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Leading conditions to support reclassification of long-term multilingual learners
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Leading Conditions to Support Reclassification of Long-Term Multilingual Learners
Sarah Eugenia Trueblood
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
May 2024
© Copyright by Sarah Eugenia Trueblood 2024
All Rights Reserved
The Committee for Sarah Eugenia Trueblood certifies the approval of this Dissertation
Gregory Franklin
Pam Frampton
Christina Kishimoto, Chair
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2024
iv
Abstract
This study’s theoretical framework is grounded in applied critical leadership in order to better
understand how leaders achieve sustainable culturally responsive leadership through their
knowledge of policy, a worldview that aims to undo the inequities that have historically
oppressed groups of students, and the capacity to lead others to change. The purpose of this
study is to gain an understanding of one Southern California middle level principal’s beliefs,
knowledge, and decision-making process as they design an instructional focus aimed at
reclassification of long-term multilingual learners. Interviews were conducted to deepen an
understanding of the leader’s beliefs towards equity priority of designing a master schedule
and professional learning specific to language acquisition. One teacher and an English
Language instruction resource teacher were interviewed to corroborate the trustworthiness
and credibility of the responses from the principal leader. Additionally, a document review of
SPSA further helped to triangulate how the principal leader prioritizes long-term English
learners in their call to action, the professional development plan and resources in alignment
with their vision for equity. Study findings suggest that a principal’s beliefs, knowledge, and
leadership practices are essential for impacting reclassification outcomes for long-term
multilingual learners in middle school. The finding indicated that a principal should be
knowledgeable about state policies required for reclassification, have an assets-based mindset
for building on students’ successes, create opportunities for students in the middle level to
explore their identity and creativity, as well as, lead with a team leadership approach when
expertise is limited. This study begins to explore how middle school principal’s leadership
practices impact academic outcomes for long-term multilingual students in middle school.
v
Dedication
To my friends and family, especially Kylie, I could not have achieved this without your love and
support. You have been patient with my and understanding of my late nights, long weekends,
and missed celebrations.
To Max and Sophia, thank you for your patience and understanding over the last 3 years.
vi
Acknowledgments
My sincere thanks to my dissertation committee. The value of their guidance cannot be
understated. Dr. Christina Kishimoto, my dissertation chair, guided me along this journey and
always made me feel like I was on track even when I was not. Dr. Pam Frampton provided much
wisdom that help me to navigate this process and provided ongoing edits to help me see the
details in my writing. Dr. Franklin’s insight guided me with new perspectives in our meetings
together.
As a current principal leader in a middle school in an urban district of Southern
California, this study was important to me to learn more about the students I serve so I can be a
better leader for them. To my middle school administrative colleagues, your suggestions, advice,
and insights have helped me to see the value in uncovering equity challenges and digging deep
into ways leaders can collaborate with various levels of support to improve outcomes for
students.
vii
Table of Contents
Abstract.......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures................................................................................................................................ xi
Chapter One: Overview of the Study.............................................................................................. 1
Background on the Problem................................................................................................ 1
Statement of the Problem.................................................................................................... 5
Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................................... 5
Research Questions............................................................................................................. 6
Significance of the Study.................................................................................................... 6
Limitations and Delimitations of the Study........................................................................ 6
Definition of Terms............................................................................................................. 7
Organization of the Study ................................................................................................. 11
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature ........................................................................................ 12
Policy Impacting English Learners................................................................................... 12
Critical Leadership............................................................................................................ 22
Case Study Approach........................................................................................................ 25
Chapter Three: Methodology........................................................................................................ 28
Selection of the Population ............................................................................................... 29
Design Summary............................................................................................................... 29
Methodology..................................................................................................................... 29
Instrumentation and Protocols .......................................................................................... 30
Data Collection ................................................................................................................. 32
viii
Data Analysis.................................................................................................................... 32
Validity and Reliability..................................................................................................... 33
Summary........................................................................................................................... 33
Chapter Four: Findlings................................................................................................................ 35
Participants........................................................................................................................ 36
Document Review............................................................................................................. 38
Research Question 1 Results............................................................................................. 40
Research Question 2 Results............................................................................................. 45
Research Question 3 Results............................................................................................. 50
Summary........................................................................................................................... 54
Chapter Five: Discussion .............................................................................................................. 55
Findings ............................................................................................................................ 56
Limitations........................................................................................................................ 61
Implications for Practice ................................................................................................... 61
Future Research ................................................................................................................ 62
Conclusions....................................................................................................................... 64
References..................................................................................................................................... 65
Appendix A: Prescreening Survey................................................................................................ 70
Appendix B: Interview Protocal for a Middle Level Principal..................................................... 72
Setting the Stage ............................................................................................................... 73
Heart of the Interview....................................................................................................... 73
Closing Question............................................................................................................... 75
Closing Comments............................................................................................................ 75
Post Interview Summary and Reflection .......................................................................... 75
Appendix C: Focus Group Interview Protocol for Teachers and Service Providers.................... 76
ix
Setting the Stage ............................................................................................................... 77
Heart of the Interview....................................................................................................... 77
Closing Question............................................................................................................... 78
Closing Comments............................................................................................................ 79
Post Interview Summary and Reflection .......................................................................... 79
Appendix D: Document Review Protocol .................................................................................... 80
Prompts............................................................................................................................. 80
x
List of Tables
Table 1: Prescreening Survey Participants 37
Table 2: Interview Participants 38
Table 3: The School’s English Learner Metrics 39
Table 4: Statements Describing the Beliefs Toward Equtiable Outcomes for LongTerm English Learners
43
Table 5: Key Characteristics of the Course Schedule With Attention to Equity,
Inclusions, and Accessibility for English Learners
49
Table 6: Key Characteristics of the Principal’s Leadership Style 53
xi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptural Framework: Applied Critical Leadership Intersection With
Best Practices
27
1
Chapter One: Overview of the Study
Educational leaders face many equity challenges at the middle level including, such as
restorative discipline, standards-based grading, and reclassification of multilingual learners
before they exit the middle level. Each of these areas, which can pose equity challenges, are
complex and require a leader to draw upon their subject knowledge expertise as well as their
values to lead through that complexity. Educational leaders are a valuable resource in addressing
these inequities in education (Santamaria & Santamaria, 2015). The middle level principal leader
has the responsibility of leading the instructional focus of a school with a clear equity vision
while seeking balance with the myriad of development needs that come with adolescence. It is
this juxtaposition of intersectionality and the adolescence of multilingual learners in the middle
levELs that needs deep examination.
Leaders of middle schools who respond to the equity challenge experienced by long-term
multilingual learners must make choices in the course schedule, teacher professional
development, and allocation of resources. Middle level principals are required to ensure that
long-term multilingual students are enrolled in both the designated and integrated English
language (iELD) instruction they require, as well as, safeguard the equitable access to elective
courses that may inspire their future interests. Achieving sustainable culturally responsive
leadership requires a leader to have knowledge of policy, a worldview that aims to undo the
inequities that have historically oppressed groups of students, and the capacity to lead others to
change (Santamaria & Santamaria, 2015).
Background on the Problem
When students who are designated as long-term multilingual learners arrive in middle
school without the reclassification designation, this often means that students may have limited
2
access to elective courses in lieu of a second hour of English instruction. Green, et al. (2015)
claim that adolescence is a pivotal time for developmental processes including identity
formation. Elective courses in the middle level provide students a range of opportunities to
explore their interests beyond core instruction, including, but not limited to the following
options: visual arts, music, theater, world languages, student government, and engineering
courses.
Students designated as long-term multilingual learners have been within U.S. schools for
more than 6 years and have not been reclassified as English proficient (Chen-Gaddini & Burr,
2016). According to the California Deparment of Education (2022), students who are not
reclassified as English proficient are required to have additional time in their school day for
designated English language instruction (dELD). A study by Olsen (as cited in KinsELLa, 2016)
found that the majority (59%) of California’s middle and high school ELs are designated longterm multilingual language learners (LTELs) and have not acquired the language and academic
skills necessary to be successful in standards-based coursework. In addition, Hill (2012), found
that the majority of ELs in California are concentrated in Los Angeles and San Diego counties;
where two of the largest urban school districts in the state are located. In the United States,
10.3% of students are classified as ELs (National Center for Education Statistics, 2023).
California’s Department of Education adopted the English Learner Roadmap on July 12,
2017. The purpose of this policy “is intended to provide guidance to local educational agencies
(LEAs) on welcoming, understanding, and educating the diverse population of students who are
English learners attending California public schools” (California Department of Education,
2022). According to California’s English Learner Roadmap (2023) there are four key principles
that shape the policy including:
3
• assets-oriented and needs responsive schools
• intELLectual quality of instruction and meaningful access
• system conditions that support effectiveness
• alignment and articulation within and across systems
The policy makes it clear that native languages other than English are valued as part of a rounded
education and benefits the learner for life-long opportunities. To this end, California’s English
Learner Roadmap (2023) outlines a series of declarations that recognize the importance of
multilingual education and regulations that aim to monitor English learner progress. Yet, despite
the implementation of this policy, many school districts in California continue to struggle to
reclassify English learners (ELs) after several years of instruction in their classrooms.
The California Dashboard, reporting of 2023 data, indicated that 19 % of all students in
the state are identified as English learners. Only 48% of those students are making progress
towards language proficiency according to this reported data. Progress towards language
proficiency is defined as moving one language proficiency level in a school year. In the two
largest urban school districts in Southern California, mirror the same trend for annual progress
toward language proficiency. Los Angeles Unified has 48.4% and San Diego Unified has 49.8%
of ELs making annual progress towards English language proficiency.
Students who are still designated EL must be enrolled in dELD daily within the school
day. This requirement, while intending to protect the education rights of ELs, exists within a
systemic design of fixed time constraints, labor union course constraints and resource
constraints. This can lead to parameters that can create inequity for middle level learners. For
example, the district in this study is bound to a course scheduling provision embedded in the
teacher’s union contract limiting teacher instruction to only five class periods a day resulting in
4
six class periods for students. While there is some flexibility, the flexibility does not mean an
increase of time to meet student learning needs. Individual school sites have the option of
annually applying for a waiver to shorten the class period time frame that allows for students to
have one extra class period so that the students who are required to take the additional hour of
English instruction, also, have the opportunity to take an elective course. Instructional leaders at
the middle level, must be familiar with the state regulations, local union waiver process, and
must place value in access to electives as an equity priority, all while being creative within fixed
instructional time constraints. Essentially, time and labor contracts are the drivers rather than the
student learning needs.
Just as important to the design of a course schedule, the prioritization of the principal on
equity of instruction throughout all courses to support students’ English language development
(ELD) is essential to student success in reclassification. Teacher professional learning in core
subjects across the curriculum of study is essential in providing integrated English Language
Development. Professional learning plans for each school site are designed by the principal
leader to address specific annual achievement goals as outlined in documents such as the school
plan for student achievement (SPSA). The SPSA is a document developed by the California
Department of Education as a tool to annually identify resource inequities and review of past
performance to be addressed in the forthcoming year for school sites (California Department of
Education, 2023). Several schools within this district have more than 10% of the student
population with a designation of El. These schools are required in the SPSA to address the
allocation of resources and professional development plan for the school site to ensure annual
progression of students on the ELPAC and goals for reclassification of students as English
proficient.
5
Statement of the Problem
English language development for ELs supersedes all other adolescent development
needs, providing a deficit instructional model for multilingual learners. The statutory
requirement for long-term ELs to have a dedicated extra hour of English in place of an elective
course often results in poor attendance, behavior issues, and a greater risk of dropping out of
high school (Kim & Herman, 2009). According to the California Dashboard, in 2023 only 73.5%
of English learners graduated as compared to an overall graduation rate of 86.4%. This case
study will identify existing programmatic and policy design deficiencies in providing equitable
educational services to English language learners (ELLs). It will then examine how one principal
works within existing policy constructs to create a more equitable system of support and
engagement for multilingual learners that is producing greater success. This study will look at
four principal-lead, school-based design components: the course schedule, allocation of
resources, access to electives, and professional development.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of an urban southern California
middle level principal’s decision-making process as they design an instructional focus aimed at
reclassification of long-term multilingual learners. An interview will be conducted to deepen an
understanding of the leader’s beliefs towards equity priority of designing a course schedule and
professional learning specific to integrated ELD. A teacher and service provider focus group
interview will be conducted to triangulate the trustworthiness and credibility of the responses
from the principal leader. Additionally, a document review will be conducted to analyze how the
principal makes decisions about design of the course schedule, allocation and distribution of
6
resources, and development of a professional learning plan aimed at teacher improvement around
iELD.
