Equity and Excellence Among Arizona School Leaders: Encouraging Integration within a Segregative Policy Context

ABSTRACT

We present case studies of elementary school leaders in an Arizona district with a large enrollment of Latinx Spanish-speaking students who qualify for English language development services. The Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Leadership dimensions are used as a lens to examine how school leaders navigate Arizona’s restrictive language policies to support dual language learners’ (DLLs’) academic achievement and integration. Our analysis revealed the school leaders exhibited equity and excellence for DLLs in their leadership practices, working in opposition to the restrictive policy context through educator collaboration and curriculum design, valuing bilingualism, and integrating DLLs’ culture and language into the school community.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. These students are sometimes referred to as emergent bilingual students, English learners, or dual language learners. For this study we have chosen to highlight the importance of students’ dual language exposure and will refer to them as dual language learners (DLL), which also provides a positive identifier that views bilingualism as a resource.