, her opportunities to grow as a champion of the target
language, its culture and traditions, were greatly enhanced due to her district’s relationships with
various foreign consulates and foundations. As revealed in a previous section, she was able to
travel to the country of the target language in a cultural expedition, gaining firsthand exposure to
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the food, history, and social interactions of the people there. She was able to immerse herself in
learning about the country and understanding its ways, in turn, using that knowledge to better
support her target language families and the Dual Language Immersion Program at her school.
Without the district’s established connections, this unique opportunity would not have been
afforded to her, and while Elizabeth’s proven strengths as a principal would have adequately
supported the needs of the DLIP without this experience, as did Yvonne’s, Elizabeth’s
participation bolstered her belief in the program and built her capacity to connect with the target
language families. The work of district office administrators in creating opportunities for their
principals through their external relationships cannot be underestimated when considering the
longevity of the program.
Summary
The district context in which principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs work is
an important factor in determining the level of success they achieve. The Board of Education, the
Superintendent, and senior administrative staff all play crucial roles in decision making, vision
setting, and establishing priorities, which is why having Board members and administrators
understand the purpose of the program is key. When district leaders believe in the Dual
Language Immersion Program and have an aligned vision across all stakeholders, principals are
better able to support the programs at their school sites. Advocating for resources, additional
teachers, intervention support, or seeking assistance for teachers and parents will not be uphill
battles with the central office. When there is a unified vision for the program, senior
administrators are able to advocate on the principals’ behalf.
District administrators are responsible for having a comprehensive pathway for students.
They also support the program through dedicating sufficient funding for curricular materials,
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personnel, and professional development. Additionally, they hire qualified principals and
teachers who are on the front lines of implementing the program daily, working directly with
students and parents. They design training for principals and teachers to deepen their knowledge
of Dual Immersion matters, language learning, and cultural competency. In districts like the ones
where Leanne and Adrianna work, professional development is highly individualized for
principals to strengthen their capacity as leaders, not just of their sites but also of the Dual
Immersion strand at their schools. Finally, district administrators constantly aim to create and
maintain close relationships with businesses and foreign consulates that will partner with their
programs by providing monetary support, connections to qualified foreign language teachers,
and resources to enrich their programs. These partnerships can open up opportunities for their
staff and students to experience the language and culture in different ways whether it is through
travel or special presentations and classes at school. Having these partnerships enhance the DLIP
that the school and district can offer. District administrators are creating the ideal context in the
district where Dual Language Immersion Programs can flourish and where principals and
teachers are supported through leadership, funding, training, and networking.
Conclusion
The participants in my study described the vast range of characteristics and practices that
are called upon for principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs. They first portrayed an
image of a strong principal, one who is a visionary, who concentrates on the instructional core,
remains accessible to staff, students, and parents, and upholds high expectations for learning.
They were also marked with exceptional relational and communication skills in their ability to
listen and help others understand.
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Their responses also led to defining a set of characteristics and practices that were
applicable and relevant to supporting the Dual Language Immersion Program, a program that
requires special consideration for all of its facets and nuances. Principals of DLIPs were depicted
as having an inclusive mindset and possessing a willingness to be open to diverse ideas and
perspectives. They act as a bridge between people, program strands, ideas, and cultures while
they fiercely advocate for the program and build cohesion within the school community. They
also work closely with the parents in their programs, treating them as partners who have valuable
capital to offer the school. DLIP principals work towards cultural competency and are sensitive
to those from different language, ethnic, or cultural backgrounds. Finally, though not a
requirement, ideal principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs are bilingual and/or
bicultural, having a foot in two different worlds through their language or cultural knowledge.
Lastly, the context in which principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs work
makes a difference in their ability to support the program at their schools, their individual
efficacy as a principal, and the opportunities to which they are exposed. District administrators
are key influencers and collaborators who work with principals in their effort to maintain and
grow the programs through their depth of experience as leaders, their knowledge of the DLIP and
the needs that accompany it, and through their external networks comprised of businesses,
foreign consulates, and foundations that additionally partner with them.
The role of a principal who has a Dual Language Immersion Program at her school is
complicated and demanding, adding a layer of responsibility to the work of being an
instructional leader at the school. However, the principal has the awesome ability in her role to
drastically change the educational outcomes of all students to be more culturally aware, globally
competitive, and multilingual. Above all, as the principal supports the needs of English
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Language Learners through the program, she creates a path for their academic achievement and
increased educational opportunities in the future.
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Table 9.
Responsibilities of District Leaders to the Dual Language Immersion Program

Areas of
Responsibility
Description of Responsibility Examples from Findings
Mapping Designing a district master plan for
the DLIP, including a program path
as students progress through grade
levels, objectives, and outcomes
Leanne:
“I think the biggest responsibility of the district is to have the pathway, the
multiyear plan in place so that change in leadership at the school site doesn’t derail
the program. We really need a K-12 pathway plan for all of our languages. ‘What
are we committing to? Where are they going to go? What middle school? What
high school?’ so that it’s clear for principals to communicate to the parents [what]
the pathway [is] and [what] the expectations [are].”
Funding Allocating money in the budget to
purchase curriculum, materials,
professional development, release
time for teachers, personnel to
support the program, and out-of-
classroom learning experiences
Richard:
“[My role] is to support [principals] along the way, making certain the professional
development is there to support them. As an example, we adopted the [name of
publisher] series this past year. With our Dual Immersion teachers, our principals,
and [my team of district personnel] together, we provided our teachers with trained
professionals from [name of publisher] who can support their language instruction
in the [target language] so [they] are well versed in the [target language].”
Hiring Recruiting and placing principals
and teachers who are qualified to
lead or teach in the program,
determining a match
Adrianna:
“[We look] everywhere and anywhere. You approach all [of] the universities. We
have really good relationships with embassies and so they recruit for us. They put
things out in their newspaper to try to let their ex-patriots, [so] to speak, who are
living in the country who might be interested in [positions]. You start recruiting
internationally.”
Training Providing professional learning
experiences to enhance existing
learning whether it is collective or
individualized for ongoing
effectiveness
Leanne:
“It is tailored to the person and [based on] their prior knowledge. For any principal,
[we look for] the areas we need to build. If that’s Dual, then we’re going to build
that muscle. If it’s management, assessment, whatever that is, [the district office
has] to provide that so they’re successful.”

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Partnering Creating relationships with
businesses, foreign consulates, and
foundations to augment funding
and/or enriching experiences for
students and staff in the DLIP
and/or school
Adrianna:
“There are cultural opportunities that Dual principals have [because] we have
relationships with the embassies. Our principals get invited to visit the countries.”

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CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION
The purpose of this study was to understand the characteristics and practices of principals
with a Dual Language Immersion Program at their schools that enable them to support and
sustain the programs. Additionally, the study sought to examine how these principals promoted
bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding within their school community. Drawing from the
literature on transformational and instructional leadership, cultural competency, English
Language Learners and Dual Language Immersion, I formulated a conceptual framework that
served as a guide to pursue answers to my research questions. The conceptual framework
emphasized the importance of simultaneously employing the practices of both transformational
and instructional leadership, held together by a frame of sensitivity towards diverse populations
as leaders traverse along the path of components that make up the Dual Language Immersion
Program ultimately towards the success of all students but especially that of ELLs. Although the
focus of my study was on the principals and their characteristics and practices, I also found it
pertinent to carefully consider the context in which they worked as the leadership at the district
office and the connections they established with external organizations that offered additional
training and learning experiences as well as supplemental funding influenced the principals’
ability to be that much more effective.
In this qualitative case study, a combination of district administrators, principals, and
teachers were interviewed to help answer the following research questions: (1) What are the
characteristics and practices of reputably effective principals needed to support and sustain their
Dual Language Immersion Programs? and (2) How do principals of schools with Dual Language
Immersion Programs promote a climate of bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding?
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A series of nine individually scheduled interviews was used as the primary source of my
data. According to Patton (2002), qualitative interviews assume the perspective of others is
meaningful to understand and share. Also, Merriam (2009) explained that interviewing is needed
when we cannot observe behavior, feelings, past events, or people interpret their surroundings.
The nine participants were recruited using purposeful sampling. Their interviews lasted between
60 to 120 minute sessions. Using a semi-structured interview protocol, the participants were
asked a range of questions that were tailored to their positions. As the participants fell into one of
three roles, I developed three different protocols to capture their responses based on the
knowledge, experience, and perspective they could offer. The first part of the interview asked for
their background in education, followed by defining characteristics of strong leaders. Then they
were asked to reflect on the differences, if any, between strong leaders in general and those who
lead schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs. The participants were asked questions
about how principals influence professional development and the growth of those in the
organization. The last section of the interview invited them to think about the ways bilingualism
and cross-cultural understanding are promoted in the schools and the principal’s role in that
effort. Additionally, visual documentation was also used to corroborate interviewees’ responses
when available and also was used as a form of data to inform the study. After each subsequent
audio-recorded interview, I transcribed them to review and code the data. From the coded
interviews, I was able to organize my findings to first code them using a combination of a priori
and emergent codes, ultimately to construct themes.
The interview protocols were generated based on my conceptual framework found at the
end of Chapter Two. The interviews allowed each participant to expound on their philosophy of
strong leadership, special considerations, if any, for leading a Dual Language Immersion
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Program, the purposes of professional development and the principal’s role in structuring
learning opportunities, as well as how principals share the notion of bilingualism and cross-
cultural understanding across the school body through their deliberate endeavors.
Based on the findings from my study, I offer a new conceptual framework that
encompasses the leadership practices that were described as needed for principals in Dual
Language Immersion Programs as well as the contextual factors that allow for the principal’s
effectiveness. Building on the ideals of strong leadership practices, drawing on the literature of
transformational and instructional leadership and having a sensitivity for diverse populations,
principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs must operate a similar but different bicycle as
they traverse down the DLIP path. I present the following perspective.
Figure 4.
Revised Conceptual Framework Based on the Literature and the Study