Research Questions
The following research questions will be answered in this study:
1. What are the middle school principal leader’s beliefs about reclassification as an
equity priority for long-term multilingual learners?
2. How does an equity-minded middle school principal in a large urban school district
create conditions to support reclassification of long-term multilingual learners?
3. How do the leadership practices of this middle level principal align to the district
vision of equity and access for long-term English learners during professional
learning, if at all?
This case study explores the mindset of one principal leader to understand how they make
decisions about equitable access for long-term multilingual learners as an equity challenge faced
by many middle schools across the country in order to ensure EL students have the opportunity
to reclassify before high school while having full access to the variety of adolescent experiences
that the middle school experience can offer.
Significance of the Study
This research will provide insight into the complexity of middle level principals’
experiences as they pursue equity for long-term multilingual students.
Limitations and Delimitations of the Study
This case study has clearly defined delimitations to one principal’s experience in an
urban southern California school district and his or her staff perspectives on his or her approach
as an equity-minded leader. The case study will be based on personal narratives provided during
7
interviews with the principal leader, as well as, teaching staff and service providers from his or
her school. The limitation of an interview protocol will be related to the process the principal
utilizes to make such decisions and will be limited to the positionality and work experience of
the participants. Additionally, a focus group interview participant may be hesitant to disclose
information in their responses knowing that their principal is the focus of the study.
Definition of Terms
Adolescence referts to a stage of human development between childhood and
adulthood. Typically, between the ages of 11 and 18 years of age.
Browning is eeking to uncover and highlight the ways in which White supremacy and
colonization manifest themselves in curriculum scholarship (Tuck and Gaztambide-Fernandez,
2013).
Case study is defined as a qualitative research approach in which a practitioner scholar
focuses on a detailed study of one or more cases within one organization or system (Lockmiller
and Lester, 2017).
Communities of color is the dentifying term to represent the Black, Indigenous, and
people of color.
Course schedule is the details, coordinates of available classes, instructional time, student
groupings, teacher assignments, and the physical location of classes that organize a school’s
movement throughout the year (Clay et al., 2020). Also known as the master schedule.
English learner (EL) referest to students who are new to the English language and are
making progress towards reclassification within 6 years (San Diego Unified, 2022).
English learner advisory committee (ELAC) is a requirement by California public schools
with 21 or more English learners must form an English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC).
8
The ELAC shall be responsible for the following tasks including advising the principal and staff
in the development of a site plan for English learners and submitting the plan to the School Site
Council for consideration of inclusion in the School Plan for Student Achievement.
English language proficiency assessment for California (ELPAC) is the required state test
for English language proficiency that must be given to students whose primary language is a
language other than English.
Designated English language development (dELD) are the instructional stragegies
provided during a time set aside in the regular school day for focused instruction on the stateadopted English language development (ELD) standards to assist English learners to develop
critical English language skills necessary for academic content learning in English (California
Department of Education, 2023).
Dual identified students are those who are designed as English learners, as well as,
receiving special education services through an independent educational plan.
Hegemony is the way in which one justifies superiority and supporting domination (de
Oliveira, 2012).
Implicit bias occurs when a person is not consciously aware of a negative attitude or
stereotype against a specific social group (American Psychological Association, 2022).
Individual education plans (IEP) are documents developed to improve instruction,
assessment, and accountability for students with disabilities.
Integrated English language development (iELD) are instructional strategies in which the
state-adopted ELD standards are used in tandem with the state-adopted academic content
standards. Integrated ELD includes specially designed academic instruction in English
(California Department of Education, 2023).
9
Intersectionality is the concept acknowledges that each person’s various identities
interact with one another on multiple levels and over time (Crenshaw, 1993, p. 1245) as cited in
Utt and Tochluk (2020).
Local control accountability plan (LCAP) is the plan school districts submit to the
California Department of Ecuation annully to outline their goals for student achievement.
Local education agencies (LEA) are public boards of education or other public authority
legally constituted within a State for either administrative control or direction of, or to perform a
service function for, public elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school
district, or other political subdivision of a state, or for a combination of school districts or
counties as are recognized in a state as an administrative agency for its public elementary schools
or secondary schools (Individuals with Disabilities Act, 2017).
LatCrit is a theory grounded in the use of narrative storytelling as a tool to examine how
other aspects of race, ethnicity, language, and national origin converge to “otherize” and
politically disenfranchised Latinos/as in the United States (Oliva, et al. 2023).
Long-term English learner (LTEL) refers to students who have been within U.S. schools
for more than 6 years and have not been reclassified as English proficient (Chen-Gaddini & Burr,
2016).
Multilingual learner means a learner with proficiency in one or more languages, in
addition to English (California Department of Education, 2022).
Nativism is the institutionalized ways people perceive, understand, and make sense
of immigration into the United States that justifies native (White) dominance, and reinforces
hegemonic power (Huber, 2011).
10
Newcomer is a term for students born outside the United States who have recently arrived
and are new to the United States. Newcomer students often include English learners (California
Department of Education, 2024).
Proficiency level descriptors are the three levels represent the stages of English language
development, describing expectations for how well students can understand and use the English
language at each level as they continue to build on existing language skills and knowledge
(California English Language Development Standards: Kindergarten through Grade 12, 2014).
Professional learning communities (PLCs) are a strategy for formalizing collaboration
among teachers aimed at improving student achievement (Grisom, et. al., 2021).
Reclassification is the process whereby a student is reclassified from English learner
status to fluent English proficient status. Reclassification can take place at any time during the
academic year, immediately upon the student meeting all the criteria (California Department of
Education, 2024).
Rematriation is the work of community members and scholars in curriculum studies who
directly address the complicity of curriculum in the maintenance of settler colonialism (Tuck,
2011 as cited in Tuck and Gaztambide-Fernandez, 2013).
School plan for student achievement (SPSA) is a document developed by the California
Department of Education as a tool to annually identify resource inequities and review of past
performance to be addressed in the forthcoming year for school sites (California Department of
Education, 2023).
Team leadership is an organization structure that allows for team members to step
forward when situations call for specific knowledge in a leader, also known as shared leadership
(Northhouse, 2022).
11
Organization of the Study
Creating Conditions to Support Reclassification of Long-Term English Learners at the
Middle Level is organized into five chapters. Chapter One provides an overview of the study and
introduces data to present the urgency for middle level principals to design an instructional focus
that addresses the inquiries of long-term English learners in middle school. Chapter Two presents
literature review in the following four areas: beliefs and attitudes of a middle level principal,
knowledge of state and local policy in regards to placement and reclassification of English
learners, allocation and distribution of resources to ensure equitable access to full course
offerings, and organization and implementation of professional learning for teachers aimed at
integrated English language development. Chapter Three describes the methodology selected for
this research study and includes: surveys, interview questions, observations, data collection, and
data analysis. Chapter Four is a synthesis of the research findings. Chapter Five is composed of a
summary of findings, implications for practice, conclusions and recommendations. References
and appendices are included in the conclusion of this research study.
12
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
The equity challenge faced by many middle level schools is to ensure long-term
multilingual students have the opportunity to reclassify from English learner (EL) status to fluent
English proficient status before high school while having full access to the variety of adolescent
experiences that the middle school can offer. Principal leadership is key to this equity challenge.
Central to the conditions that may impact principal leadership are three characteristics that can
both positively or negatively influence outcomes for long-term multilingual students. The first of
the three leadership practices, which will be explored in this study, include the principal’s
knowledge of the policy for reclassification of English learners. Second, is the leadership
capacity of the principal inclusive of their beliefs and attitudes towards culturally responsive
pedagogy and equity for all. Third, is the responsiveness of the principal to students’ needs as
evidenced through the design of the course schedule and professional learning for teachers. A
review of the literature will be conducted as a grounding for this research study and will be
organized around five key areas including policy knowledge, beliefs and attitudes towards
students who are persons of color, including students whose native language is other than
English, the adolescent student, critical leadership practices, and the case study approach.
Policy Impacting English Learners
Policies and practices that have shaped K–12 public education is rooted in settler
colonialism and can be analyzed through critical race theory to trace historical inequities for
historically marginalized populations. Communities of color have been historically and directly
impacted by the inequities that have plagued the American public education system since
inception. “Education debt” is a more accurate description of what has commonly been referred
to as the “achievement gap.” Historical legislation and policies have limited access to resources
13
and marginalized communities of color groups directly contributing to inequities in education.
(Ladson-Billings, 2006). One of these inequities is the varied access to curriculum based on a
student’s ability to communicate using English as the language of instruction in U.S. schools.
English as the primary language has led to a single story of history in our schools and
limited access to varied perspectives. Tuck and Gaztambide-Fernandez (2013) describe the way
in which curricula in U.S. schools have historically utilized a replacement narrative. They
discuss various interventions that have been utilized to combat the replacement narrative such as
multicultural education, frameworks of critical race theory, and “browning.” “Browning” is the
way scholars seek to uncover and highlight the ways in which White supremacy and colonization
manifest themselves in curriculum scholarship. They suggest that until educators and reformers
employ rematriation or the work of community members and scholars in curriculum studies who
directly address the complicity of curriculum in the maintenance of settler colonialism as a
strategy in curriculum design then we will continue to erase the contributions of the Indigenous
inhabitants, chattel slaves, and other communities of color marginalized persons from our history
(Tuck, 2011 as cited in Tuck and Gaztambide-Fernandez, 2013). Language is a key component to
recognizing the contributions of persons of color throughout the history of the United States and
its development as a nation.
The United States Department of Education Stance on English Learners
English language development (ELD) without the continuation of learning one’s native
language has been prioritized by the U.S. Department of Education as set forth in both historic
and current legislation. Under the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act, “States must annually assess
the English language proficiency of ELs, provide reasonable accommodations for them on state
assessments, and develop new accountability systems that include long-term goals and measures
14
of progress for ELs” (“Our Nation’s English Learners,” n.d., Introduction section). Additionally,
ELs made up 10% of the U.S. K–12 students and nearly 25% of schools in California which has
a significant impact on school accountability measures and outcomes (Hill, 2012). The
population in each local education agency varies from state to state, from district to district, and
from school to school within a district. The reclassification of ELs plays a significant role in how
school leaders prioritize professional learning, allocation of resources, and equitable access to
curriculum for English learners in their schools.
California Education Department’s Position on English Language Learners
Specifically, the call to attention around one class of students from communities of color,
long-term English learners (LTELs), and the educational debt was brought to light by Oslen
(2010) where she identified California as lacking in policy related to their educational access. In
her report, she found that California’s educational policies are lacking in addressing the needs of
this population of students. Subsequently, this report laid the groundwork through the
recommendations for California’s English Learner Roadmap (2023). The California Department
of Education adopted the English Learner Roadmap in July of 2017. The mission statement of
this policy is as follows: California schools affirm, welcome, and respond to a diverse range of
English learner strengths, needs, and identities. California schools prepare graduates with the
linguistic, academic, and social skills and competencies they require for college, career, and
civic participation in a global, diverse, and multilingual world, thus ensuring a thriving future
for California (English Learner Roadmap, 2023).
The policy makes it clear that native languages other than English are valued as part of a
rounded education and benefits the learner for life-long opportunities. To this end, California’s
English Learner Roadmap (2023) outlines a series of declarations that recognize the importance
15
of multilingual education and regulations that aim to monitor English learner progress. As part
of the regulations, schools with 21 or more English language learners must have an English
learner advisory committee (ELAC). The ELAC shall be responsible for the following tasks
including advising the principal and staff in the development of a site plan for English learners
and submitting the plan to the school site council for consideration of inclusion in the school
plan for student achievement (California Department of Education, 2023).
