ORCID

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4723-6339

Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Administrative and Instructional Leadership

First Advisor

Barbara Cozza

Second Advisor

Bilge Cerezci

Third Advisor

Rosalba Del Vecchio

Abstract

While schools become more representative of a growing minority population, school leaders are responsible for making school policies reflective of the increasing number of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners. The purpose of this study was to examine the practices employed by school leaders in growing CLD schools to determine to what extent they employed culturally responsive school leadership practices. The methodology for this study was a multiple case study design. Through this qualitative approach, data triangulation was achieved by conducting interviews, a questionnaire, and collecting artifacts. In addition, purposeful sampling was used to obtain a school leader from an urban district in Utah, Massachusetts, and New York to participate in this study. Each of the three principals in this study led a school with at least 29 percent of English Language Learners and 80 percent of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. The findings suggest the need to develop relationships with teachers, parents, and students as the foundation for school leaders to create culturally responsive school environments. In addition, school leaders in these diverse school environments were eager to address deficit-thinking through critical conversations with their staff and prioritized meeting students’ socioeconomic, academic, and language needs. Implications of this study indicate the need for leadership preparation programs to prepare more equity-minded school leaders.

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