Snack gaps, doubling up, and revolving doors: educational leadership practices in a changing suburb

ABSTRACT

Alongside rising poverty, student homelessness and school mobility are increasingly impacting U.S. suburbs – yet, there is little research on how leadership is evolving. Informed by distributed leadership and drawing from over 50 artifacts and 42 interviews with school and community leaders, this study explores how poverty, homelessness, and mobility are shaping leadership practice in a fast-growing, U.S. suburb. Both individually and concomitantly, poverty, homelessness, and mobility drew different actors, tools, and routines into the educational arena – fundamentally shifting the who and how of practice. Overall, leadership practice was rarely distributed outside of the suburb. Leadership around family poverty was, however, a community-wide endeavor – extending beyond, but centering on the schools. Yet, local government viewed homelessness as a ‘school issue’ and little outreach occurred regarding mobility. In addressing poverty, homelessness, and mobility, principals in traditional schools tended to rely on school social workers. Implications for distributed leadership, leadership preparation and practice, and future research are discussed.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The MVA was reauthorized under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which went into effect on 1 October 2016. Changes include expanded provisions for unaccompanied youth and preschool children. For more information, see the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (www.naehcy.org).

2. Title I offers financial support through U.S. state educational agencies to local educational agencies and schools that serve high numbers or percentages of children living in poverty. See the National Center for Educational Statistics for more information: https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=158.

3. Stakeholders refer to agencies, institutions or groups of people rather than individuals.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alexandra E. Pavlakis

Alexandra E. Pavlakis is Assistant Professor in the Department of Education Policy and Leadership at Southern Methodist University. Her research examines educational leadership, student homelessness, and family poverty. Her work can be found in Teachers College Record, Urban Education, Urban Review, and Educational Researcher.