In addition, the regulation identifies the English Language Proficiency Assessments for
California (ELPAC) as the required state test for English language proficiency that must be
given to students whose primary language is a language other than English. The ELPAC is one
measure of the acquisition of the English language. However, the appropriate instructional
approaches are an instrumental factor in students’ language acquisition. Both designated English
language Development (dELD) and Integrated English Development (iELD) are specified
instructional times set aside within the regular school day for focused instruction on the stateadopted English language development. The instruction provided during a time set aside in the
regular school day, dELD, is focused instruction on the state-adopted English language
development (ELD) standards to assist English learners to develop critical English language
skills necessary for academic content learning in English (California Department of Education,
2023). Integrated English development (iELD) is the type of instruction in which the stateadopted ELD standards are used in tandem with the state-adopted academic content standards.
These instructional requirements combined with oversight and measurement tools, is significant
to the approach California’s public-school systems take in support of English language
acquisition while attempting to ensure equitable access to the same curriculum as native
English-speaking students.
16
Education Policy at the Local Level
Each lea in California is responsible for developing their own policies and regulations for
achieving the English Learner Roadmap. For example, one district in Southern California has
developed an English Learner Master Plan (San Diego Unified School District, 2022). The
vision outlined in this plan aligns to the California mission statement on English learners and
states:
English learners fully and meaningfully access and participate in a twenty-first century
education from early childhood through grade twelve that results in their attaining high
levels of English proficiency, mastery of grade level standards, and opportunities to
develop proficiency in multiple languages. (San Diego Unified School District, 2022,
Mission and vision section)
The alignment similar to the state mission is grounded in the opportunities to develop
proficiency in multiple languages. To that end, this district has developed four guiding principles
as identified, also, by the California Department of Education, to ensure that students have
access to the needs of English learners to have equitable access to the curriculum:
• assets-oriented and needs responsive schools
• intellectual quality of instruction and meaningful access
• systems conditions and supportive effectiveness
• alignment and articulation within and across systems
In addition to these principles, the policy outlines the intake procedures of new students and the
options for their language course of study, as well as, how this district meets regulatory
requirements. Each school that meets criteria of more than 21 or more EL students is responsible
for following specific guidelines for ensuring that reclassification is prioritized in the SPSA.
17
English Learner Pedagogy
As outlined in the policies of both California and at the local level in the example of San
Diego Unified School District, the appropriate instructional approaches are an instrumental
factor in students’ language acquisition. Both dELD and iELD are instructional approaches that
have been found to be effective in the road to language acquisition. Chen-Gaddini and Elizabeth
(2016) identifed specific strategies to be effective in success in reclassification:
• placing students in heterogeneous classes alongside their English proficient peers in
grade-level content classes
• offering classes that develop literacy in their native language
• promote engagement in culturally relevant activities
• teach academic vocabulary in a variety of academic contexts
• integrate oral and written English in content-area teaching
When these strategies are integrated into the daily instruction for students acquiring English they
have the potential to acquire the language at the expected annual pace of one level per academic
year.
The impact of the EL designation is under debate dependent on the set of variables that
have been analyzed in various studies. The term long-term English learner (LTEL) is defined as
a student who has been in the U.S. education system for more than 6 or more years and has not
yet reclassified (California Department of Education, n.d.). According to Hill (2012), students
who continue to be identified as EL, score lower than other groups on California’s standardized
state tests; however, when students are reclassified ELs, they often outperform their English only
counterparts. This may be attributed to the success of both dELD and iELD based instruction, as
well as, the application of the applied principles that support English language development for
18
these students who achieve reclassification status. A significant gap is with the students who
remain classified as ELs for more than 5 years.
The ELs designation has been found in several studies to have long-term impacts on
students’ academic performance. Kim and Herman (2009) cited these studies that found EL
students have less access to classes required for high school graduation and admission to
postsecondary education, and increased high-school dropout rates. Similarly, Kim and Herman
(2009) found that ELs who are not reclassified are tracked into lower-level courses and limited
access to enrichment electives courses. For students who have been in U.S. public schools for
more than 5 years and maintain the EL designation, their options grow narrower for the full
academic experience of their non-EL counterparts as they move into middle and high school.
According to Kinsella (2016), LTELs have a “command of everyday English,” however, they are
stalled in their academic language skills required to be successful in their ability to perform
successfully on state and national normed tests.
Beliefs and Attitudes Towards Equity and Communities of Color
California’s policies on reclassification are the most rigorous in the process for
redesignation of ELs to English proficient status. In order to potentially confront and reform
educational policies and practices that continue to marginalize students from communities of
color, including students who have a first language other than English, we must evaluate these
policies through a lens that may disrupt the bias that could have significant impact on how
policies have come to be and the educational practitioners who are responsible for assessing and
evaluating ELs for reclassification. The policies outlined in the California English Learner
Roadmap (2023) define the criteria in which an EL may be considered for reclassification to
English proficient are potentially based on inequalities that are a logical and predictable result of
19
a racialized society in which discussions of race and racism continue to be muted and
marginalized (Ladson-Billings and Tate, 2006).
While many ELL students are born in the United States they are referred to in
marginalized terms including, but not limited to: immigrant, non-White, and minority. These
terms are counter to terms that describe nativism. “Nativism—the institutionalized ways people
perceive, understand and make sense of contemporary U.S. immigration, that justifies native
(White) dominance, and reinforces hegemonic power” (Huber, 2011, p. 380). Huber’s study of
the testimonies of 20 undocumented, U.S. born Latinx students demonstrated ways in which the
policies on language reclassification have impacted the academic pathways for students with a
home language other than English. This student specifically outlines how Latinx critical theory
framework allows for a more refined research focus and has led to the development of other
conceptual tools that help expose forms of subordination that occur in Latinx communities,
namely racist nativism. Additionally, a study by Oliva, et al. (2023) describes how Latinx people
have become a “racialized group subject to different types of racial discrimination, from the
backlash against Spanish and the ‘English only movement’ (p. 142). Thus, the impact of United
States’ policies continues to limit the access to resources that widen the educational debt for
historically marginalized groups.
As we consider the impact the policies have had on English learners in our U.S.
education system, McGee and Stovall (2015) discuss the tenets of critical race theory and how
they can be applied to disrupt the dominant ideologies of education as imposed by “White”
educators and policy makers. Similarly, de Oliveira, et al. (2015) explore the pedagogies of soft
reform to radical reform in the context of higher education organizations and the complexity of
decolonization. These same pedagogies can be applied to K–12 education practices that identify
20
where these policies are causing harm and attempt to reexamine the EL policies to ensure that
they are asset based and do not limit equitable access to the varied experiences offered to native
English-speaking students.
Educators Beliefs/Attitudes Impact on Instruction of English Learners
While the educational debt and policies impact the process for reclassification of ELs,
there are instructional implications that are even more relevant to the success of EL
reclassification. Rojas and Liou (2017) found that sympathy and low expectations have a
significant impact on communities of color students’self-efficacy. These implicit bias attitudes
towards students from communities of colorlead to deficit thinking and lower self-esteem. They
call for a sympathetic touch of caring and holding to high expectations for these students in the
classroom, including access to a rigorous curriculum and a demanding classroom environment.
Clay, et. al (2020) finds that development of a course schedule with equity at the forefront should
arrange time, resources, and people to maximize student learning and experience, including more
equitable access to rigorous and rich coursework and pairing students with the best-fit educator.
Again, Olsen (2010) calls for leadership to “step forward” to make LTELs a focus of
school improvement efforts (p. 3). Albeit that she is referring to state leadership, it is ultimately
the responsibility of a school leader to put the emphasis on LTELs in order to ensure that
reclassification and access to the curriculum is implemented at a school site. Dutro and Kinsella
(2010) state that “adolescents whose second-language learning needs are conscientiously met can
and will make strides in their secondary schooling better equipped to realize their academic and
real-life goals” (p. 199). Thus, attention to the call to action for LTELs in a secondary school
must be in the mindset of the school leader.
21
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
When educators are able to identify the implications of bias in educational policies then
they are better able to facilitate instruction that serves the needs of ELLs. Ladson-Billings (1995)
analyzed the practices used by eight teachers in a predominantly African American school
district to identify and describe the theoretical underpinnings of culturally relevant pedagogy in
their classrooms. These practices included conceptions of self and others, social relations, and
conceptions of knowledge. Similarly, Love (2019) describes how abolitionist teaching is all
about interrogating structures and ways of thinking in order to form new ideas, social
interactions, and establish education that works for everyone. The author describes how
abolitionist teaching must begin in the imagination of educators and send students from
communities of color on a trajectory towards thriving. In addition, Hammond (2015) unpacks the
relationship between culture and the brain. She identifies the purpose and responsibility of
educators to implement culturally responsive teaching practices and provides examples for
educators to use to build on intellectual capacity in all learners. This research reveals how
culturally responsive pedagogy impacts the academic progress of our ELs, and the impacts of
these practices on the mental health, self-efficacy, and identity of these adolescent learners.
Students From Communities of Color and the Adolescence
As stated previously, LTELs are students who have been in U.S. schools for 6 or more
years without reaching levels of English proficiency to be reclassified. Therefore, most of the
students entering this new classification are in adolescence just reaching the sixth or seventh
grade. As these students sit with their peers year after year in elementary school and then are
tracked into courses that limit their access to enrichment electives, this can weigh heavily on how
a student feels about their identity. Examples of this tracking is described in Green, et al. (2015)
22
in which they found that in many elementary schools self-contained classrooms where children
of varying performance levels learn together, yet as students enter middle and secondary schools
they become sorted by “ability grouping,” or tracking.” This tracking can have a serious impact
on a student’s personal identity that can involve “several dimensions of an adolescent’s life:
vocational plans, religious beliefs, values and preferences, political affiliations and beliefs,
gender roles, and ethnic identities” (Tatum, 2017, p. 2). Similarly, Green, et al. (2015) claim that
adolescence is a pivotal time for developmental processes including identity formation. Many of
these explorations that impact an adolescent’s identity have a connection to the choice courses
based on interest. For instance, if a student is interested in music or art, for most non-English
speaking students they have the option to take these elective courses to more deeply engage with
the subject and decide if that is a passion or interest for future learning. Long-term multilingual
English learners do not have this option in many middle schools until they have reclassified as a
proficient English learner. As we consider ways in which leaders of middle schools make
decisions about the inequities that can have repercussions on the development of adolescents’
identities.
Critical Leadership
It is the ethical responsibility of educational leaders to facilitate a culture of change to
ensure that all students from communities of color, inclusive of non-English speaking students,
are given equitable access to the curriculum through pedagogical practices that explicitly remove
barriers that limit opportunities for success. There are specific leadership frameworks that an
equitably minded leader may draw on in order to ensure the academic success of long-term
English learners.
23
Leadership Frameworks
One leadership practice that is rooted in collaboration is team leadership. This leadership
practice allows for various members of the team to step forward based on their expertise
dependent on the context of the situation (Northouse, 2022). This leadership model can allow for
more productivity, more effective use of resources, better service, and greater
innovation. Similarly, team leadership is, also, known as shared or distributed leadership. Hitt
and Tucker (2016) explain that, “Leaders who approach change by harnessing existing strengths
among teachers see that a collaborative, team-based approach may yield better results than
unorchestrated, scatter-shot individual efforts” (p. 550), which leads to a greater impact on
student achievement. Also, Horner (as cited in Eddy and Van Der Linden, 2006) describes
distributive leadership “as a process in which leaders are not seen as individuals in charge of
followers, but as members of a community of practice” (p.11). Therefore, leaders who have an
equity mindset should by nature be ones who look for ways in which they can lift their team to
take on leadership roles and step back when they know they are not the expert in a specific area
of knowledge.
