The demographic profile of the United States has been rapidly changing; by 2020, minority students will constitute the majority of the public school student population nationwide. This makes cultural competence a necessity for today’s school leaders. Educational leadership preparation programs are responsible for preparing culturally competent leaders; however, few programs assess their students’ cultural competence. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional, causal-comparative study was to examine whether graduates of educational leadership preparation programs had significantly different cultural competence than those beginning their respective program. The findings of this study suggest that matriculating through a principal preparation program positively correlates with educational leadership students’ overall cultural competence, cultural beliefs and motivation, and cultural knowledge. However, there appears to be no significant relationship between completing the program and students’ cultural skills.

The COVID-19 pandemic, bringing to the forefront and catalyzing long-unconfronted racial and economic inequities, in addition to economic collapse and deep political divisions - which all impact students and schools – has resulted in a compound crisis requiring a novel conceptualization of school leadership during times of crisis. This qualitative study captures the leadership experience of principals during the apocalyptic crisis _ the COVID-19 pandemic - beginning from the time schools were closing in March 2020 to the end of the school year in June. Crisis leadership, transformative leadership and social capital constitute the overarching framework for this study. The purpose of this case study was to discover how principals engaged in their thinking and practice to handle the compound crisis, in order to generate a rich description and gain an understanding of school leadership during the first phase of the COVID 19 pandemic. Our research questions were: What were the challenges and complications of leading during the initial phase of the compound crisis from the perspective of principals? How did principals respond? What were the emergent leadership practices? For this case study, we used a purposeful, maximum variation sample of nine principals in Florida. We sought balance in gender, race and ethnicity, and grade level. In-depth interviews were conducted using a structured protocol. Analysis treated each principal as an individual case, then cross-case thematic analysis was employed to uncover common patterns and themes. Three findings emerged. First, participants drew upon their individual reservoirs of shared leader qualities, including personalized and pragmatic communicator; leading with flexibility, creativity and care; bending rules and shifting priorities; and showing resilience under pressure. Second, they tapped into their schools’ strengths, including school context and in-house expertise. Third, they made inter-school connections. The first phase of the compound crisis pushed principals to prioritize care, safety, and wellbeing of students, teachers, and communities above accountability measures and systemic institutional constraints. A call to action for equity is the next logical step for system consideration, and was echoed by participating principals, as well as a realization that going back to old ways is no longer an option.

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This qualitative study describes and interprets how two educational leadership programs, participants in the UCEA (University Council for Educational Administration) Program Design Network Improvement Community, identified and responded to a problem of practice by focusing on the needs of each program regarding the recruitment, selection, admission, and retention of candidates from underrepresented groups. Through collaborative learning and research, the programs were able to guide the change processes of their institutional structures to focus on attracting more diverse applicant pools that are more focused on issues of diversity in the schools they will serve.

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With a growing number of faith-based private schools, charter schools, and public schools divided along ethnic and racial lines, the school system in the United States is becoming more segregated. This study aims to examine the reasons some Muslim parents choose Islamic schools over other school options and aspires to inform district and school-based administrators of what could be done to make public schools more responsive to the needs of Muslim students.

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