School Leadership in an Undocumented Community: Advocacy for a Path to Student Success

• In Event: 31.023 - Challenging the Dominant Narratives: Social Justice Leadership in High-Needs Contexts

Abstract

School leaders are uniquely positioned to impact the schooling context and structures that students from undocumented families need to succeed in school. Yet, their role in shaping student outcomes is understudied. This qualitative study seeks to identify the competencies school leaders need to connect the immediate environments undocumented students navigate, and learn how leaders negotiate concerns and policies related to a student or family’s legal status. Using a socioecological framework based on the classic Bronfenbrenner model (1979), this study explores the spheres of leadership that secondary school leaders use to influence educational outcomes of students from undocumented immigrant families. Findings suggest that distributed leadership is key for leaders to foster student persistence, relationships, and access to information and resources.

Authors

• Fernando Valle, Texas Tech University

• Emily R. Crawford, University of Missouri - Columbia