As the focus on LTELs has come into the forefront as a priority of educational policy in
California, there should be an emphasis on the support of school leaders to lead that change in
practice at middle schools. Confidence in leading change may be a limiting factor in a principal’s
ability to effectively lead the work towards reclassification of LTELs. Fullan (2020) discusses
how leaders need to be aware of their limitations of expertise, recognize the need for humility,
and have the courage to distribute leadership to others when it is necessary. Recognizing when to
step back on one leadership strategy, but in order to have effective change management, it is also
important for the leader to “walk the talk” (Kotter, 2011). The leader needs to not only
24
communicate the vision for developing a plan for reclassification, but sit side by side with their
teachers to be a learner when necessary and broadcast the wins along the way.
Applied Critical Leadership
A leader with an equity mindset is one who recognizes injustices and acts. Harro (2011)
finds that socially conscious people want to do something about injustices. A leader with applied
critical leadership would be one who seeks new paths towards liberation for students that are
struggling to meet the requirements for reclassification and are limited in their exploratory
options throughout the school day. Gallegos and Wise (2011) study on leadership for English
learners identifies the relationship of a leader’s traits and practices that contribute significantly to
student learning outcomes. A culturally responsive school leadership therefore, according to
Khalifa, Gooden, and Davis (2016) has become significant to reform and social justice in
education. Specifically, they outline the literature that supports the need to address culturally
responsive teaching for minoritized students. Santamaría and Santamaría (2015) address the
importance of educational leaders as a valuable resource in addressing and interrupting
educational inequities. A leader that aims to achieve equitable outcomes through sustainable
culturally responsive leadership requires knowledge of policy, a worldview that aims to undo the
inequities that have historically oppressed groups of students, and the capacity to lead others to
change. Finally, a key characteristic of an equitably minded leader is one who is willing to reflect
on both personal and collective biases and assumptions publicly if they hope to shift a school
culture toward more culturally responsive practices (Fraise and Brooks, 2015).
25
Case Study Approach
Qualitative Methods
The method of research in this case study is to gain an understanding of how urban
middle level principals in Southern California make decisions as they design an instructional
focus aimed at reclassification of LTELs. A survey will be used to gather data about the leader’s
beliefs towards equity priority of designing a course schedule and professional learning specific
to iELD. An interview will be conducted to deepen an understanding of how the principal of one
school makes decisions about design of the course schedule, allocation and distribution of
resources, and development of a professional learning plan aimed at teacher improvement in the
area of integrated English development. The case study approach will analyze how the principal
in the school creates conditions to reclassify LTELs. This approach will allow for a detailed
study of one school leader in their context and how their leadership is perceived by the teachers
and support staff at the school (Lockmiller and Lester, 2017). The data collected will be done
through interviews and analysis of a supporting document that was generated by the principal to
outline the school’s vision and goals. A conceptual framework that visualizes applied critical
leadership helps to understand the key characteristics of an equitably minded leader and their
relationship to one another (Maxwell, 2013). Protocols through the study will be used for
generating surveys, conducting interviews, and analysis of school documents that address the
motive of the study, use of pseudonyms, opportunity for respondents to review their responses,
and communicating the option to opt out without repercussions. There will be an assumption of
neutrality regardless of the respondent’s position on topics surveyed or interview responses
(Merriam and Tisdell, 2016).
26
Explanation
The center of the conceptual framework helps to define the three characteristics in
relationship to principal leadership practices (see Figure 1). These leadership practices can
positively influence the outcomes for students. The first of the three leadership practices that will
be explored in the study include the principal’s beliefs and attitudes towards culturally
responsive pedagogy and equity for all. Next, the intellectual quality of the principal inclusive of
their professional experience and knowledge of the policy for reclassification of English
learners. Lastly, the responsiveness to students needs through the design of the course schedule
and professional learning for teachers will be analyzed. According to Santamaría and Santamaría
(2015) researchers suggest that culturally responsive leadership may result in socially just and
equitable outcomes for all learners in contexts where disparities are present.
As the principal leaders make decisions, they may or may not be influenced by other
systems that intersect with the development of their instructional focus. Some examples of
potential influences on a principal’s decision to align to a system may include: school district
vision, state policy, national policy, and positionality. This case study will consider the way in
which the participants filter the aspects of the instructional focus through the various systems
they identify as influencing their decision making.
27
Figure 1
Conceptual Framework: Applied Critical Leadership Intersection With Best Practices
Note. Leadership practices are influenced by one’s beliefs, intellectual quality, and valuing
responsiveness to the needs of their team members (teachers) and ultimately their clients
(students).
28
Chapter Three: Methodology
In many middle schools in California, principals are tasked with leading their teaching
staff in the effort to reclassify LTELs who have not met proficiency standards in English upon
entering middle school despite having attended district schools since kndergarten. The inequity
for these students as they are required to have a dedicated extra hour of English in place of an
elective course; thus, often resulting in poor attendance, behavior issues, and putting these
students at greater risk of dropping out before graduation in high school (Kim & Herman, 2009).
As principal leaders make decisions that will help to improve academic outcomes for
students, they are influenced by other parts of the district system that intersect with the
development of their instructional focus. Some examples of influences on a principal’s decision
to align to their system include: school district vision and policies, state policy, national policy,
and positionality. Ladson-Billings argues that “the nature of reality or of our truths shapes and
guides our ways and systems of knowing and our epistemological systems of knowing” (as stated
in Milner, 2007, p. 395). This case study will consider the way in which the participants filter the
aspects of the instructional focus through the various systems they identify as influencing their
decision making.
The first of the three leadership practices that will be explored in the study include the
principal’s beliefs and attitudes towards culturally responsive pedagogy and equity for all. Next,
this study examines the intellectual readiness of the principal inclusive of their professional
experience and knowledge of the policy for reclassification of English learners. Lastly, the study
will examine responsiveness to students’ needs through the intentional design of the course
schedule and professional learning for teachers. All three areas of examination will include the
Principal’s perspective, and the teacher and staff perspectives of the principal’s leadership and
29
decision-making. According to Santamaría and Santamaría (2015) researchers suggest that
culturally responsive leadership may result in socially just and equitable outcomes for all
learners in contexts where disparities are present.
Selection of the Population
I conducted a pre-screening survey by inviting all middle level principals in one large
urban school district in Southern California aiming to identify at least one school with more than
10% of their student population classified as long-term multilingual learners. Additionally, I
sought to determine if the principal had a mindset that prioritizes reclassification of LTELs. This
prescreening survey helped to determine the appropriate participant to invite to participate in the
case study. This purposeful sampling was designed to gain deeper study of one leader in order to
learn about how the participant navigated the complexity of decision making in their situation
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Once the participant was selected, an interview was conducted with
the principal leader. In addition, a focus group interview was conducted with the teaching staff
and service providers in that school. All teachers and service providers within the school
community were invited to participate in the focus group interview.
Design Summary
For this study, a qualitative approach of a case study was most appropriate so that I could
interact with the participants in their school environment. The case study approach allowed for
an in-depth analysis of the relationship between the principal leader, the implementation of their
equity vision, and the staff in which they lead (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017).
Methodology
The methodology included qualitative data from interviews with the principal leader,
teachers, and service providers. The interview protocol was developed to establish the purpose of
30
the research in order to seek innovative and effective strategies that could be shared to a wider
audience to ensure the success of middle level leaders in positions with responsibility to
reclassify long-term multilingual learners.
Next, a document review was conducted to analyze how the principal leader prioritized
the professional development plan and school’s resources in alignment with their vision for
equity. The essential documents reviewed included the SPSA. This document included the school
vision for equity, allocation of the school’s resources, and professional learning plan. The
document review was used to triangulate the interview question responses to determine if the
leader’s beliefs were aligned to their actions.
Steps were taken to protect participant privacy and confidentiality, including coding the
identifying information to keep it anonymous so that it can be linked to personal identifying
information by the researcher. All digital data collected is stored directly on a computer hard
drive and/or external hard drive. Physical data collected is stored in a locking cabinet.
Instrumentation and Protocols
Qualitative Instrument A
A prescreening survey was given to middle school principals in a southern California
district aimed at finding a leader of a school with a significant enrollment of LTELs. The
prescreening survey (see Appendix A) served to identify principal leaders both had this student
population and that had a mindset towards equity.
Qualitative Instrument B
The collection of qualitative data was gathered through an interview with the middle
level principal. The interview protocol consisted of 12 questions (see Appendix B). The variation
in questions aimed to stimulate a range of responses from the participant from experience,
31
values, and knowledge about leadership and culturally responsive pedagogy (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). Follow up or clarifying questions added and noted as they arose during the interview. The
interview was conducted through a video call. The protocol was designed to ensure that the
participant can felt comfortable throughout the interview and confident that I conducted the
interview with professionalism and would maintain confidentiality.
Qualitative Instrument C
The qualitative data collected from the teacher and service providers interviews helped to
corroborate the principal’s perspective about how the equity plan for reclassification of long-term
multilingual learners is understood by the staff in which they lead (Maxwell, 2013). The
interview protocol consisted of 10 questions (see Appendix C). The variation in questions aimed
to stimulate a range of responses from the participant from experience and knowledge about the
school’s equity plan for reclassification of LTELs. Follow up and clarifying questions were
added and noted as they arose during the interview. The interview was conducted through a
video call. The protocol was designed to ensure that the participants felt confident that I
conducted the interview with professionalism and would maintain confidentiality.
Qualitative Instrument D
Additional qualitative data was collected through a document review (see Appendix D).
The SPSA included the schools professional learning plan and resource alignment to the
professional learning plan. The first step was determining the authenticity of the documents by
confirming with the school site leadership that the documents were in fact directly related to the
school in the case study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The document review protocol adapted from
the University of Southern California Rossier Center for Urban Education (2014) was used to
review and analyze the SPSA document.
32
Data Collection
Lochmiller and Lester’s (2017) research data collection protocol was followed in order to
reveal an in-depth understanding of the leadership experience of the middle level principal leader
as they focused on one equity challenge at their school. Purposeful sampling was used to narrow
down to specific schools that met the criteria of a significant population of students that are longterm multilingual learners. Once the pre-screener was administered, it was analyzed to determine
if a school leader was aware and driven to reclassify long-term multilingual learners as a priority.
Interview response data was collected from the principal leader of one school, as well as,
a focus group of teachers and service providers to compare if the principal’s leadership vision to
address the equity challenge has the same level of focus and concern. All interviews were
recorded and transcribed. The responses were shared with the participants for their review upon
request.
Collection of data was collected and affixed with codes from the prescreening survey and
field notes drawn from interviews. I sorted through the responses from the prescreening survey,
interview, and documents review to identify similar phrases, relationships between key terms,
patterns, themes, and differences between the data collected to identify contradictions. After each
collection of data, I isolated patterns and processes, commonalities and differences, and applied
these generalizations in the set of the data collection. Finally, these generalizations were
analyzed to form the body of knowledge to ground the theoretical underpinnings of the study
(Lochmiller and Lester, 2017).
Data Analysis
The qualitative approach of interviews and a document review were directly linked to the
research questions. The research questions served as a guide for the data analysis of this case
33
study. Separate reports were written after each of the interviews and for the documents
review. Applied critical leadership theory was used to analyze the findings of all the interviews
and the SPSA document review (Santamaría & Santamaría, 2015). Confidentiality of all
participants were ensured throughout the process of the case study.
Validity and Reliability
During the case study, protocols for interviews and the document review addressed the
motive of the study, use of pseudonyms, allowed all respondents to review their responses, and
provided the option to opt out without repercussions (Merriam and Tisdell, 2016). There was an
assumption of neutrality regardless of the respondent’s position on topics surveyed or interview
responses. Internal consistency reliability was ensured by asking the same question in a variety
of ways to determine if items on the survey serves to represent one area and determine
consistency in the participants response (Salkind, 2017). Construct validity was used to
determine if the data analysis measures the theoretical position that my research is based
upon. Since this case study is based on applied critical leadership theory, I correlated various
items on the survey to be high on a scale for applied critical leadership and those that correlate to
a low scale for applied critical leadership (Salkind, 2017). The triangulation of interview
responses, focus group interview responses, and the document review ensured credibility and
trustworthiness of the findings (Merriam and Tisdell, 2016).
