Righting past wrongs: A superintendent’s social justice leadership for dual language education along the U.S.-Mexico border

Abstract

Abstract:The role of superintendents in adopting and developing dual language education and other equity-oriented reforms that support the unique needs of Latina/o emergent bilinguals is a relatively unexplored area in educational leadership and policy resea rch. Drawing upon theories of social justice leadership, this article examines how one superintendent in the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) engaged in leadership to address injustices against Mexican and Mexican-American emergent bilinguals through the implementation of district-wide dual language education. EPISD provided a strategic site for this study because the previous superintendent and administration were part of a large-scale cheating scandal that "disappeared" hundreds of Mexican and MexicanAmerican students. This study highlights the important role of the superintendent in supporting equity-oriented school reforms such as dual language education, identifies Education Policy Analysis Archives Vol. 25 No. 1 2 specific actions and values pertinent to social justice leadership at the district level, and describes the ways leaders can take advantage of political opportunities, frame educational injustices in ways that mobilize key stakeholders, and utilize networks and grassroots movements for social justice means. The article concludes with implications for future research. Keywords: bilingual education; dual language education; superintendent; social justice; leadership Corrigiendo errores pasados: El liderato enfocado en la justicia social de un superintendente para la educación en dos idiomas a través de la frontera de México y los Estados Unidos Resumen: El rol de los superintendentes en la adopción y el desarrollo de la educación bilingüe y otras reformas orientadas a la equidad que apoyan las necesidades especiales de los estudiantes bilingües es una área relativamente inexplorada en el liderato educativo y en la investigación de las pólizas educativas. Este artículo examina cómo un superintendente en el Distrito Escolar Independiente de El Paso (EPISD) se involucró en el liderato para abordar las injusticias contra los bilingües emergentes Mexicanos y México-Americanos a través de la implementación de la educación dual en todo el distrito. EPISD proporcionó un sitio estratégico para este estudio debido a que la administración y el superintendente anterior formaron parte de "un escándalo de trampa en exámenes que resulto en la desaparición" de cientos de estudiantes Mexicanos y México-Americanos. Este estudio destaca el importante rol que desempeña el superintendente en el apoyo a reformas escolares orientadas a la equidad, como la educación en dos idiomas, identifica acciones y valores específicos pertinentes al liderato de justicia social a nivel distrital y describe las maneras en que los líderes pueden aprovechar de las oportunidades políticas, formulando injusticias educativas de manera que movilizan a las partes interesadas y utilizan las redes y movimientos de base para la justicia social. Este artículo concluye con implicaci...

The Texas special education cap: Exploration into the statewide delay and denial of support to students with disabilities

“…Numerous studies document how accountability policies, at times, triggered: (a) teaching to the test, narrowing curriculum, and the de-professionalizing the teaching profession (Dee & Jacob, 2011;Reback, Rockoff, & Schwartz, 2014;Valli & Buese, 2007;Watanabe, 2007); (b) a medical model approach to identifying students deemed just below performance cut-offs (commonly referred to as "bubble kids") and "treating" them via targeted "interventions" at the expense of both lower and higher performing students (Amrein-Beardsley, 2009;Booher-Jennings, 2005;Nichols & Berliner, 2005); (c) a loss of trust with families coupled with a growing sense of disengagement in educational governance processes (Rhodes, 2015); (d) harsh and exclusionary disciplinary policies that prioritize compliance and docility to minimize classroom disruption or the strategic discipline of low-performing students during testing windows (Figlio, 2006;Thompson & Allen, 2012); (e) reshaping student testing pools by removing, improperly promoting or demoting students, or pushing students out of school (Cullen & Reback, 2006;Vasquez Heilig & Darling-Hammond, 2008); (f) teacher turnover (Clotfelter, Ladd, Vigdor, & Diaz, 2004;Feng, Figlio, & Sass, 2018); and (g) cheating or tampering with testing materials (Amrein-Beardsley, Berliner, & Rideau, 2010. The media and law enforcement agencies have examined numerous instances of cheating. For example, a former superintendent of the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) was convicted with several district and school-based administrators for participating in a cheating scheme where students of Mexican descent (many of whom were English Language Learners (ELLs) were improperly promoted, demoted, or pushed out of school to avoid taking standardized tests (DeMatthews, Izquierdo, & Knight, 2017;El Paso Times, 2017). In Atlanta, teachers and administrators were convicted and sent to prison for participating in a cheating scandal that inflated test scores (Blinder, 2015).…”

Una Búsqueda de la Equidad y la Justicia: District Leaders Attempt to Expand Dual Language Bilingual Education for Equity

“…To be a courageous leader for DLBE, it is first necessary to develop one’s knowledge base about bilingual education and bilingualism, which is often lacking among educational leaders (DeMatthews et al, 2017; Morita-Mullaney, 2019). Such leaders are better positioned to hire other educators who likewise understand bilingualism and the experiences of multilingual and immigrant youth.…”

“…After developing their knowledge and district capacity, courageous leaders can apply their expertise to consider how to design more equitable language policies and, importantly, to confront ideological debates (Heineke et al, 2012), including myths around language development, immigration, and testing. For instance, the recent iterations of federal legislation require certain test scores and demonstration of academic achievement growth for children who speak languages other than English; this means educators often view them as difficult “liabilities” (DeMatthews et al, 2017), as Triton’s teachers on the south and west sides of town did. Courageous leaders are willing to explicitly discuss such concerns and rework ideologies or structures.…”

“…Taking a courageous approach to leadership falls under the recently recommended "fourth goal" of DLBE: the development of critical consciousness (Cervantes-Soon, et al, 2017), also conceived of as developing situational awareness, advocacy, and praxis in leadership (DeMatthews et al, 2017). Specifically, to raise critical consciousness, leaders must examine their own position(s) and history, as well as those of others.…”

Teaching English in the United States: Looking Back and Moving Forward towards a Brighter Future

“…As Anderson (2009) notes, advocacy leadership considers the populations with the least political power and resources and builds alliances across groups (e.g., teachers, parents, unions, community leaders, civil rights groups) to achieve desired outcomes. For example, the superintendent of a large urban district along the U.S. Mexico border leveraged the power of middle and upper class native English-speaking families who were interested in DL education to advocate for this model across the district (DeMatthews, Izquierdo, & Knight, 2017). Additive goals become part of the vision and mission of schools and districts and serve as tenets for developing and sustaining equitable educational opportunities.…”