An Exploratory Case Study of a Principal's Perception of Opportunity Gaps, Leadership Practices, and Access to Advanced Placement Courses for Marginalized Students in a Rural High School

• In Event: Leadership in Times of Uncertainty and Adversity

Abstract

This case study was part of a multiple case study in which I focused on opportunity gaps to Advanced Placement (AP) courses faced by marginalized students by examining high school principals’ understandings of opportunity gaps in their schools, leadership actions, and the role that these factors play in students’ access to AP courses. I employed tenets of the Opportunity Gap Framework (Milner, 2012), Culturally Responsive School Leadership (Khalifa, 2016) and Place-Conscious Leadership (Budge, 2006; Gruenewald, 2003) to create the conceptual framework. The findings highlight each principal’s actions connected to changes in AP course access at their schools for students in their schools through how they interpreted and enacted policy, perceived the AP program, and identified and created opportunity using data-driven approaches.

Author

• Parker Morse Andreoli, Clemson University