Summary
This case study used a qualitative approach from interviews and a document review. The
data collected from one school leader and the staff focus group were analyzed to reveal how the
school leader’s beliefs and values in relation to the equity challenge facing long-term
multilingual learners as they describe their decision-making process and the way they approach
34
the role as a leader. The findings are presented in Chapter Four, with a discussion of the findings
in Chapter Five.
35
Chapter Four: Findlings
The purpose of this case study is to identify ways in which a middle school principal in a
Southern California school district makes decisions to help to improve academic outcomes for
long-term multilingual students. Specifically, this case study aims to understand how a middle
school principal is, if at all, influenced by the district system inclusive of the school district
vision and policies that intersects with the development of their instructional focus, how the
principal aligns resources to impact professional learning, and scheduling access to both
academic language support and elective courses in the course schedule for long-term English
learners.
The research results are presented below and organized by research question. For each
research question, a review of relevant literature and a preview of the results are briefly
discussed. The results will be discussed in relation to three to four characteristics or practices of
the principal that developed in response to each question. The characteristics and practices are
organized by themes drawn from applied critical leadership theory and California’s English
Learner Roadmap. Applied critical leadership helps to identify the leader’s worldview for
interrupting educational inequities, capacity to lead change, and policy knowledge as it applies to
equitable outcomes for students (Santamaría and Santamaría, 2015). California’s English
Learner Roadmap (2023) provides five principles on which themes were derived including the
leader’s assets-oriented mindset, needs responsiveness, knowledge of instructional needs for
English learners, creating conditions to support effectiveness, and alignment access systems.
The chapter is concluded by a summary of the results for each research question with a
final summary at the end of the chapter. The research questions guiding this case study are:
36
1. What are the middle school principal leader’s beliefs about reclassification as an
equity priority for long-term multilingual learners?
2. How does an equity-minded middle school principal in a large urban school district
create conditions to support reclassification of long-term multilingual learners?
3. How do the leadership practices of this middle level principal align to the district
vision of equity and access for long-term English learners during professional
learning, if at all?
Participants
The school in this case study was identified and chosen through a prescreening survey.
Thirty-seven middle school principals working in a Southern California district received the
invitation to take the prescreening survey, in which eight principal leaders completed the survey.
The principals’ responses were analyzed using the 2022-2023 California School Accountability
Report Card to determine if they had a significant number of Els enrolled at their school site
presented in Table 1. Survey respondent 1 had the most significant population (30.7%) of
students classified as English learners and was identified as the school for this case study. For
purposes of anonymity, the selected school for this study will be referred to as “the school”
throughout the paper.
37
Table 1
Prescreening Survey Participants
Survey respondent Percentage of ELs enrolled
School 1 (the school) 30.70%
School 2 14.9%
School 3 13.1%
School 4 10.4%
School 5 9.3%
School 6 7.2%
School 7 6.5%
School 8 3.9%
All staff at the school, inclusive of the principal, teachers, and classroom support staff
were invited to participate in the study by email. Responses to the invitation to participate
included one principal, two classroom teachers, and the English language instructional resource
teacher (ELIRT) as presented in Table 2. All of the participants had 17 years or more of
professional teaching experience.
38
Table 2
Interview Participants
Participant
pseudonym
Role Race Native
language
Years of
experience
in
education
Years
working at
school site
The
principal
Middle school principal Latinx Spanish 30 2
Teacher A Elective (music and
theater) teacher
White English 17 17
Teacher B English language
instructional resource
teacher (ELIRT)
White English 25 1
Teacher C History teacher White English 23 1
Document Review
A document review of the school’s 2023–2024 school plan for student achievement
(SPSA) was completed. The SPSA is a poart of the district’s Local Control Accountability Plan
(LCAP) submitted to the California Department of Education annually. This document is
publicly available (with the exception of section LCAP 4) on the school district website and
outlines the school’s resource inequities in relation to the school as a whole, as well as, specific
identified subgroups of students. It is organized by the following sections under the title “Goals,
Strategies, Expenditures, and Annual Review”:
• LCAP 1: cultivating inclusive, anti-racism and restorative schools, classrooms and
district
• LCAP 2 and 3: access to broad and challenging curriculum accelerating student
learning with high expectations for all
39
• LCAP 4: quality leadership and teaching (not publicly available for analysis).
• LCAP 5: family and community engagement with highly regarded neighborhood
schools
Each section includes an analysis of the goal, identification of metrics for success including
descriptions of strategies and activities to meet the target performance measure, and proposed
expenditures for the strategies and activities. The metrics that help to identify the school
priorities related to the academic growth and reclassification of ELs for the school are included
in Table 3.
Table 3
The School’s English Learner Metrics
By date Student
group
Objective Baseline
performance
Target
performance
Measure of
success
June 2024 English
learner
All students
will take the
ELPAC
assessment.
96.9% 100% Annual
administration of
the summative
ELPAC
June 2024 LTEL Reduce # of
LTELs.
87 students 60 students Number of
LTELs,
student empathy
interviews
June 2024 English
learner
EL student will
increase 1 level
of proficiency.
69% 79% Summative
ELPAC
Note. From the school’s 2023–2024 School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA).
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Research Question 1 Results
Research Question 1 asked the following: What are the middle school principal leader’s
beliefs about reclassification as an equity priority for long-term multilingual learners? Research
by Rojas and Liou (2017) found that sympathy and low expectations have a significant impact on
students’self-efficacy from communities of color. A significant population of students from
communities of color in California, also, includes those that have a native language other than
English. These implicit bias attitudes towards students from communities of color lead to deficit
thinking and lower self-esteem. They call for a sympathetic touch of caring and holding to high
expectations for students in the classroom, including access to a rigorous curriculum and a
demanding classroom environment. The conditions a leader creates to support reclassification of
long-term multilingual learners can be demonstrated through the allocation of resources,
responsiveness to needs, and the design of a course schedule inclusive of this population of
students.
Olsen (2010) calls on school leaders to put the emphasis on LTELs in order to ensure that
reclassification and access to the curriculum is implemented at a school site. Dutro and Kinsella
(2010), also, state that “adolescents whose second-language learning needs are conscientiously
met can and will make strides in their secondary schooling better equipped to realize their
academic and real-life goals” (p. 199). Effectively, these researchers suggest that a leader's
attention to the call to action for LTELs in a secondary school must be in their mindset to ensure
equity and access as a priority for this class of learners.
41
Beliefs and Intellectual Quality of a Middle School Principal With an Equitable Mindset
for Reclassification of LTELs
Several questions asked during the interviews aimed to understand the beliefs and
intellectual qualities required of a leader regarding LTELs and the equity issues surrounding
access to rigorous curriculum that aims to strengthen literacy while still providing opportunities
for enrichment. Additionally, the inquiry into the SPSA helped to understand the beliefs and
values of the principal in regards to prioritization of ELs at the school. The call to action section
of the SPSA document review published by the principal of the school states:
We believe in the power of multilingualism because languages are connections to
culture, history, people and knowledge. Our English learners deserve educational
opportunities which honor their rich lived experiences and unique identities as valued
members of society. Schools and classrooms should foster language acquisition and
literacy development as a means for students to leverage their identity, exercise them
voice, and transform their world today to influence the future of tomorrow.
This call to action aligns with the responses the principal shared when asked: What do
you perceive are the essential characteristics of principal leaders that enable them to promote
equity for all students? She stated, “I can’t lead for equitable outcomes if I don’t believe in
equitable outcomes. So not only do I have to model it in what I say, but also, in the decisions that
are made.” Her response demonstrates responsibility and empathy. These characteristics emerged
as a pattern from both of the teachers interviewed and the English language instructional
resource teacher (ELIRT) in response to the same question.
Teacher A, responded to the same question, stating, “A principal leader needs to either
know what the laws and requirements are or have someone in their team that knows.” In
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addition, Teacher A stated that the principal should know “what is valuable for these ALD
[Academic Language Development] and ELD [English Language Development] students” by
finding staff that care about EL instruction and not just provide push in on reading and
writing. These responses aim at qualities of a leader who needs to be knowledgeable about the
policies directly pertaining to English learners, provide a supportive environment for both
students and teachers, and the ability to create a caring atmosphere for all learners.
Next, Teacher B, provided more perspective on the characteristics of an equitably minded
leader by stating that a leader must know who their English learners are, maintain a productive
discourse with staff about students who represent their equity challenge, have an assets-based
lens to support students when assigning them to courses, place the strongest teachers in roles
designed to support ELs, and plan for ongoing professional development. This list of
characteristics, again, corroborates the need for a leader to have a belief system rooted in equity
and access and the intellectual knowledge to develop a system wide plan for
supporting long-term English learners throughout the school program.
It is worth noting the prominent exception to the findings in the responses of Teacher C.
While her response to the question to uncover essential characteristics of an equitable minded
leader referred to the need for communication, she added “I think there’s a little of that kind of
lacking about what and how we’re supposed to scaffold how we’re supposed to, you know, get
them [ELs] to where they have to go.” She goes on to state, “I think that’s not really her fault,
you know, that’s a district thing.” The responses of Teacher C reveal that she is aware of the
priority the principal has placed on reclassification of ELs, however, this responses indicates that
there is dissonance between the principal’s vision and the execution of the vision for ELs. The
43
pattern of Teacher C’s responses are highlighted in Table 4.
Table 4
Statements Describing the Beliefs Toward Equitable Outcomes for Long-term English Learners
Participant pseudonym Statement Characteristics of a
leader
The principal I can’t lead for equitable outcomes if I don’t
believe in equitable outcomes. So not only
do I have to model it in what I say, but also,
in the decisions that are made.
Responsibility,
empathy
Teacher A A principal leader needs to either know what
the laws and requirements are or have
someone in their team that knows.
Knowledgeable,
supportive,
caring
Teacher B [A principal] knowing who their English
learners are, their multilingual learners, and
knowing their students that represent their
equity challenge.
Knowledgeable,
assets based
Teacher C I think just having that conversation, having
the communication.
Needs
responsiveness
44
Similar patterns emerged with the responses to the question: Ideally, what would make
for a school environment that promotes the reclassification of long-term multilingual learners?
The principal said:
I think knowing our students first and foremost who are LTELs and then looking at what
are their strengths, in terms of the four areas listening, speaking, reading and writing and
then making decisions about how we use their strength to support them in the areas that
they still need.
The principal went on to describe how by knowing who the students are and their
language acquisition needs, it is important to place them in the appropriate classes and matching
them to an elective course based on their interests. Again, the principal demonstrates the
responsibility of knowing who the students are that represent this population of learners and an
assets-based approach by drawing on the students’ strengths.
Related ideas that emerged from Teacher A’s responses. She stated that student placement
with the teachers who know the students and their needs makes the greatest impact on their
environment. She goes on to describe how the school has a dedicated team of teachers who are
trained and monitor these students’ testing data to ensure that their language acquisition needs
are being addressed. These responses illustrate the importance of the principal to be
knowledgeable and caring about this population of students and their opportunity for success.
Teacher B, also, verifies these characteristics of a leader by stating, “Along with PLCs,
just being really deliberate in placing the strongest teachers in designing the course schedule,
ensuring that those teachers are in those roles, teaching the designated ELD, strategically placing
learners with your strongest teacher in each of the content areas.” Once more, it is reiterated by
45
Teacher B’s responses that the principal needs to be knowledgeable and caring about how
students are placed in the course schedule and with specifically trained teachers.
Discussion Research Question 1
Overall the responses in the interviews, side by side with the call to action statement in
the SPSA, indicate key characteristics of a principal leader who prioritizes reclassification as an
equity challenge for long-term multilingual learners. Specifically, a principal must be
knowledgeable about the needs of long-term English learners, empathetic and caring, and have
an assets-based mindset. The findings indicated that communication of the vision is important to
ensuring that all staff feel connected and responsible to reclassification of English learners in the
middle school setting.
