Purpose: School leaders become arbiters of educational opportunity by shaping how policies are implemented within their buildings. Yet the role that school leaders play in enacting policies designed to expand equity for historically marginalized groups of students such as English learners (ELs) has received little attention in the research literature. This study examines the role that school leaders play in enabling or obstructing social justice by examining how leaders implement one policy, that which dictates the process of exiting students from EL status and reclassifying them as English proficient. Research Method: We conducted qualitative case studies of eight elementary schools across four districts in Texas, each of which included an observation of the year-end meetings when committees review EL students’ files and make reclassification decisions, as well as a semistructured focus group interview. Findings: School leaders both enable and obstruct practices that reflect social justice leadership while implementing reclassification policy, but lack awareness that they are doing so. Policy understanding and approach to implementation mediated the ways in which school leaders were able to leverage policy implementation to enable social justice and promote equity. Implications: We draw upon research findings to provide a framework for helping school leaders leverage policy implementation to enact social justice in their schools.

As state and federal policymakers continue to adopt more centralized policies, it is increasingly important to understand how policies, particularly those designed to enhance education for underserved students, are implemented locally. We employ a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design to investigate the implementation of one policy, that which guides the process of reclassifying English learners (ELs) as English proficient in Texas. First, we use event history analysis to determine whether the likelihood of being reclassified differs across the state for similar ELs. Second, we utilize interview and observation data from eight schools to unpack how practitioners implement reclassification policy. We find differences in the hazard rate of reclassification across the state, which is linked to practitioners' understanding of the policy.

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School choice has emerged as the linchpin of President Trump's urban education reform plan, but it remains unclear how school choice policies will shape the educational experiences of the most underserved student groups, particularly English learners (ELs). Using quantitative data from one large urban school district, we examine EL participation in a system of school choice. Specifically, we investigate the extent to which never, current, and former ELs enroll in a nonzoned school. We find significant differences in the likelihood that students across these groups engage in school choice, raising important questions about whether school choice reforms are accessible to current ELs.