Dual Language Immersion Programs
Use of Native
Language
Quality
Curriculum
Culturally
Relevant
Pedagogy
High
Expectations
Parent
Involvement
Supportive
School-Wide
Climate
Transformational
Leadership
Sensitivity to
Diversity
Instructional
Leadership
Advocate for
Equity &
Adequacy
Act as
Agents of
Change
Redesign the
Organization
Develop
People
Set
Direction
Observe & Guide
Instructional
Practices
Cultivate
Learning
Create Goals &
Collaborative
Structures
Demonstrate
Stewardship
Success of
ELLs &
Reduction of
Achievement
Gap
Bridge of
Two Worlds
Leads with
Courage,
Taking
Risks
District Powered Resources
Builds
Partnerships
Map
Fund
Hire
Train
Partner
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In the revised conceptual framework, the principal’s work is still represented as a bicycle,
but informed by the findings from the study, some modifications were made to the design. As the
findings suggest, there is an added layer of characteristics and practices that are indicative of
principals who lead Dual Language Immersion Programs (see Figure 3). They must lead with
courage and be willing to take risks down a path that is unconventional, a departure from their
own educational experiences. Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs also must seek
to bridge understanding, ideas, people, and culture as they exercise strategic leadership. They
attract partners in their parents, community members, and even those on their staff who are not
directly involved in the program to join them and go along for the ride. The bicycle is powered
by the district’s leadership and their cache of resources, providing multiple gears that the
principal will need to utilize as the terrain changes throughout the course of the year and as the
program evolves over time. It is also important to remember that leading a school with a Dual
Language Immersion Program is not for solo riders. Their leadership is strengthened by the
cooperation of other stakeholders as principals constantly channel their capital to benefit the
program and, ultimately, the school.
Summary of Findings
Three main themes emerged from the study examining the specific characteristics and
practices of effective principals with Dual Language Immersion Programs at their schools and
how they promote both bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding. The findings helped
differentiate between principals in general and principals with Dual Language Immersion strands
at their schools. While the characteristics and practices seem to overlap in many instances, the
study’s findings helped distinguish clear differences between them. The first theme revealed that
principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs are courageous as they determine the vision
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for their schools and stay the course despite its challenges. They also insist upon high
expectations for all students including those who have been historically marginalized by schools.
Principals of DLIPs also demonstrate courage by being unafraid to take risks and stepping out of
their comfort zones. The second theme to emerge was that principals of Dual Language
Immersion Programs must act as a connector and unifier of people, culture, ideas, and values.
They create a collaborative culture at the school where methods and practices are exchanged and
learning opportunities are shared among staff members. Principals of DLIPs bridge differences
and misunderstandings between those in the traditional, English-only program and those in the
DLIP strand. They confront assumptions that may hurt the program, constantly communicating
its purpose while also being a supporter of everyone at the school despite their program
affiliation. The third and final theme in the study related to the context in which principals of
Dual Language Immersion Programs work. This theme highlighted each of the districts’
administrators, their resources and connections that supported the principals’ work in their ability
to be effective at their sites.
In the next section, I will provide a summary of each of the themes from Chapter Four.
Then I will present some implications and recommendations for principals to consider in their
leadership practices as well as discuss principal recruitment and training based on the findings in
the study. Finally, suggestions for future research will be explored.
What Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs are Made of: Courage
Effective principals are visionaries. They are able to imagine for the school what is not
yet apparent to the organization and develop a systematic plan towards improvement. Principals
with vision also do not carry these aspirations for their school by themselves. They include other
stakeholders in first developing a plan and creating a sense of collective ownership of the vision.
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On top of having a clear vision for the school, principals of Dual Language Immersion
Programs have a vision for this unconventional program that is consistent with that of their
Board of Education, the district office, their staff, and parents. Principals of DLIPs must have an
“unrelenting will” to follow the program model and advocate for it amidst criticism from those
within and outside of the program. They must believe in the efficacy of the program as they
become “very proficient at Dual Immersion,” willing to courageously stand behind it even when
faced with adversity.
Principals also uphold high expectations for all students, primarily by closely monitoring
and guiding the instructional environment. As they serve as the instructional leaders of their
schools, principals make key decisions regarding staffing, learning opportunities and staff
training, and how resources are allocated. Additionally, principals of Dual Language Immersion
Programs have the responsibility of making sure that students are not only mastering content
knowledge but are also learning the second language with proficiency. As language learning has
its own trajectory, principals of DLIPs must be knowledgeable regarding language acquisition,
best practices within program models (90/10 or 50/50), and familiar with instructional practices
that may be specific to the target language.
Supporting a Dual Language Immersion Program also means increasing the language
capital of the target language at the school. When two languages are being valued, English
cannot dominate the target language. Establishing equal language status necessitates the principal
to be sensitive to the signage around the school, the correspondences that go home to families,
the number of staff members who speak the target language, and the way it is used and valued at
school.
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Finally, principals of DLIPs demonstrate their courage as they fearlessly take risks. They
champion different perspectives, immerse themselves in understanding a culture different from
their own, and are willing to step out of their comfort zones to challenge their thinking. As
language and academic achievement often take longer for those in the Dual Language Immersion
Program, there is an element of risk involved for everyone in the program. Principals need to be
willing to keep these risks in mind when supporting the program.
All in all, it takes courage to be a principal. Add to that a Dual Language Immersion
Program to the principal’s already complicated set of responsibilities, and you will find more
problems, needs, contentions, and considerations that are specific to the program. Courageous
principals of DLIPs must firmly stick to the vision, have an unyielding high standard for all
students, and take risks as needed.
What Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs Must Consciously Do: Connect
The work of a principal necessitates having strong interpersonal skills to listen,
communicate, and understand others. Included in this work are the characteristics of having an
inclusive mindset, being willing to listen to diverse voices in the organization. They are also apt
to operate under the idea of distributive leadership, sharing some responsibilities with other
individuals, growing their leadership capacities.
As the principals in my study oversaw a Dual Language Immersion strand within their
schools, they constantly worked as a bridge between programs, bringing the people, the cultures,
and ideologies together under one school umbrella. Their primary challenge was to hold together
a community that sought to isolate themselves by program affiliation. They made deliberate
efforts to build staff unity by structuring their collaboration time, staff meetings, and professional
development together, either as a school staff or by grade levels. In some instances, the teachers
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in the DLIP would plan or receive training specific to their program, but both principals in the
study made it a point to bring the staff together as much as possible. Principals of DLIPs also
bring the larger school community comprised of students and parents together by creating
situations where the target language and its culture are shared with everyone. They build
relationships and foster an environment where others can connect with each other, too.
While principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs are not required to be bilingual
or bicultural, they can be considered assets to help bridge people together. There is a short hand
that can facilitate conversations and interactions with families, allowing them to feel more
welcome and invested in the program and school. Principals understand that these relationships
are essential to building support for both the program and school as they draw in parents to be
their partners.
Principals who connect well with parents appreciate their differences and approach them
with these considerations in mind to better meet their needs. As many parents in the program
have the tendency to be involved and invested with their children’s education, principals harness
the time and talents parents can offer to further support the school community. They create ways
that parents can get involved, contribute their resources, and participate in ways that are inviting.
Lastly, principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs manage various difficult conversations
regarding perceptions of inequities between program strands (traditional and Dual Language),
intervening when parents want their children to quit the program because they are struggling
through learning a language while trying to master content, and when complaints are aired
regarding the value and necessity of learning another language in the United States. Principals of
DLIPs take the time to listen to all of these concerns and communicate in ways that changes
these beliefs without further distancing their stakeholders. They always consider the program
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when making decisions for the school, but the program, when managed well by the principal,
becomes a colorful part of the overall fabric of the school community.
Where Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs Work Matters: Context
The last section of Chapter 4 addressed the context in which principals of Dual Language
Immersion Programs work. The context encompasses the personnel who work with them in the
district such as other principals and district administrators, as well as the district’s ability to
provide funding, resources, and connections they have that can influence the degree of the
principal’s success in their effort to support and sustain the DLIP. A profile was provided of each
of the district administrators in the study, describing their experiences in education. Their
effectiveness, which greatly affect the principals’ work, began with a common vision for the
Dual Language Immersion Program that was consistent across the Board of Education, the
Superintendent, and the district administrative team down to individual classroom teachers who
are involved in the program. The district administrators also explained how they provide
professional development to their principals, both in preparation to lead a DLIP and ongoing
training to keep them current on DLIP matters. Depending on context, the quality of professional
development could range from being highly individualized to the principals’ needs or, at
minimum, provide background knowledge and conceptual understanding of Dual Language
Immersion components.
District administrators of effective DLIP principals provide key areas of support to
principals through their responsibilities. They support the principals’ work through mapping a K-
12 pathway for the program, establishing a master plan. They also ensure that the program is
adequately funded and resourced as needed for classroom materials, curriculum, and professional
development for both teachers and principals. In conjunction with principals, they may also
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 279