Research Question 2 Results
Research Question 2 asked the following: How does an equity-minded middle school
principal in a large urban school district create conditions to support reclassification of long-term
multilingual learners? Tracking is described in Green, et al. (2015) in which they found that in
many elementary schools self-contained classrooms where children of varying performance
levELs learn together, yet as students enter middle and secondary schools they become sorted by
ability grouping or tracking. Tracking can have a serious impact on a student’s personal identity
that can involve “several dimensions of an adolescent’s life: vocational plans, religious beliefs,
values and preferences, political affiliations and beliefs, gender roles, and ethnic identities” (p.
2). The LTEL designation, as discussed in previous chapters, can limit a student’s access to
elective courses due to the additional requirement of a language acquisition course. Additional
considerations for an equitable course schedule are highlighted in Clay, et. al (2020) where they
found that when equity is prioritized to maximize the student learning and experience, the course
46
schedule should be arranged where access to resources and coursework are paired with the bestfit educator.
Equitable Course Schedule Design, Allocation of Resources, and Needs Responsiveness of a
Middle School Principal With an Equitable Mindset for Reclassification of LTELs
The principal was asked several questions regarding the development of the school’s
course schedule in relation to equity for LTELs. The principal described the process of first
looking at student data to make decisions about the classes the school needed to offer in support
of multilingual learners inclusive of the type of classes, number of sections needed in both
English and mathematics support for ELs and which teachers would be teaching those
sections. The principal, also, shared that this year they implemented looping for intervention
classes, so that the students who had the sixth-grade math teacher last year, but needed additional
support this year had that same teacher for an intervention math class as a seventh grader. She
stated that approximately 60 to 65% of the students who enrolled in the math intervention class,
called Step Up, are also designated as English learners. She stated that she has been monitoring
data of the LTELs and that they are considering reducing class size in English and math for
eighth grade next year to ensure that the LTELs in eighth grade get more support in their effort to
reclassify before high school. This year they have prioritized the opportunity for students that are
scheduled into a support class such as ALD, ELD, or the Step-Up math class to also have an
elective.
The principal continued to describe how they have designed their course schedule into a
seven-period day (typically middle school in this district is organized into a six-period day) in
order to be more inclusive for LTELs. The seven-period day allows for those students enrolled in
the language acquisition courses or math intervention classes to have the choice of an elective.
47
Similarly, the process of course schedule design and a focus on inclusivity and access for LTELs
was discussed by both the classroom teachers and the ELIRT.
Teacher A shared that she has played a supportive role to the principal in analyzing
student data in the development of the course schedule to ensure that students are placed in the
appropriate language acquisition classes (ALD and ELD) to ensure that they are distributed
based on their language proficiency levels. She has had this role of support since her previous
principal and the current principal has continued to leverage her work in the role of student
placements. Teacher A, also, discussed the impact of the seven-period day as a way for students
to have the elective opportunity. As the music and drama teacher she shared her belief that
students are “not here (school) because they are in a big hurry to write essays and solve math
equations, but because they want to do the fun stuff, which is secretly also educational”. She
identified all of the students, inclusive of students with separate settings on their individual
education plans (IEPs), dual identified students, biliteracy students, and LTELs that would be
tracked and not have access to electives should they switch back to the six-period day. The
continuation of this course schedule as organized is currently aligned with the school’s call to
action developed by the principal to continue the practice of inclusivity while at the same time
providing the needed language acquisition courses.
Teacher B‘s responses to the questions added more clarity regarding the design of the
course schedule and placement of students in courses. She described the school as having a “very
strong teaching team for ALD and they’ve been in that role for a long time so the teachers are
acquainted with the curriculum. They are both strong leaders in their PLCs.” Teacher B also
mentioned the dual language pathway and the seal of biliteracy program that the school
offers. She went on to share how the relationship between the seal of biliteracy and
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reclassification of multilingual learners is an assets-based approach because it strengthens
student’s native language. She further stated that if students are able to be proficient in both
languages, their native language and English, that these students tend to outperform English only
students in graduation rates. This level of support that students are receiving in the course
schedule design demonstrates the prioritization of multilingual students in the approach the
principal has taken to ensure student academic success and the value of biliteracy.
Similarly, Teacher C referred to how students are placed in immersion classes, stating
that she thought, “what they’re [the school] doing is really interesting.” She described how the
students new to the country have opportunities to be immersed in courses alongside students who
are more skilled English speakers. However, Teacher C offered the perspective that she believes
these students need more classes offered in their native language. While teacher C shared ways
in which she believed that the school can improve their programming for ELs, she corroborates
that the principal has remained committed to inclusion opportunities for students. Key
characteristics of a course schedule that is designed by a principal with attention to equity,
inclusion, and accessibility for students are highlighted in Table 5.
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Table 5
Key Characteristics of the Course Schedule With Attention to Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
for English Learners
Participant pseudonym Key characteristics
The principal Looping, intervention, reducing class size, electives for all, seven
period day
Teacher A Placement of students, seven period day, elimination of tracking
Teacher B Placement of students, strong teaching team for ALD, teacher
leaders, dual language pathway
Teacher C Immersion, dual language pathway
Discussion Research Question 2
The design of an equitable course schedule, allocation of resources, and the
responsiveness to student needs are essential to ensure that long-term ELs are a priority
consideration for a middle school principal to ensure inclusivity and access to a rigorous and
robust middle school experience. While attention to the needs of LTELs’ language acquisition
needs are essential, the leaders’ demonstration of values to provide access to the elective
programs are equally important. The responses are a demonstration of the school’s call to action
for students to grow their “unique identities as valued members of society [and] foster language
acquisition and literacy development as a means for students to leverage their identity”.
In addition, this research question is relevant to students’ adolescent experiences. As we
consider ways in which leaders of middle schools make decisions about the inequities that can
50
have repercussions on the development of adolescents’ identities, many of these explorations that
impact an adolescent’s identity have a connection to the choice of enrichment electives. Thus, it
is important to understand how a middle school principal makes decisions about the course
schedule and how students are placed in their classes within that schedule.
Research Question 3 Results
Research Question 3 asked the following: How do the leadership practices of this middle
level principal align to the district vision of equity and access for long-term English learners
during professional learning, if at all? Ways in which principal leaders demonstrate their
leadership is through collaboration. Team leadership is a practice that allows for various
members of the team to step forward based on their expertise dependent on the context of the
situation (Northouse, 2022). This leadership model can allow for more productivity, more
effective use of resources, better service, and greater innovation and can lead to a greater impact
on student achievement (Hitt and Tucker, 2016).
Leadership Practices, Instructional Focus Development, and Professional Learning
Alignment to District Vision of a Middle School Principal With an Equitable Mindset for
Reclassification of LTELs
Several questions were asked of the participants that uncovered the leadership style and
practices of the principal that demonstrates an equitable mindset and alignment to district vision
for ELs. First, the principal responded to two questions about the professional learning plan and
instruction focus development for teachers, including: TELL me about your professional learning
plan for teachers in relation to developing instructional support for LTELs? and TELL me about
a typical professional learning experience you designed for teachers in support of LTELs? The
principal outlined her work in collaboration with the ELIRT and school’s ELD teacher to develop
51
professional learning for the staff. She stated, “I wish I could say that I alone have the strength to
plan it. I’m a big believer in collaborative modELs. I don’t have the answers, so we did co-plan.”
She described the outcome of her planning with the teacher leaders where teachers identified
their English learners on their rosters, the introduction of Quality Teaching for English Learners
(QTEL) strategies, and a data inquiry using a new district platform called ELLevation to
understand students’strengths and needs. She went on to discuss a professional learning
community (PLC) meeting with the English department where they analyzed student writing
samples to understand what they knew about students, compared writing across grade levELs,
and identified expectations for learning outcomes. The examples that the principal provided
demonstrate the leadership practice of team leadership or shared leadership. For teams to be
successful in educational settings, the culture needs to support faculty and staff involvement.
Both classroom teachers and the ELIRT responded to similar questions about their
professional learning experiences, including: “Tell me about your professional learning you have
experienced alongside this principal in relation to developing instructional support for LTELs?”
and “In what ways have you analyzed students’ data impact on the academic outcomes for
students this past year?” First Teacher A shared that there was a professional development with
support from the language acquisition office (referring to the ERILT) in which the teachers
selected two EL students to monitor by looking at testing data over the course of the school year.
This was corroborated by the EIRLT’s responses in which she stated, “I’ve had the opportunity
to experience two whole staff professional development and worked with a team of grade level
teachers, also.” She went on to describe the first whole staff professional development where
they identified the multilingual learners by using the ELLevation data platform and analyzed the
students’ strengths. In the second session, the teachers had the experience of responding to a
52
released English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC) question to debrief
the rigor required from students on this exam and how teachers could develop strategies to
support students. These descriptions of professional development experiences from these
teachers did not discuss the principal as the leader of the learning, but instead referenced others
in the leadership role for these experiences and a distributive approach to accomplishing
successful academic opportunities for students and through teacher professional learning.
While Teacher C’s responses corroborated that the professional learning took place this
past school year, she shared her perspective that “our meetings are basically about things that
really don’t have any reality in the classroom sometimes. So, it sounds great and in principle, but
in practice it just doesn’t work.” She described the experience where teachers were introduced to
the ELLevation monitoring application and having distrust in the presenters stating, “I have a
feeling that they never taught in the classroom, especially middle schoolers.” Thus, despite the
perspective that this teacher had about the effectiveness of professional learning, it confirms that
the principal prioritized the professional learning opportunities around strategies for language
acquisition and monitoring of student progress towards reclassification. Common characteristics
of the leadership style and alignment across the system of the principal extracted from the
interview responses are included in Table 6.
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Table 6
Key Characteristics of the Principal’s Leadership Style
Participant pseudonym Key characteristics of leadership style
The principal Collaborative model, co-planning, prioritizing instructional focus
Teacher A Collaborative model, co-planning, prioritizing instructional focus
Teacher B Collaborative model, support of teacher leaders
Teacher C Prioritizing instructional focus
Discussion Research Question 3
The principal and the teachers described collaborations and shared leadership approaches
to the professional learning experiences. The principal used the team leadership approach when
their expertise does not include the specific knowledge about the strategies for instruction for
ELs. Team leadership is an approach to productive professional learning experiences where the
team shares common goals and can coordinate their activities to accomplish these goals
(Northhouse, 2022). In addition to this leadership style, the collaborative model helped the
principal to create opportunities to have alignment across the system. The principal sought
assistance for the design of professional learning in collaboration with the language acquisition
office resource teacher, as well as, utilized a common data monitoring platform called
ELLevation. Through these shared experiences, it is evident that the principal has an equity
mindset in the development and implementation of the instructional focus with regard to the
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reclassification and monitoring progress of LTELs that is grounded in collaboration and ensuring
alignment to district outcomes.
Summary
Research Questions 1 and 2 focused on the beliefs, knowledge, and development of the
course schedule in relation to the principal’s mindset towards LTELs in response to this specific
equity challenge at the school. Research Question 1 focused on the leader’s beliefs and
knowledge about reclassification of long-term English learners as a priority and the policies
surrounding this population of students. The finding indicated that an equitable minded principal
is knowledgeable about state policies for requiring language acquisition and the metrics used for
reclassification. This is consistent with the findings for Research Question 2 examining how the
principal develops the course schedule to meet the needs of these learners’ language acquisition
while ensuring that they have access to opportunities to explore their identities through access to
elective courses. Research Question 3 focused on the leadership practices of an equity minded
principal. The finding demonstrated there is attention to team leadership to ensure that the
expertise is maximized both with on campus teacher leaders and collaboration with the district
language acquisition department.
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Chapter Five: Discussion
Chapter Five summarizes findings as related to implications for middle school principals
as they lead conditions to support reclassification of LTELs. The findings are discussed with the
intention of informing current and future educational leaders of the leadership practices that
impact academic outcomes for long-term multilingual students through the development of a
school’s instructional focus, alignment of resources to impact professional learning for teachers,
and design of a course schedule inclusive of this population of students. Recommendations for
future research are included within the context of this case study.
