Turnaround Policy and Practice: A Case Study of Turning Around a Failing School With High Enrollment of High-Poverty English Language Learners

• In Event: Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: Defining and Developing Leadership in Educational Administration Programs

Abstract

In an era of school reform and high stakes accountability, the major challenge in education is to turnaround the nation’s lowest-performing schools. National policy provides abundant resources with often restrictive prerequisites. Research indicates that quality principals and teachers are the most important factors for turning around the lowest performing schools; however there is little research in how to turnaround failing schools with high enrollments of ELL students in poverty.
The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand how demography, policy and practices affect the educational edge of students in poverty, who are English-Language Learners. How do the practices of a professionally/culturally/linguistically responsive school leader affect turnaround for a failing schools? How does the literature define culturally-responsive principals?

Authors

• Augustina Reyes, University of Houston

• Andres Garcia, Harris County Department of Education