provide parent training and/or information nights so parents understand the program better. As
the program relies heavily on the quality of the teaching staff, district administrators take great
care in recruiting and hiring highly qualified teachers. They also are responsible for hiring “Dual
solid” principals who can effectively support the program through their leadership. Furthermore,
district administrators also extend learning opportunities for principals or increase funding to
schools by their partnerships with businesses, foreign consulates, and foundations whose intent is
to support those who further the language and culture of their countries. Districts can enrich their
schools and the principals who run them by forging strong ties to these organizations.
Implications for Practice
This study aimed to identify the characteristics and practices of principals who oversee a
Dual Language Immersion Program at their schools that enable them to support and sustain the
program effectively. The study also examined the ways principals promote a climate of
bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding within their school community. Defining these
leadership characteristics and practices of principals are relevant to properly supporting these
programs as the principal is second only to the teacher in impacting student learning in the
school environment (Leithwood & Seashore Louis, 2012). As Dual Language Immersion
Programs are rapidly expanding all over the nation, strong principals who understand the
program’s components and the needs associated with it will be in high demand. In fact,
according to the Center for Applied Linguistics, there are 448 self-reported schools that use a
foreign language to teach part of the curriculum across the United States (retrieved from
http://www.cal.org/resource-center/databases-directories) with more on the rise each year.
As English Language Learners make up 10% of students in K-12 public schools in the
country (retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs), programs that are additive, rigorous, and
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 280

offer high-quality instruction like Dual Language Immersion are called for to address their
language and academic needs. Traditional pull out programs that were mostly remedial in nature
with a watered down or decelerated curriculum have perpetuated decades of underachievement
with English Language Learners, widening the achievement gap between them and their English-
only peers. The efficacy of Dual Language Immersion Programs has been shown to eliminate the
achievement gap for ELLs, and it is the only program shown to do so (Collier & Thomas, 2014).
They have democratized education and equalized opportunities for all students enrolled in the
program. In states such as Delaware, Utah, and North Carolina, there are statewide initiatives in
place to implement Dual Language Immersion Programs in every district (Collier & Thomas,
2014). They are leading the charge of ensuring that students’ language needs are being met while
also focusing on the rigorous content these programs provide.
For this reason, knowledgeable and skilled administrators are needed to continue the
effort in advocating for learning environments and structures that set students up for success.
There is an expectation that all students, no matter their linguistic or cultural backgrounds, will
be given access to challenging curriculum, qualified teachers, and enrichment opportunities
traditionally limited to mainstream or GATE (gifted and talented education) students. The
participants in this study identified characteristics and practices of effective principals, what is
needed at minimum as a school leader. In addition to that, they described characteristics and
practices that are called upon for principals of DLIPs specifically such as building unity,
establishing equal language status, believing and advocating for the program, and acting with
cultural responsiveness.
Without such leaders, a program truly intended to mediate the gap in achievement for the
4.85 million English Language Learners in the United States (retrieved from
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 281

http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/states-and-districts-highest-number-and-share-english-
language-learners) cannot be implemented let alone be sustained over time. As Dual Language
Immersion Programs are gaining in popularity as both an answer to address ELL achievement
and as enrichment to provide students from all backgrounds an additional opportunity to learn
21
st
century skills and acquire global competency, principals who are trained and equipped to
take on this tremendous task will be sought after. As both Leanne and Adrianna explained in the
study, if principals are not familiar with the target language (how it is structured or written) or
the specific components of the Dual Language Immersion Program, it is important that districts
invest in meaningful professional development that individually prepares principals with the
competencies they require.
Our country cannot afford to continue segregating students based on their language
backgrounds, essentially predetermining their paths for college and career at an early age. The
consequences of doing so would be exponentially disastrous and economically devastating for a
large sector of our population. By ignoring the needs of English Language Learners and
excluding them from high quality learning opportunities in school, our country will inherit a
future generation of citizens of undereducated individuals who will be unable to elevate their
station in life.
Through this research study, I wish to draw attention to this growing group of students
and be their voice for the dreams they have for a limitless future filled with potential. I stress the
need for competent principals who will courageously take on this responsibility, who are willing
to take risks and facilitate the difficult conversations in the face of prejudice and ignorance, who
will take the care and time to correct deficit mindsets and model inclusivity. These principals
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 282

may not readily exist in high numbers, but as the data suggests, the characteristics and practices
can be learned and replicated (Hitt & Tucker, 2016).
In the next section, I will make recommendations for how districts and universities can
assist the work of principals who lead Dual Language Immersion Programs so that they are well
prepared and supported in their roles.
Recommendations
Districts
Vertical alignment of vision. The principal does not work in isolation and does not lead
a school alone. All district stakeholders, especially the leadership at the Board of Education and
district office levels, must be unified in their mission to fulfill the vision for the program.
Without that level of solidarity, the Dual Language Immersion Program will be vulnerable to
criticism that could compromise the integrity of the program and diminish the quality of learning
delivered to its students. From the members of the Board and Superintendent down to the
classroom teachers and parents, there must be a commitment to the vision, implementing it with
fidelity even in the face of adversity, and contributing to it as individual roles allow.
Professional development. For maximum benefit, professional development must be
differentiated and individualized to each person, much the same way that good teachers will do
for their students. Principals come into their positions having had varying experiences, some of
which are useful to apply to their role as the leader of a DLIP, but oftentimes, the components of
the program are new to them. Districts must assess the skills and knowledge their principals
possess and design training opportunities to meet their needs. As the participants in the study
shared, some principals understood bilingual education and Dual Immersion well but may have
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 283

needed training on budgeting or assessment. Districts must look at their principals with a close
eye to provide learning that is applicable and useful to them to be effective at their sites.
While keeping this in mind for principals, districts need to plan for ongoing professional
development for their teachers in the Dual Language Immersion Program that specifically
addresses the pedagogy in the target language, and, if possible, provide the professional
development sessions in the target language. In Chapter Four, Richard explained how he worked
with the publisher of their newly adopted language arts curriculum to hold professional
development sessions in the target language for his Dual Language Immersion Program teachers,
giving them the interaction they needed with content-specific vocabulary. Using the target
language for teacher training is particularly powerful because it allows teachers to familiarize
themselves with the academic language they are expected to use in their instruction. They also
obtain opportunities to respond and write in the target language, strengthening their own usage
and learning.
Ongoing support. Another way the district can aid principals as they support the Dual
Language Immersion Programs is through continuous administrative team meetings,
collaborating with other principals who lead DLIPs as they make larger program decisions
together. It is important to structure regular time for leaders of DLIPs to exchange ideas, problem
solve common issues, and provide pertinent information regarding the direction of the program.
Districts can also contract work with consultants, experts in the field of Dual Immersion, as a
resource for ideas and someone with whom they can confer regarding program concerns. Again,
these meetings would be specific to those who lead DLIPs, separate from general site leadership
meetings that everyone would attend. In this way, the topic of discussion would remain specific
to the program.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 284