This case study focused on one school principal’s approach to address the equity
challenge facing long-term multilingual learners in middle school. A student who is designated
as LTEL is a student who has been in U.S. schools for 6 or more years without reaching levels of
English proficiency to be reclassified. Most of the students designated as LTELs are in
adolescence just reaching the sixth or seventh grade. Several studies have found that this
designation impacts students’ academic performance because they have less access to classes
required for high school graduation, reduced admissions to postsecondary education, and
increased high-school dropout rates. Kinsella (2016) states that LTELs are stalled in their
academic language skills required to be successful in their ability to perform successfully on
state and national normed tests. Similarly, Kim and Herman (2009) finds that ELs who are not
reclassified are tracked into lower-level courses and limited access to enrichment and exploratory
electives courses. The purpose of this study was to better understand the leadership
characteristics, beliefs, and knowledge of a principal as they aim to reclassify long-term
multilingual students in middle school. The following research questions guided this case study:
56
1. What are the middle school principal leader’s beliefs about reclassification as an
equity priority for long-term multilingual learners?
2. How does an equity-minded middle school principal in a large urban school district
create conditions to support reclassification of long-term multilingual learners?
3. How do the leadership practices of this middle level principal align to the district
vision of equity and access for long-term English learners during professional
learning, if at all?
For this study, a qualitative case study was conducted in order to interact with the
participants in their school environment. The case study approach allowed for an in-depth
analysis of the relationship between the principal leader, the implementation of her equity vision,
and the staff in which they lead in the implementation of the strategies to reclassify long-term
English learners. Separate interviews were conducted with the principal leader, the teacher, and
English language instructional resource teacher (ELIRT). The document review of the SPSA,
further helped to triangulate how the principal leader prioritizes long-term English learners in
their call to action, the professional development plan and resources in alignment with their
vision for equity. This method allowed for separate analysis of the qualitative data from the
participants to create and assign codes for categorizing data in order to develop the quantitative
results.
Findings
Study findings suggest that a principal’s beliefs, knowledge, and leadership practices are
essential for impacting reclassification outcomes for long-term multilingual learners in middle
school. The finding indicated that a principal should be knowledgeable about state policies
required for reclassification, have an assets-based mindset for building on students’ successes,
57
create opportunities for students in the middle level to explore their identity and creativity, as
well as, lead with a team leadership approach when expertise is limited. Six themes emerged
related to the study’s three research questions. Themes were drawn from both applied critical
leadership theory and California’s English Learner Roadmap (2023). The themes derived from
applied critical leadership theory include efforts towards interrupting educational inequities,
capacity to lead change, and policy knowledge as it applies to equitable outcomes for students, in
this case long-term multilingual learners (Santamaría and Santamaría, 2015). The five key
principles found in California’s English Learner Roadmap (2023) include the leader’s assetoriented mindset, needs responsiveness, knowledge of instructional needs for ELs, creating
conditions to support effectiveness, and alignment access systems. This section summarizes the
study’s findings in relation to the literature review and current practice.
Research Question 1
Research Question 1 inquired about the principal’s beliefs about reclassification of longterm English learners as an equity priority at the school. Qualitative data related to Research
Question 1 produced two findings. The first finding that emerged confirmed the principal’s
beliefs are rooted in equity, access, and the intellectual knowledge to develop a system-wide plan
for supporting LTELs throughout the school program. This finding was consistent with the work
of Santamaría and Santamaría (2015), which finds that educational leaders are a valuable
resource in addressing and interrupting educational inequities. Also, in order to achieve
sustainable culturally responsive leadership, a leader must have knowledge of policy, a
worldview that aims to undo the inequities that have historically oppressed groups of students,
and the capacity to lead others to change.
58
Interview responses from the principal and the teacher focus group participants found
that in order for the principal to address the equity challenge facing LTELs in middle school
they must be aware of the inequities that this population faces in secondary educational settings.
The call to action statement in the SPSA recognizes the power of multilingualism and this is
supported by the responses from the participants in the way in which the principal and the
teachers describe their efforts to ensure these students are a priority in the planning and
professional learning.
A second finding that emerged in relation to Research Question 1 is that the principal is
responsible for leading the staff in their data inquiry about who their students are that represent
their equity challenge for reclassification of LTELs. In the SPSA, the principal identified the data
that will be monitored and developed a call to action to ensure prioritization of these
learners. The participants all recognized the principal’s knowledge of policy and placement of
students in the course schedule are important to ensure there is access to appropriate English
language development instruction. The document review indicated that there is a clear call to
action and plan for monitoring data to examine the school’s accountability toward English
learners to make adequate yearly progress and reclassify to English proficiency.
Research Question 2
Research Question 2 inquired how the principal created conditions to support the
reclassification of LTELs while at the same time ensuring equity and access to opportunities to
explore their identity and creativity as an adolescent. Again, Kim and Herman (2009) found EL
students have less access to classes required for high school graduation and admission to
postsecondary education, and increased high-school dropout rates. Additionally, the study by
Clay et. al (2020), describes the responsibility of a principal to arrange time, resources, and
59
people to maximize student learning and experience, as well as, provide more equitable access to
rigorous and rich coursework and air students with the best-fit educator.
In order to prevent tracking of students, particular attention to the development of the
course schedule demands that a leader creates opportunities for students to engage in exploratory
electives throughout their middle school experience. Explorations in elective courses may impact
an adolescent’s identity and have the possibility to influence students’ lives by allowing for
deeper engagement with the subject and decide if that is a passion or interest for future learning,
vocational plans, religious beliefs, values and preferences, political affiliations and beliefs,
gender roles, and ethnic identity (Green, et al., 2015). However, attention should, also, be given
to the needs of the learner to be placed in the appropriate language acquisition courses in order to
lift their language skills (Dutro and Kinsella, 2010).
Interview responses from the principal and the teacher focus group participants found the
importance of a middle school principal to be caring and asset-minded when it comes to
development of the course schedule to ensure that placement of students with the teachers who
know their needs makes the greatest impact on their environment. The principal, the teacher, and
the ELIRT all discussed having a dedicated team of teachers who are trained in designated ELD
and who monitor these students’ progressive data to ensure that their language acquisition needs
are being addressed are key factors in creating opportunities for success.
A second finding that emerged in relation to Research Question 2 is the continuation of
the seven-period day which allows students access to elective classes. Although students are still
placed in the appropriate language proficiency courses, they have the extra period in their school
day to take advantage of visual and performing arts, robotics, or environmental science classes to
expand and explore their interests. Students at the school, also, have the possibility of pursuing
60
their biliteracy certificate by taking more academic courses in their native language. The
principal’s attention to an equity focused course schedule ensures that students are not limited by
tracking based on their language proficiency.
Research Question 3
Research Question 3 inquired how the principal aligned their vision of professional
learning for teachers to the district vision and ways in which they lead this work. Research
question three focused on the leadership practices of an equity minded principal. The finding
demonstrated there is attention to team leadership to ensure that the expertise is maximized both
with on campus teacher leaders and collaboration with the district language acquisition
department. This leadership practice aligns with the work of Northouse (2022), which allows for
various members of the team to step forward based on their expertise dependent on the context of
the situation. Similarly, Hitt and Tucker (2016) find that when a leader is able to harness existing
strengths among teachers, a more collaborative, team-based approach can have a greater impact
on student achievement. Leaders who have an equity mindset should by nature be ones who look
for ways in which others with more expertise can step up when they recognize as a leader they
may not have the knowledge in a specific area.
Interview responses from the principal and the teacher focus group participants found that
the leadership style of this principal is essential to ensuring that there is attention to the academic
outcomes for this population of students. The principal identified their lack of expertise in the
instructional approaches needed to support language acquisition and connected with the district’s
language acquisition resource teacher, the ELIRT, to collaborate and design professional learning
experiences for teachers. Similarly, the team leadership approach was used when the principal
included her language development teachers to lead PLCs.
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A second finding that emerged in relations to Research Question 1 confirmed the
importance of alignment across the system. The principal and the teachers discussed the process
of data collection and monitoring using the platform Ellevation. This platform allowed for the
school to integrate data from various sources to monitor students and track progress toward
reclassification. The platform can be accessed throughout the district, at all levels to ensure that
common data points are used for monitoring student progress.
Limitations
Limitations of this case study findings minimized to one principal’s experience in an
urban Southern California school district and her staffs’ perspectives on her approach as an
equity-minded leader. The case study was based on personal narratives provided during
interviews with the principal leader, as well as, teaching staff and service providers from the
school. The limitation of an interview protocol was related to the process the principal utilizes to
currently make decisions, the positionality of the participants, their length of employment
working at the school site with the principal, and limited to the work experience of the
participants. Additionally, the teaching staff interview participants may have been hesitant to
disclose information in their responses knowing that their principal was the focus of the study.
Implications for Practice
This study examined the importance of a principal’s mindset toward equity for
reclassification of LTELs in middle school. The study’s findings revealed themes that inform
administrators at the school site and at the distinct level who are interested in ensuring that
LTELs are a priority for developing an instructional focus supportive of both language
acquisition needs; while, at the same time ensuring that they have access to a broad spectrum of
electives that allow them to pursue their interests and develop their identities.
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The first implication that informs the practice of middle school leaders is that they need
to be knowledgeable of the policies impacting ELs in middle school. If students enter middle
school not having yet been reclassified after 6 years in U.S. schools, they are required to
continue with an additional language acquisition course. The principal needs to know who their
students are that are identified as ELLs and specifically monitor their progress towards
reclassification.
The second implication is the development of an equitable course schedule that meets the
needs of ELs. The requirement of the additional language acquisition course can limit
opportunities to have electives. Furthermore, the placement of students in the appropriate
language acquisition course and with the most skilled teachers can hinder their progress. It is the
responsibility of the principal to ensure that the course schedule meets the needs of these learners
at a critical time in their education journey.
The third implication is that the principal needs to know when to step back from the
leadership role to be collaborative and inclusive of other leaders who may have more
expertise. In this case study, the principal allowed for her team to take on various roles from
supporting course schedule design, student placement in courses, and leading professional
development for the school staff. This demonstration of the team leadership approach
strengthened the school’s ability to stay focused on the LTELs as a priority and live up to their
call to action as they stayed aligned with the district vision.
Future Research
Future research needs to be conducted on the professional learning provided to and in
support of principal leaders specific to the policies directly impacting student reclassification of
English learners and the impact of the LTEL designation for students. While California requires
63
teacher preparation programs to include content for teaching ELs that authorizes the credential
holder to provide instruction for English language development and specially designed academic
instruction in English, the administrative services credential does not specifically call out
monitoring services and reclassification of ELs. Studying how California administrative service
licensing programs prepare administrators to be knowledgeable about policies pertaining to
reclassification of ELs may impact more of these marginalized students, reduce dropout rates,
and better equip students for more productive lives.
Studies should, also, be conducted on elementary principal leadership practices that
create conditions to reclassify ELs in the elementary school before they move onto middle
school. Principal leaders are responsible for ensuring that students acquire annual language
growth as measured by the ELPAC. Specific attention should be given to schools with high
populations of students who enter kindergarten having been born in the United States that
identify language other than English as their home language. This study could include how
principals develop their instructional goals, how to identify needs of the learners they service,
professional development related to reclassification of ELs, and how to design effective
programs that support their community of learners.
Furthermore, research should be conducted on leadership practices through a multi-year
study on the impact of school leadership by following specific LTELs, their experiences at the
school, and the impact of the leadership decisions on their reclassification. A longitudinal case
study should include the perspectives of students and parents on the principal’s reclassification
efforts. A deeper look into this school may reveal insight into how a principal’s equity vision is
realized overtime.
64
Conclusions
This study provided evidence that principal leaders need to have an assets-based mindset
and knowledge of state policies and practices that impact academic outcomes for LTEL students.
The responsibility of middle school leaders in schools with significant populations of LTELs
require that a principal designs their school’s instructional focus to prioritize the best
opportunities for students to increase their language proficiency, develops a course schedule that
allows students to grow their identity through elective choices, and aligns resources to impact
professional learning for teachers.
65
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70
Appendix A: Prescreening Survey
1. Below you can find statements about your management of this school. Please indicate
the frequency of these activities and behaviors in this school during the current school
year.
