Addressing Linguistic and Educational Civil Rights: A Framework for School Leadership Practice and Preparation

• In Event: Moving Beyond the Usual Conversations in Leadership Preparation

Abstract

The 1974 Supreme Court decision in Lau v Nichols drew heavily on the 1954 Brown decision, placing English learner (EL) students’ right to a meaningful education at the forefront of educational policy. Subsequently, Castañeda (1981) articulated requirements for ensuring EL students’ equitable educational experiences, placing responsibility on schools to identify, develop and implement instructional programs to ensure equitable access—programs that threatened to resegregate EL students. Unfortunately, aspiring leaders in principal preparation programs continue to receive limited learning opportunities focused on equitably educating EL students. Moreover, the top-down implementation and enforcement of EL policy coupled with accountability mandates and growing cultural and linguistic diversity in schools makes EL student success complex, context-specific, and highly dependent on school leadership.

Authors

• Rebecca M. Callahan, University of Vermont

• David Edward DeMatthews, The University of Texas at Austin

• Pedro Reyes, The University of Texas at Austin