Hiring. When it comes to recruiting and assigning principals and teachers in the Dual
Language Immersion Program, the district office does the brunt of the legwork. They advertise
the positions, reach out to organizations and networks, paper screen applications, and interview
candidates. They identify those who they deem to be best qualified for the position, people who
they see as right fits for their respective schools. For principals, in particular, districts may seek
out those with a bilingual and/or bicultural background or those who understand the Dual
Language Immersion Program, but having those qualities are not exactly vital at the onset. As
the data suggests, being bilingual or bicultural can be assets to help principals communicate
more effectively with the families who speak the target language but having these qualities does
not equate being an effective DLIP principal. Districts must keep in mind, no matter their
principals’ previous experiences, that all principals will require some training and acculturation
into the district and school. In a word, these are icing on the cake. What is more important to
keep in mind is that districts select principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs who have
proven strong leadership qualities (the bottom layer of the cake provided in Figure X). And while
maturing and evolving as an educator has no end as there is an expectation for continual growth,
because administrating the DLIP adds a significant layer of responsibility for principals, it is
important to place those individuals who proficiently understand the basics of leadership so they
have the time and attention to grow in the area of Dual Language Immersion. The advantage to
districts is that the acquisition of Dual Language Immersion knowledge can be taught and
attained through strategic professional development, giving district administrators some
flexibility with selecting their site leaders.
Partnerships. While districts have their own resources to draw from, oftentimes, they are
insufficient to create the opportunities for staff and students that would be ideal. By districts
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establishing relationships with local businesses or foreign consulates, they invite others who care
about contributing to students’ success the opportunity to invest in their education. Foreign
consulates support the work of schools that further their country’s language and culture. The
support can be in the form of monetary donations to the program, visitations to diplomatic
events, or cultural exchanges to the countries of the target languages. These offerings extend far
beyond traditional professional development where one may attend a class or a workshop to
learn about a country, their language, and their culture. It is quite a different (and exciting)
experience to actually live it and see it for oneself by traveling there. As the findings showed,
Elizabeth who was afforded the chance to go to the country of her program’s target language
returned home with a renewed appreciation for her students and families, a love for the culture,
and a connection as she learned about some similarities in their history to her own background.
Districts can also greatly benefit from belonging to a network of other districts (and
universities) that support Dual Language Immersion Programs. As principals need a team of
other leaders with whom to collaborate, districts need other districts from which to learn, with
whom to exchange ideas, and, if applicable, share resources. District administrators can reduce
conflict and errors in implementing the program by learning from the mistakes of other districts
that established their programs first. Reaching out to their counterparts in other districts can be
advantageous and provide a short hand to the work involved.
Additional Personnel. It takes individuals from many vantage points to support the Dual
Language Immersion Program. From district office administrators, to principals and teachers, it
takes an extraordinary amount of energy to provide ongoing support for the program. Districts
need to consider hiring specific personnel such as program coordinators or teacher specialists
who are dedicated to this task as their primary responsibility to ensure that the support teachers
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 286

and principals needs are adequately given. For both principals and district office administrators
who have many responsibilities and roles, one of which is Dual Immersion, it is reasonable and
necessary to position point people to own this task. Ideally, the program coordinators or teacher
specialists would be bilingual, speaking the target language learned at the school site. Some
examples of their duties may include scheduling training sessions, help teachers plan instruction,
assist with the procurement of curriculum and materials, evaluate student work, meet with
parents, provide tours, and facilitate orientation meetings for current and future families.
Funding. Providing adequate funds to support the program is an imperative. Districts
must allocate sufficient dollar amounts to purchase curriculum, pay for teacher’s extra hourly
pay to create curriculum if it is not readily available, assign teachers to classes even if there are
not enough students to warrant a full time teacher in the first cohort of the program, and purchase
additional materials such as library books, software, and training. As Leanne from the study
explained, “Dual Immersion is expensive.” There is an investment upfront at the onset of the
program with planning, professional development, and purchasing resources related to the
program and/or target language. Oftentimes, if empty classrooms are being utilized to house the
DLIP, new furniture must be purchased as well.
Apart from the start-up costs, there are ongoing expenses tied to the program that districts
(and principals) must consider. Instructional aides may be necessary to support target language
instruction in the Dual Language Immersion Program classroom as well as to provide
intervention sessions for those students who need more intense instruction to learn the language.
There may be continued costs with translation and curriculum development as well.
Build from within. As districts graduate their high school students with the seal of
biliteracy, it would behoove them to encourage their students to enter into teaching. Districts can
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 287

consider awarding scholarships to their graduates who aspire to enter into education as teachers
of Dual Language Immersion Programs. While none of the participants in the study directly
expressed this strategy for recruitment of teachers for the Dual Language Immersion Programs,
Adrianna alluded to encouraging involved parent volunteers who exhibit promise as educators to
pursue their bilingual teaching credentials. She stated,
You start recruiting parents who maybe started volunteering at the school and [are great]
and decided, ‘You know what, this is really what I love to do.’ [They are] proficient in
the language, so they go back to school and get their credential.
Her statement was indicative of districts adapting to the dearth of language teachers by taking
notice of the pool of potential candidates within their own schools. Instead of trying to recruit
qualified teachers from all over the world, they can grow their own teachers for the program,
hiring them as district employees once they meet their college and credentialing requirements.
Building a strong teaching force from within is a practical solution to fill teaching positions
especially as programs expand and grow.
Universities
Symposiums. One way universities can participate in supporting the national expansion
of Dual Language Immersion Programs is by providing training for current principals and
teachers of DLIPs. Not all districts have the funding, resources, or connections to provide in-
depth training on their own. Some districts may only have one school with one classroom at the
beginning stage of the program. The teacher and principal of such a fledging program would
greatly benefit from belonging to a network of other DLIP providers with whom to learn
alongside and collaborate. While there are a few conferences around the country focused solely
on Dual Immersion such as La Cosecha in New Mexico or ATDLE (Association of Two-Way
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 288

Dual Language Education) in California, they may be cost prohibitive and difficult to attend due
to distance. Also, conference sessions may not be long enough to go into the depth of learning
that teachers and principals may seek to improve their practice. If local universities would
consider holding regular symposiums spread out throughout the year for ongoing support, DLIP
support providers may find it more useful and immediately applicable to their contexts.
International relationships. Districts identified recruitment of qualified teachers to be a
challenge with working to support Dual Language Immersion Programs. Universities can
connect teachers from other countries by creating a partnership with institutions in those
countries. Teachers already certified in their home country who wish to immigrate to the United
States to teach here could be connected to an American university to obtain their proper
credentialing and visas. Universities can then partner with area districts as a hub to place teachers
as they are needed once they have completed their requirements. Adrianna suggested casting a
wide net to recruit teachers for their Dual Language Immersion Programs. When asked where
she looks for individuals, she said,
Everywhere and anywhere. You approach all of the universities. We have really good
relationships with embassies and they recruit for us. They put things out on their
newspapers to try to let their ex-patriots, sort to speak, who are living in the country who
might be interested in it. You [also] start recruiting internationally.
Instead of each district trying to recruit teachers from any means possible, as Adrianna explained
above, both locally or from different parts of the world, universities can streamline this effort by
doing the work of several districts and also by providing the needed coursework and
credentialing these international recruits will need. As some states are asking each one of their
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districts to establish Dual Language Immersion Programs, this is a large area of need that must
be addressed to find teachers for these programs.
Future Research
This research study focused on the role of principals who have a Dual Language
Immersion Program at their sites. As there are program participants and non-participants at the
school, the issues, in large part, pertain to building unity, developing cultural awareness, and
bridging differences between the two groups. It may be worth doing a comparative case study
exploring the differences between schools that have a DLIP strand and a school-wide DLIP
model. What are the differences in school climate, parent involvement, challenges, and learning
opportunities? Would the characteristics and practices of principals with school-wide DLIPs be
different from those principals who support a strand at the school? What are the advantages or
disadvantages of both program models?
It would also be interesting to do a qualitative case study on a cohort of students who
participated in the Dual Language Immersion Program within a district from kindergarten until
12
th
grade to monitor their achievement, their college prospects, their social circles, and overall
outlook on life. Students who graduate from the DLIP after the completion of high school leave
with the seal of biliteracy but what are the interpersonal and social-emotional “skills” they obtain
through their program involvement? Both principals in the study, Elizabeth and Yvonne, alluded
to the importance of educating the whole child, so it would be interesting to see how exactly this
is accomplished. Are they better prepared to communicate and engage with others, not just
because they can speak another language, but because they may be more culturally sensitive and
understanding of people different from themselves? What type of professions do they pursue?
How do they use their biliteracy skills in the workplace?
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 290

