Closing the Emergent Bilingual Achievement Gaps: A South Texas Culturally Responsive School Principals’ Data-Driven Decision-Making and Instructional Interventions

Abstract

This study focuses on the culturally responsive leadership practices of a South Texas school principal. Texas ranks second out of 10 states with the highest emergent bilingual enrollment. Culturally responsive leadership integrates a dynamic view of the socio-political and cultural contexts in a school setting. As the student population becomes increasingly heterogeneous in Texas classrooms, scholars highlight disparities in academic outcomes across various racial, ethnic, and language groups and argue that paradigmatic shifts are needed to effectively serve minoritized students’ unique educational needs. Accordingly, there is an urgency for principals to be culturally responsive instructional leaders who promote and implement the academic mission of the school via the creation of culturally responsive sustainable instructional practices.

Keywords

emergent bilingual culturally responsive leadership

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