• I make sure that the professional development activities of teachers are in
accordance with the teaching goals of the school.
• never
• seldom
• quite often
• very often
• I use student performance results to develop the school’s educational goals.
• never
• seldom
• quite often
• very often
2. How strongly do you agree or disagree with these statements as applied to your role
as the principal leader?
• A main part of my job is to ensure that the teaching skills of the staff are
always improving.
• strongly disagree
• disagree
• agree
• strongly agree
71
• An important part of my job is to ensure that teachers are hELD accountable
for the attainment of the school’s goals.
• strongly disagree
• disagree
• agree
• strongly agree
3. How often do you provide teachers with an opportunity to participate in professional
development specific to English Language Development?
• never
• 1–2 times per year
• 3–4 times per year
• more than 5 times per year
4. How often do you give teachers feedback about instruction specific to English
Language Development?
• never
• 1–2 times per year
• 3–4 times per year
• more than 5 times per year
72
Appendix B: Interview Protocal for a Middle Level Principal
Thank you for agreeing to participate in my study. I appreciate the time that you have set
aside to answer my questions. As I mentioned when we last spoke, the interview should take
about an hour, does that still work for you?
Before we get started, I want to remind you about this study, the overview for which was
provided to you in the Study Information Sheet, and answer any questions you might have about
participating in this interview. I am a student at University of Southern California and am
conducting a study on principal leaders’ role in making equitable decisions to create conditions
within the professional learning plan to support students in all classes with integrated English
language development, designing a purposeful course schedule inclusive of ELs, and allocation
of resources to prioritize students’ annual progress towards English Language Proficiency.
I want to assure you that I am strictly wearing the hat of researcher today. What this
means is that the nature of my questions is not evaluative. I will not be making any judgments on
how you are performing as a principal leader. My goal is to understand your perspective.
As stated in the Study Information Sheet I provided to you previously, this interview is
confidential. What that means is that your name will not be shared with anyone outside of the
research team. I will not share them with the district leaders. The data for this study will be
compiled into a report and while I do plan on using some of what you say as direct quotes, none
of this data will be directly attributed to you. I will use a pseudonym to protect your
confidentiality and will try my best to de-identify any of the data I gather from you. I am happy
to provide you with a copy of my final paper if you are interested.
As stated in the Study Information Sheet, I will keep the data in a password protected
computer and all data will be destroyed after 3 years. Might you have any questions about the
73
study before we get started? I have brought a recorder with me today so that I can accurately
capture what you share with me. The recording is solely for my purposes to best capture your
perspectives and will not be shared with anyone outside the research team. May I have your
permission to record our conversation?
Setting the Stage
I’d like to start by asking you some background questions about you.
1. What motivated you to become a principal? (CF: beliefs and intellectual quality, Q:
background/demographic)
Heart of the Interview
Next, I would like to ask you about your leadership practices.
2. What do you perceive are the essential characteristics of principal leaders that enable
them to promote equity for all students? (CF: leadership practices and beliefs, Q:
opinion and values)
3. Ideally, what would make for a school environment that promotes the reclassification
of long-term multilingual learners? (CF: leadership practices and needs
responsiveness, Q: ideal position)
4. Tell me about your professional learning plan for teachers in relation to developing
instructional support for long-term multilingual learners? (CF: leadership practices
and instructional focus, Q: knowledge)
5. Tell me about a typical professional learning experience you designed for teachers in
support of long-term multilingual learners? (CF: instructional focus and alignment
across systems, Q: knowledge)
Now I’d like to ask you some questions about how resources are allocated at your school.
74
6. In what ways does student data impact the development of your course schedule?
(CF: alignment across systems and needs responsiveness, Q: knowledge)
7. Describe your ideal plan for designing an equitable course schedule to be inclusive of
long-term multilingual learners? (CF: beliefs and needs responsiveness, Q: ideal
position)
8. What resources would be ideal in the course schedule to ensure equity for long-term
multilingual learners? (CF: intellectual quality and needs responsiveness, Q:
hypothetical)
9. If someone were to ask you what would be the most effective allocation of resources
for long-term multilingual learners, what would you say to them? (CF: intellectual
quality and needs responsiveness, Q: hypothetical)
10. Are you finding the FTE allocation to be supportive of the needs of long-term
multilingual learners as you design your course schedule? (CF: needs responsiveness
and alignment across systems, Q: interpretive question)
11. How do you feel about the support you are given as a leader from the district to
develop a plan to reclassify long-term multilingual learners? (CF: intellectual quality
and beliefs, Q: feeling)
12. How, if at all, has a focus on equity influenced your continuous improvement work
with long-term multilingual learners? (CF: leadership practices and beliefs, Q:
opinion and values)
75
Closing Question
13. What other insight would you like to share about our conversation about how you
promote instructional practices and create learning conditions for the reclassification
of long-term English learners today that I might not have covered, if any?
Closing Comments
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me today! I really appreciate your
time and willingness to share. Everything that you have shared is really helpful for my study. If I
find myself with a follow-up question, can I contact you, and if so, if email is ok? Again, thank
you for participating in my study. As a thank you, please accept this small token of my
appreciation (gift card, school supplies, etc. if appropriate).
Post Interview Summary and Reflection
[ADD shortly after each interview]
76
Appendix C: Focus Group Interview Protocol for Teachers and Service Providers
Thank you for agreeing to participate in my study. I appreciate the time that you have set
aside to answer my questions. As I mentioned when we last spoke, the interview should take
about an hour, does that still work for all of you?
Before we get started, I want to remind you about this study, the overview for which was
provided to you in the Study Information Sheet, and answer any questions you might have about
participating in this interview. I am a student at Universithy of Southern California and am
conducting a study on principal leaders’ role in making equitable decisions to create conditions
within the professional learning plan to support students in all classes with integrated English
language development, designing a purposeful course schedule inclusive of ELs, and allocation
of resources to prioritize students’ annual progress towards English Language Proficiency.
I want to assure you that I am strictly wearing the hat of researcher today. What this
means is that the nature of my questions is not evaluative. I will not be making any judgments on
how you are performing as a teacher and/or service provider. My goal is to understand your
perspective.
As stated in the Study Information Sheet I provided to you previously, this interview is
confidential. What that means is that your name will not be shared with anyone outside of the
research team. I will not share them with other teachers, the principal, or the district. The data for
this study will be compiled into a report and while I do plan on using some of what you say as
direct quotes, none of this data will be directly attributed to you. I will use pseudonyms to protect
your confidentiality and will try my best to de-identify any of the data I gather from you. I am
happy to provide you with a copy of my final paper if you are interested. As stated in the Study
77
Information Sheet, I will keep the data in a password protected computer and all data will be
destroyed after 3 years.
Might you have any questions about the study before we get started? I have brought a
recorder with me today so that I can accurately capture what you share with me. The recording is
solely for my purposes to best capture your perspectives and will not be shared with anyone
outside the research team. May I have your permission to record our conversation?
Setting the Stage
I’d like to start by asking you some background questions about you.
1. Tell me about your experience as an educator and what your current role?
2. What motivated you to become an educator? (CF: beliefs and intellectual quality, Q:
background/demographic)
Heart of the Interview
Next, I would like to ask you about how you view your principal’s leadership practices.
3. What do you perceive are the essential characteristics of principal leaders that enable
them to promote equity for all students? (CF: leadership practices and beliefs, Q:
opinion and values)
4. Ideally, what would make for a school environment that promotes the reclassification
of long-term multilingual learners? (CF: leadership practices and needs
responsiveness, Q: ideal position)
5. TELL me about the professional learning you have experienced alongside this
principal in relation to developing instructional support for long-term multilingual
learners? (CF: leadership practices and instructional focus, Q: knowledge)
78
6. In what ways have you analyzed students’ data impact on the academic outcomes for
students this past year? (CF: alignment across systems and needs responsiveness, Q:
knowledge
Now I’d like to ask you some questions about how resources are allocated at your school.
7. Describe your ideal plan for designing an equitable course schedule to be inclusive of
long-term multilingual learners? (CF: beliefs and needs responsiveness, Q: ideal
position)
8. What resources would be ideal in the course schedule to ensure equity for long-term
multilingual learners? (CF: intellectual quality and needs responsiveness, Q:
hypothetical)
9. If someone were to ask you what would be the most effective allocation of resources
for long-term multilingual learners, what would you say to them? (CF: intellectual
quality and needs responsiveness, Q: hypothetical)
10. Are you finding the teacher allocation to be supportive of the needs of long-term
multilingual learners as you design your course schedule? (CF: needs responsiveness
and alignment across systems, Q: interpretive question)
11. How do you feel about the support you are given as a teacher from the principal to
reclassify long-term multilingual learners? (CF: intellectual quality and beliefs, Q:
feeling)
Closing Question
12. What other insight would you like to share about our conversation about how you
promote instructional practices and create learning conditions for the reclassification
of long-term English learners today that I might not have covered, if any?
79
Closing Comments
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me today! I really appreciate your
time and willingness to share. Everything that you have shared is really helpful for my study. If I
find myself with a follow-up question, can I contact you, and if so, if email is ok? Again, thank
you for participating in my study. As a thank you, please accept this small token of my
appreciation (gift card, school supplies, etc. if appropriate).
Post Interview Summary and Reflection
[ADD shortly after each interview]
80
Appendix D: Document Review Protocol
This tool is designed to review documents and reflect on the extent to which the policies,
practice, and approaches reflected in the document address equity for long-term multilingual
learners.
Prompts
Document description: ________________________________________________
• Message: What does the writer care most about?
• communication of expectation of equity
• Are multilingual learners mentioned in the document?
• Are goals and metrics (if applicable) expressed for sub-groups, including by
race/ethnicity?
• Does the document convey a belief that all students are capable of being
represented in the full range of elective opportunities?
• Would the descriptions of the student in this document indicate that the school
believes multilingual students can meet expectations for reclassification?
• What terms or phrases were used to refer to the goals of multilingual learners?
• incorporation of a critical lens
• Was the reader encouraged to think critically about why equity does not exist
for multilingual learners?
• Did the document include analysis, synthesis, and evaluation that took equity
and access for multilingual learners into account?
• Were individuals or programs that successfully address equity used modELs
or were there accomplishments highlighted?
81
• Was the sensitivity to students’ possible past-experiences in inequitable
contexts?
• equity strategies
• In general, where does the document explicitly convey the school equity
imperative in relation to multilingual learners?
• Which forms of influence listed below are being leveraged in support of
equity?
• symbolic/language
• social networks
• visibility/information
• resources
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
This study’s theoretical framework is grounded in applied critical leadership in order to better understand how leaders achieve sustainable culturally responsive leadership through their knowledge of policy, a worldview that aims to undo the inequities that have historically oppressed groups of students, and the capacity to lead others to change. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of one Southern California middle level principal’s beliefs, knowledge, and decision-making process as they design an instructional focus aimed at reclassification of long-term multilingual learners. Interviews were conducted to deepen an understanding of the leader’s beliefs towards equity priority of designing a master schedule and professional learning specific to language acquisition. One teacher and an English Language instruction resource teacher were interviewed to corroborate the trustworthiness and credibility of the responses from the principal leader. Additionally, a document review of SPSA further helped to triangulate how the principal leader prioritizes long-term English learners in their call to action, the professional development plan and resources in alignment with their vision for equity. Study findings suggest that a principal’s beliefs, knowledge, and leadership practices are essential for impacting reclassification outcomes for long-term multilingual learners in middle school. The finding indicated that a principal should be knowledgeable about state policies required for reclassification, have an assets-based mindset for building on students’ successes, create opportunities for students in the middle level to explore their identity and creativity, as well as, lead with a team leadership approach when expertise is limited. This study begins to explore how middle school principal’s leadership practices impact academic outcomes for long-term multilingual students in middle school.
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Trueblood, Sarah Eugenia
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Core Title
Leading conditions to support reclassification of long-term multilingual learners
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Rossier School of Education
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Degree Conferral Date
2024-05
Publication Date
06/12/2024
Defense Date
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