Also, to get a better understanding of principals and their various functions at their school
and within the district, it would be informative to shadow them over the course of a school year,
from the opening of school to the conclusion of the year. By conducting a study over a year long
time frame, the intensity of seasonal demands can be measured as compared to ongoing
responsibilities. The structure of this study could also highlight how principals support their
teachers and new families from recruitment to promotion, activities that happen at certain points
of the year.
Conclusion
A principal of a school may not literally be fighting fires, building rocket ships, or
performing heart surgery, but they are in a figurative sense. They defuse hot situations and
mediate conflicts. Through their roles, they are helping to build students’ futures that could take
them anywhere around the world, and they are constantly reshaping thinking and changing
people’s hearts about how students are cared for and educated.
Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs are battling against historical
marginalization of linguistic minorities. They are challenging prejudicial mindsets, stereotypical
assumptions about English Language Learners and their families, and remedial expectations. In
the midst of extreme nationalism and propaganda that perpetuates fear of different cultures or
“others,” it is even more crucial that in our schools, courageous principals lead the charge of
extinguishing this type of harmful thinking that will destroy our relationships with people.
Principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs are not just language and program advocates
who provide resources, conduct meetings, and support the needs of teachers, they are beacons
who emit light and hope for families’ futures. They serve as advocates for students, parents, and
teachers. They believe in its vision, not only for its rigorous instructional structure but also for its
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 291

ability to create a safe environment where students’ native languages are valued and appreciated,
and where their culture is seen as something from which to be learned.
As Dual Language Immersion Programs sprout all across the country, principals who
exercise courage show competence in leadership, and who can connect others in inclusive and
respectful ways will be needed. The importance of the principal’s role for these programs cannot
be understated. Our students will count on them to fight the fires, build their rockets, and work
on the hearts of those who may stand in their way of reaching the level of success they deserve.

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 292

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Appendix A
Definitions and Variations of Dual Language Immersion Program Labels
! Dual Language Education (DLE)
! Developmental Bilingual Education (DBE)
! Two-Way Bilingual Education (TWBE)
! Two-Way Immersion (TWE)
! Dual Immersion (DI)
! Enriched Education (EE)
According to Freeman, Freeman, and Mercuri (2005), the terms above all share the
characteristics of using two different languages to learn academic content. The “Two-Way” label
places an emphasis on the class make up, both native speakers of English and that of the target
language to serve as peer models of the language. This term is also differentiated from a One-
Way program model where all of the students are learning the same language together. The term,
“Enriched,” underscores the program design to be additive in nature as opposed to being
subtractive or remedial, typical of programs that have historically served English Language
Learners.
Dual Language Immersion Programs not only serve as a bridge to learning English, but it
also provides a pathway to acquiring an additional language.

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Appendix B

Criteria for Principal/Site Selection

1. Individual has been a principal of a Dual Language Immersion Program (DLIP) for two
years or more.
2. Individual has been in the district for three or more years.
3. Dual Language Immersion Program has been at the school site for three years or more.
4. Students in the DLIP score above average on state assessments (California Assessment of
Student Performance and Progress).
5. The school is recognized as a high performing school (i.e. California Distinguished
School, Gold Ribbon School, Blue Ribbon School).
6. The principal participates in professional networks within and outside of the district (i.e.
professional learning communities, conferences, district meetings, etc.).

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 303

Appendix C

Criteria for Teacher Selection

1. The teacher has taught for over five years in their career.
2. The teacher has been at the school for two years or more.
3. One teacher is within the Dual Language Immersion Program (per site), and one
teacher is within the general education program (per site).
4. The teacher is not on a temporary or probationary contract.
5. The teacher has had satisfactory evaluations while at the school.

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Appendix D
Interview Protocol for Principals
I. Introduction
Thank you for agreeing to participate in my study. Before we get started, I wanted to
briefly introduce myself. I am currently an Elementary School Principal and am also a parent of
two children in a Dual Language Immersion Program. I am also currently a student at USC and
am working on my dissertation about leadership in Dual Language Immersion Programs. I am
particularly interested in understanding how leaders support and sustain Dual Language
Programs in their districts and how leaders promote bilingualism and cross-cultural
understanding at their schools. Being both a principal and a parent of children in a DLIP, I am
interested in understanding the role of principals in implementing and sustaining such programs .
I am interested in hearing the perspectives of district-level leaders like Superintendents and
Assistant Superintendents of Human Resources, Elementary School Principals, and teachers of
Dual Language Immersion Programs and non-DLIP teachers at schools with Dual Language
Immersion Programs. I would like to know your thoughts on leaders’ roles and the goals and
intent of the program. I appreciate you volunteering to share your perspective and to participate
in my study. The interview should take about an hour and a half. Does that work for you?
I want to remind you that I will audio record this interview only to ensure that I get an
accurate account of your responses. The audio recording will not be shared with anyone and will
be saved on a password protected computer for three years and then destroyed. Is that alright
with you?
I want to assure you that I am strictly wearing the hat of a researcher today. What this
means is that the nature of my questions is not evaluative. I will not be making any judgments on
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 305

your performance at your school or district. None of the data I collect will be shared with your
school or district. The data will only be used to draw out themes across multiple people, and I
will be using a pseudonym so as to ensure the confidentiality of the data when I write up my
findings.
I am happy to provide you with a copy of my dissertation if you are interested. Might
you have any questions about the study before we get started? If you don’t have any (more)
questions, I would like to have your permission to begin the interview.
II. Setting the Stage
A. Educational Background
1. First, could you tell me about your background in education? (Probe: What
positions have you held? How long have you held your various positions?).
2. How did you become involved with the Dual Language Immersion Program?
(Probe: How did you first hear about the program? What were your initial
impressions of it? How were you recruited to work on it, if you were
recruited? Why did you volunteer to work on it, if you volunteered?)
III. Heart of the Interview
Thank you for giving me an overview of your background. Now, I would like to ask you specific
questions about leadership in a DLIP.
Research Question 1: What are the characteristics and practices of reputably effective principals
needed to support and sustain their Dual Language Immersion Programs?
A. Leadership
1. Can you describe your definition of a strong school leader? (Probe: What three
qualities are the most important to demonstrating strong leadership?)
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 306

2. What characteristics do you feel are necessary for all principals to have?
3. What practices would you observe good school leaders doing? What would I hear
them saying?
4. Now shifting to your experiences as a school leader, could you walk me through a
typical day in your position?
5. A balanced curriculum, one that addresses the language acquisition arms of reading,
writing, listening, and speaking within the content standards, is essential to building
both language and content knowledge. How do you ensure a balanced curriculum is
delivered among all of your classes?
6. How frequently do you observe teachers during instructional time? (Probe: What is
your opinion on the quantity of time you spend in classrooms?)
7. What do you look for when you conduct walk-thrus in classrooms?
8. What kind of feedback do you provide after a formal or informal observation? (Probe:
What types of comments are given? What purpose does the feedback have in relation
to teachers’ instructional practices?).
9. Other than observing classroom practices, what are other ways you engage in tasks
related to instruction? (Probe: Can you elaborate on what is specifically involved?
How have those activities helped your teachers improve their practices?).
10. How much time do you feel an effective school leader should spend working on
instruction-related tasks?
11. What percentage of time do you spend working on instruction-related tasks?
12. How do you demonstrate stewardship?
13. What role does building relationships have within a school?
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 307

14. How do you specifically build relationships with your staff? Parents? Students?
15. Earlier we talked about how you define strong leaders and what characteristics all
principals should have. Thinking specifically about principals in schools where there
is a Dual Language Immersion Program, what characteristics do you feel are
necessary for these principals to have?
16. How is it different to be a principal of a DLIP school vs. a principal of a school where
there is no such program, if anything?
17. What are the differences between the two contexts that necessitate different principal
characteristics, if anything?
18. What practices do you feel are necessary for DLIP principals to enact? (Probe: Are
there practices that are specific for principals of schools with Dual Language
Immersion Programs that are more pronounced or imperative than at a school without
such a program? If so, what are they? How is engaging in instructional leadership
different? How is leading the curriculum different? How is stewardship different?
How is the process of building relationships different? How do these relationships
support the school with a program like Dual Language Immersion?).
19. Some people would say that there is no difference between an effective principal and
an effective principal of a DLIP. What would you say to that?
20. Some people would say that a principal doesn’t have to be bilingual to be an effective
leader of a DLIP. How would you respond to that?
21. Along the same lines, some would say that principals of Dual Language Immersion
Programs do not have to be bicultural to be an effective leader of a DLIP. What are
your thoughts on that?
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 308

I’d like to ask you some questions specifically about how you lead the DLIP in your school.
22. Could you please describe the vision of the Dual Language Immersion Program?
23. How did the vision of the program get established? (Probe: Who was involved in
creating the vision?).
24. What was your role in establishing this vision? (If none, what is your role in
continuing this vision?)
25. Earlier, we talked about how you ensure a balanced curriculum is delivered among all
of your classes. How is it different to ensure a balanced curriculum in the Dual
Language Immersion Program, if anything?
26. With regards to instruction, are there certain strategies you look for when observing a
Dual Language Immersion classroom? (Probe: If so, what are they?).
27. What is your role with respect to the Dual Language Immersion Program in your
school? (Probe: How do you support the program, if at all?)
28. What are the challenges you face as a leader with the responsibility of supporting the
Dual Language Immersion Program in your school?
29. Please describe how you, as the principal, help sustain the DLIP at your school.
(Probe: How do you keep the program going?).
30. What are the challenges you experience in sustaining the Dual Language Immersion
Program at your school?
31. What are some successes you have had with respect to supporting the DLIP at your
school?
32. What are some successes you have had with respect to sustaining the DLIP at your
school?
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Some people might say that a Dual Language Immersion Program is not good for a school. How
might you respond to this? (Probe: Could you explain why?). Now, I’d like to ask you some
questions with regards to professional development and staff training.
B. Professional Development/Staff Training
1. What do you think is the purpose of professional development?
2. Please tell me about any training you received prior to starting the Dual Language
Immersion Program? (Probe: What types of ongoing training do you receive?)
3. What types of professional organizations, networks, or conference do you, as a leader,
attend to keep you connected and abreast of matters pertaining to Dual Language
Immersion, if at all?
4. Please tell me about any training your staff received prior to starting the Dual Language
Immersion Program? (Probe: What types of ongoing training do they receive?).
5. What was your process for deciding how to prepare your staff to work with students in
the Dual Language Immersion Program? (Probe: How did you decide on what the staff
needed?).
6. How much autonomy did you have in making decisions about professional development?
(Probe: How much of these decisions regarding professional development were based on
your own experiences and background?).
7. How do the professional development opportunities for Dual Language Immersion differ
from non-DLIP teachers, if at all? (Probe: If they do differ, could you elaborate on that?
How was the decision made to only offer it to them and not your whole staff?).
8. What types of collaboration opportunities are there for staff in general? (Probe: How do
you support and encourage your teachers to be collaborative?).
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 310

9. How is the collaborative work different for DLIP teachers from non-DLIP teachers, if at
all? How is it similar, if at all?
10. How do you, as the principal, take part, if at all, in the collaborative process your teachers
partake in? (Probe: How is your role in this collaborative process different when it
pertains to matters of Dual Language Immersion?).
11. How do you participate in professional development at your school site? (Probe: Please
describe your role in professional development for your school.).
Thank you. Now, I’d like for us to move on to the topic of school climate.
Research Question 2: How do principals of schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs
promote a climate of bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding?
C. School Climate
1. What would I see if I stepped onto a campus of a Dual Language Immersion School ?
2. What would I hear when I am at a school with a Dual Language Immersion Program?
3. How does it feel to be on a campus with a Dual Language Immersion Program?
4. Tell me about your thoughts on promoting bilingualism in school. Probe: What does
this mean? What does it look like to promote bilingualism in schools? What would
principals do to promote bilingualism?
5. Can you describe how your school promotes a culture of bilingualism, if it does?
(Probe: What was/is your role in this effort? Can you give me specific examples of
what you did to promote a culture of bilingualism?).
6. What are your thoughts on promoting cross-cultural understanding in school? Probe:
What does this mean? What does it look like to promote cross-cultural understanding
in schools? What would principals do to promote cross-cultural understanding?
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 311

7. Can you describe how your school promotes cross-cultural understanding, if it does?
(Probe: What was/is your role in this effort? Can you give me specific examples of
what you did to promote cross-cultural understanding?).
8. Describe the ideal school climate for a school with a Dual Language Immersion
Program? (Probe: What would that climate be like where bilingualism and cross-
cultural understanding are ideals?).
9. How do students who are not enrolled in Dual Language Immersion Programs have a
part in the school’s promotion of bilingualism, if at all?
10. How does the staff promote cross-cultural understanding at the school for all students,
if at all? (Probe: Please provide examples).
11. What are the benefits, if any, of having a school with a Dual Language Program that
not all students participate in? (Probe: What is the principal’s role in this? Can you
provide a specific example of something you have done that demonstrates the role
you have had in this?).
12. What are the challenges, if any, of having a school with a Dual Language Immersion
program that not all students/families participate in? (Probe: How do you manage
conflicts or differences in opinion? How does the principal address these challenges?
Can you provide a specific example of something you have done that demonstrates
the role you have had in this?).
13. Describe the ways you involve parents in supporting student learning in general, if at
all. (Probe: How do you involve parents in supporting student learning specifically
within the DLIP? Can you provide a specific example of a time you involved parents
to support student learning?).
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 312

14. Explain how you promote equity among your students of diverse backgrounds at your
school., if at all. (Probe: How do you promote equity among students of diverse
backgrounds within the DLIP? Please provide examples.).
15. What does it mean to be sensitive to the needs of diverse learners? (Probe: What
practices would school leaders who are sensitive demonstrate? What would I see
them doing? What would I see them saying?)
16. How would you describe yourself in relation to this definition you just provided? Can
you provide a specific example of something you have done that demonstrates your
sensitivity to the needs of diverse learners?
17. How have your personal and educational background influenced where you are on
this concept of sensitivity to diverse learners? (Probe: How did you learn about the
need to be sensitive to diverse learners? Describe any experiences with discrimination
or marginalization, if any? How do you believe these experiences shaped your
understanding of the differences in others?).
18. If you could point to one or two things that you think have helped you successfully
implement a DLIP, what would you say?
IV. Closing Question
Before we end the interview, I was wondering if you would like to add anything about yourself
and your experience that you haven’t had a chance to share yet.
V. Closing
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts today. I really appreciate your time and
willingness to speak with me. Everything that you have shared is really helpful for my study.

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 313

Appendix E
Interview Protocol for District Level Leaders
I. Introduction
Thank you for agreeing to participate in my study. Before we get started, I wanted to
briefly introduce myself. I am currently an Elementary School Principal and am also a parent of
two children in a Dual Language Immersion Program. I, myself, am also bilingual. I appreciate
the time that you have set aside to answer my questions. The interview should take about an hour
and a half. Does that work for you?
Before we get started, I want to provide you with an overview of my study and answer
any questions you might have about participating in this interview. I am currently a student at
USC. The topic of my dissertation is on leadership in Dual Language Immersion Programs. I am
particularly interested in understanding how leaders support and sustain Dual Language
Programs in their districts and how leaders promote bilingualism and cross-cultural
understanding at their schools.
I am interested in hearing the perspectives of district-level leaders like Superintendents
and Assistant Superintendents of Human Resources, Elementary School Principals, and teachers
of Dual Language Immersion Programs and non-DLIP teachers at schools with Dual Language
Immersion Programs . I would like to know your thoughts on leaders’ roles and the goals and
intent of the program
I appreciate you volunteering to share your perspective and to participate in my study. I
want to remind you that I will audio record this interview only to ensure that I get an accurate
account of your responses. The audio recording will not be shared with anyone and will be
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 314

saved on a password-protected computer for three years and then destroyed. Is that alright with
you?
I want to assure you that I am strictly wearing the hat of a researcher today. What this
means is that the nature of my questions is not evaluative. I will not be making any judgments on
your performance at your school or district. None of the data I collect will be shared with your
school or district. The data will only be used to draw out themes across multiple people, and I
will be using a pseudonym so as to ensure the confidentiality of the data when I write up my
findings.
I am happy to provide you with a copy of my dissertation if you are interested. Might
you have any questions about the study before we get started? If you don’t have any (more)
questions, I would like to have your permission to begin the interview.
II. Setting the Stage
First, could you tell me about your background in education? How did you become involved
with the Dual Language Immersion Program?
III. Heart of the Interview
Thank you for giving me an overview of your background. Now, I would like to ask you specific
questions that are tied to my study.
Research Question 1: What are the characteristics and practices of reputably effective principals
needed to support and sustain their Dual Language Immersion Programs?
D. Leadership
33. Can you describe your definition of a strong school leader? (Probe: What three
qualities are the most important to demonstrating strong leadership?)
34. What practices would you observe good leaders do?
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 315

35. What is your role with respect to supporting principals of the Dual Language
Immersion Program in your district?
36. What are the challenges you see principals face as a leader with the responsibility of
supporting the Dual Language Immersion Program in their school?
37. What are the challenges you see principals experience in sustaining the Dual
Language Immersion Program in their school?
38. Some people might say that a Dual Language Immersion Program is not good for a
school? (Probe: Could you explain why? What would happen if the program changed
in its level of popularity?).
39. Could you please describe the vision of the program?
40. How did the vision of the program get established? (Probe: Who was involved in
creating the vision?).
41. What qualities do you look for when hiring principals? (Probe: Are there
characteristics you feel that are necessary for principals to have?).
42. Are there characteristics that are specific for principals of schools with Dual
Language Immersion Program that are more pronounced or imperative than at a
school without such a program? If so, what are they?
43. What are the differences between the two?
44. Are there practices you feel that are necessary for principals to have?
45. Are there practices that are specific for principals of schools with Dual Language
Immersion Programs that are more pronounced or imperative than at a school without
such a program? If so, what are they?
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 316

46. How did you decide which schools would have Dual Language Immersion
Programs? (Probe: How did you hire principals for those schools? Could you please
describe the process you took?).
47. Some people would say that a principal doesn’t have to be bilingual to be an effective
leader. How would you respond to that?
48. Along the same lines, some would say that principals of Dual Language Immersion
Programs do not have to be bilingual. What are your thoughts on that?
49. In the same way, some would say that principals of Dual Language Immersion
Programs do not have to be bicultural. What are your thoughts on that?
50. Some people would say that there is no difference between an effective principal and
an effective principal of a DLIP. What would you say to that?
51. How do principals demonstrate stewardship?
52. How do principals build relationships with their stakeholders?
53. How do these relationships support the school with a program like Dual Language
Immersion?
Now, I’d like to ask you some questions with regards to professional development and staff
training.
E. Professional Development/Staff Training
12. What do you think is the purpose of professional development?
13. How do your principals participate in professional development?
14. Please tell me about any training your principals received prior to starting the Dual
Language Immersion Program? (Probe: What types of ongoing training do they receive?).
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 317

15. How do the professional development opportunities for principals of Dual Language
Immersion schools differ from non-DLIP principals? (Probe: If they do differ, could you
elaborate on why that is?).
16. What types of professional organizations, networks, or conference do you, as a leader,
attend to keep you connected and abreast of matters pertaining to Dual Language
Immersion, if at all?
Thank you. Now, I’d like for us to move on to the topic of school climate.
Research Question 2: How do principals of schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs
promote a climate of bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding?
F. School Climate
19. What would I see if I stepped onto a campus of a Dual Language Immersion School?
20. What would I hear when I am at a school with a Dual Language Immersion Program?
21. How does it feel to be on a campus with a Dual Language Immersion Program?
22. Tell me about your thoughts on promoting bilingualism as an idea.
23. Can you describe how schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs promote a
culture of bilingualism?
24. What are your thoughts on promoting cross-cultural understanding?
25. Can you describe how schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs promote
cross-cultural understanding?
26. What would be an ideal school climate with a Dual Language Immersion Program?
(Probe: What would that climate be like where bilingualism is an ideal?).
27. What are the benefits, if any, of having a school with a Dual Language Program that
not all students participate in? (Probe: What is the principal’s role in this?).
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 318

28. Can you explain how principals promote equity among students of diverse
backgrounds. (Probe: Please provide examples.).
29. What are the challenges, if any, of having a school with a Dual Language Immersion
program that not all students/families participate in? (Probe: How do you manage
conflicts or differences in opinion? How does the principal address these
challenges?).
IV. Closing Question
Before we end the interview, I was wondering if you would like to add anything about yourself
and your experience that you haven’t had a chance to share yet.
V. Closing
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts today. I really appreciate your time and
willingness to speak with me. Everything that you have shared is really helpful for my study.

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 319

Appendix F
Interview Protocol for Teachers
I. Introduction
Thank you for agreeing to participate in my study. Before we get started, I wanted to
briefly introduce myself. I am currently an Elementary School Principal and am also a parent of
two children in a Dual Language Immersion Program. I am also currently a student at USC and
am working on my dissertation about leadership in Dual Language Immersion Programs. I am
particularly interested in understanding how leaders support and sustain Dual Language
Programs in their districts and how leaders promote bilingualism and cross-cultural
understanding at their schools. Being both a principal and a parent of children in a DLIP, I am
interested in understanding the role of principals in implementing and sustaining such programs.
I am interested in hearing the perspectives of district-level leaders like Superintendents and
Assistant Superintendents of Human Resources, Elementary School Principals, and teachers of
Dual Language Immersion Programs and non-DLIP teachers at schools with Dual Language
Immersion Programs. I would like to know your thoughts on leaders’ roles and the goals and
intent of the program. I appreciate you volunteering to share your perspective and to participate
in my study. The interview should take about an hour and a half. Does that work for you?
I want to remind you that I will audio record this interview only to ensure that I get an
accurate account of your responses. The audio recording will not be shared with anyone and will
be saved on a password-protected computer for three years and then destroyed. Is that all right
with you?
I want to assure you that I am strictly wearing the hat of a researcher today. What this
means is that the nature of my questions is not evaluative. I will not be making any judgments on
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 320

your performance at your school or district. None of the data I collect will be shared with your
school or district. The data will only be used to draw out themes across multiple people, and I
will be using a pseudonym so as to ensure the confidentiality of the data when I write up my
findings.
I am happy to provide you with a copy of my dissertation if you are interested. Might
you have any questions about the study before we get started? If you don’t have any (more)
questions, I would like to have your permission to begin the interview.
II. Setting the Stage
A. Educational Background
1. First, could you tell me about your background in education? (Probe: What
positions have you held? How long have you held your various positions?)
3. 2. (For DLIP teachers: How did you become involved with the Dual Language
Immersion Program?). (Probe: How did you first hear about the program?
What were your initial impressions of it? How were you recruited to work on
it, if you were recruited? Why did you volunteer to work on it, if you
volunteered?)
III. Heart of the Interview
Thank you for giving me an overview of your background. Now, I would like to ask you specific
questions about leadership in a DLIP.
Research Question 1: What are the characteristics and practices of reputably effective principals
needed to support and sustain their Dual Language Immersion Programs?
G. Leadership
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 321

54. Can you describe your definition of a strong leader? (Probe: What three qualities are
the most important to demonstrating strong leadership?)
55. What practices do you see good school leaders doing? What would you hear them
saying?
56. What characteristics do you feel that are necessary for principals to have?
57. How are the necessary characteristics of principals different for those who lead
schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs compared to those who lead
schools without such a program, if at all?
58. What are the differences between the two contexts that necessitate different principal
characteristics, if anything?
59. What practices do you feel are necessary for principals to enact?
60. How are the necessary practices of principals different for those who lead schools
with Dual Language Immersion Programs compared to those who lead schools
without such a program, if at all?
61. What are the differences between the two contexts that necessitate different principal
practices, if anything?
62. Some people would say that there is no difference between an effective principal and
an effective principal of a DLIP. What would you say to that?
63. Some people would say it isn’t important for principals of Dual Language Immersion
Programs to be bilingual. (Probe: How would you respond to that?).
64. Along the same lines, some would say it isn’t important for principals of Dual
Language Immersion Programs to be bicultural. (Probe: What is your response to
that?).
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 322

Now, I’d like to ask you some specific questions about what role your principal plays in this
school.
65. How frequently does your principal observe your instructional time? (Probe: What is
your opinion on the quantity of time spent in your room?)
66. How does your principal provide feedback after a formal or informal observation, if
at all? (Probe: What types of comments are given? How does the feedback help your
instructional practices?).
67. Other than observing classroom practices, what are other ways your principal engages
in tasks related to instruction? (Probe: How have the activities you named helped you
improve your teaching?).
68. Could you please describe the vision of the Dual Language Immersion Program?
69. How did the vision of the program get established? (Probe: Who was involved in
creating the vision?).
70. Please describe some ways you have seen your principal demonstrate stewardship at
your school. (Probe: Are there examples specific to the Dual Language Immersion
Program?).
71. Can you provide specific examples of how your principal fosters relationships with
staff?
72. What are the ways your principal builds relationships with parents? (Probe: Are there
differences in the frequency or nature of the interactions for the principal for parents
of DLIP students as opposed to non-DLIP students? If so, what are they?).
Now, I’d like to ask you some questions with regards to professional development and staff
training.
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 323

H. Professional Development/Staff Training
17. What do you think is the purpose of professional development?
18. How does your principal participate in professional development? (Probe: What is his/her
role?).
19. Please tell me about any training you have attended in the last two years. (Probe: How
much did your principal influence your participation in these trainings?)
20. How are professional development opportunities for teachers of Dual Language
Immersion Programs different, if at all? (Probe: How much did your principal influence
your participation in these trainings?).
21. (For DLIP Teachers): Please tell me about any training you received prior to starting the
Dual Language Immersion Program? (Probe: What types of ongoing training do you
receive?)
22. What types of collaboration opportunities are there for staff in general? (Probe: How does
your principal support and encourage teachers to be collaborative?).
23. How is the collaborative work different for DLIP teachers from non-DLIP teachers, if at
all? How is it similar, if at all? (Probe: How does your principal shape or influence these
collaborative practices, if at all?).
24. In what ways does your principal participate, if at all, in the collaborative process
teachers partake in? (Probe: How is his/her role in this collaborative process different
when it pertains to matters of Dual Language Immersion?).
25. What types of professional organizations, networks, or conferences do you, attend to
keep you connected and abreast of matters pertaining to Dual Language Immersion?
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 324

26. How much influence has your principal had in your participation in these professional
organizations, networks, or conferences?
Thank you. Now, I’d like for us to move on to the topic of school climate.
Research Question 2: How do principals of schools with Dual Language Immersion Programs
promote a climate of bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding?
I. School Climate
30. What would I see if I stepped onto a campus of a DLIP?
31. What would I hear when I am at a school with a DLIP?
32. How does it feel to be on a campus with a DLIP?
33. Tell me about your thoughts on the principal promoting bilingualism in school.
Probe: What does this mean? What does it look like to promote bilingualism in
schools?
34. Can you describe how your school promotes a culture of bilingualism, if it does?
(Probe: What was/is the principal’s role in this effort? Can you give me specific
examples of what he/she did to promote a culture of bilingualism?)
35. How do students/staff who are not involved in the Dual Language Immersion
Program take part in the school’s promotion of bilingualism, if at all? (Probe: Please
provide examples).
36. How much influence has your principal had with involving everyone in the school
community to participate in promoting bilingualism?
37. What are your thoughts on the principal promoting cross-cultural understanding in
school? Probe: What does this mean? What does it look like to promote cross-cultural
understanding in schools?
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 325

38. Can you describe how your school promotes cross-cultural understanding in school, if
it does? (Probe: What was/is the principal’s role in this effort? Can you provide
specific examples of what he/she did to promote cross-cultural understanding?).
39. How do students/staff who are not involved in the Dual Language Immersion
Program take part in the school’s promotion of cross-cultural understanding? (Probe:
Please provide examples).
40. How does your principal encourage students/staff’s involvement in promoting cross-
cultural understanding?
41. If your principal could create an ideal school where bilingualism thrives, is there
anything you would change with what your school is doing already?
42. Some people might say that a Dual Language Immersion Program is not good for a
school. How might you respond to this?
43. What are the benefits, if any, of having a school with a Dual Language Program that
not all students participate in? (Probe: What is the principal’s role in this? Can you
provide a specific example of something your principal has done that demonstrates
the role he or she had in this?).
44. What are the challenges, if any, associated with having a school with a Dual
Language Immersion program that not all students/families participate in? (Probe:
How does your principal manage the conflicts or differences in opinion?). Can you
provide a specific example of something your principal has done that demonstrates
the role he or she had in this?).
45. If you could point to one or two things that you think have helped you successfully
implement a DLIP, what would you say?
PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 326

IV. Closing Question
Before we end the interview, I was wondering if you would like to add anything about yourself
and your experience that you haven’t had a chance to share yet.
V. Closing
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts today. I really appreciate your time and
willingness to speak with me. Everything that you have shared is really helpful for my study.

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 327

Appendix G
Information Sheet
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education

INFORMATION/FACTS SHEET FOR RESEARCH

A Case Study of the Roles of Principals in Dual Language Immersion Programs

You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Nancy Hong under the
supervision of Dr. Artineh Samkian at the University of Southern California. Research studies
include only people who voluntarily choose to take part. This document explains information
about this study. You should ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This study’s purpose is to examine the characteristics and practices of effective principals of
Dual Language Immersion Programs.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to participate in a 90 minute to 120
minute audio-taped interview. You do not have to answer any questions you don’t want to; if you
don’t want to be taped, handwritten notes will be taken.

Your responses will be used to describe vital characteristics and key practices effective
principals need to support and sustain Dual Language Immersion Programs and to promote a
climate of bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding at their schools.

The researcher will also be analyzing documents such as letters from the principal, newsletters,
and brochures. Some of the documents (website, social media) will be publicly available. In-
house correspondence to staff (announcements, bulletins, newsletters, letters) will not. Unless it's
publicly available, I will request the documents from the sender. Should there be any identifying
information, please omit it before submitting the documents to me.

PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You will receive a $10 gift card for your time. You do not have to answer all of the questions in
order to receive the card.

ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION
Your alternative is to not participate. Your relationship with your employer will not be affected
whether you participate or not in this study.

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 328

CONFIDENTIALITY
Any identifiable information obtained in connection with this study will remain confidential.
Your responses will be coded with a false name (pseudonym) and maintained separately. The
audio-tapes will be destroyed once they have been transcribed.

At the completion of the study, direct identifiers will be destroyed. The de-identified data will be
stored on a password protected computer and retained for future research. If you do not want
your data used in future studies, you should not participate.

The results of this research may be made public, shared with participating sites and quoted in
professional journals and meetings, but results from this study will only be reported as a group
such that no individual respondents can be identified. No identifiable information will be
included.

The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human Subjects
Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research
studies to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact Principal
Investigator Nancy Hong at nancyhon@usc.edu.

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research participant or the
research in general and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to someone
independent of the research team, please contact the University Park Institutional Review Board
(UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or
upirb@usc.edu.

PRINCIPALS’ ROLES IN DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS 329
Appendix H
Codebook

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics and practices of reputably effective principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs and how they specifically support and sustain these productive programs at their school sites. Additionally, the study sought to explore how the principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs promote a climate of bilingualism and cross-cultural understanding within their school communities. A qualitative case study was conducted in two school districts in California where Dual Language Immersion Programs have been successfully implemented across multiple sites. The findings were gathered through extensive individual interviews with principals, teachers, and district-level administrators in each district. ❧ Three broad themes surfaced from the data. The first theme was that principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs are made of courage. They are called to be steadfast visionaries, an upholder of high expectations, and a risk taker. The second theme that emerged was that principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs must consciously connect with others and connect people together. They must possess an inclusive mindset, bridge two differing worlds together, and partner with parents. The third theme looked at the context in which the principals worked, examining the administrative support, professional development, resources, and connections their respective districts offered. The findings of this study revealed that while principals of Dual Language Immersion Programs simultaneously employ the tenets of both transformational and instructional leadership, they also depend on working with district partners, parents, and all of the school staff to create a cohesive environment where all students can thrive.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Hong, Nancy Kim (author)

Core Title A case study of the roles of principals in dual language immersion programs

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 06/19/2017

Defense Date 05/03/2017

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag dual language immersion programs,English language learners,leadership,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Samkian, Artineh (committee chair), Escalante, Michael (committee member), Kistler, Melissa (committee member)

Creator Email nancy_hong@hotmail.com,nancyhon@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-385631

Unique identifier UC11256112

Identifier etd-HongNancyK-5420.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-385631 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-HongNancyK-5420.pdf

Dmrecord 385631

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Hong, Nancy Kim

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA