Rebecca Lowenhaupt

Organizing English Learner Instruction in New Immigrant Destinations District Infrastructure and Subject-Specific School Practice

In the context of shifting demographics and standards-based reform, school districts in new immigrant destinations are charged with designing infrastructures that support teaching and learning for English learners (ELs) in core academic subjects. This article uses qualitative data and social network analysis to examine how one district in the midwestern United States organized EL instruction. After describing the district’s infrastructure for elementary EL education, we examine how this infrastructure supported teachers’ work practice—the practices in which teachers engage with one another—as operationalized around instructional advice and information networks. Findings reveal that teachers’ opportunities to learn about EL instruction varied significantly by the school subject and that these differences were directly related to the way in which the district built its EL educational infrastructure.

Coaching in context: the role of relationships in the work of three literacy coaches

In the United States and internationally, instructional coaching has been implemented as a mechanism to increase professional capacity, and in so doing improve student achievement. However, instructional coaches often face resistance from the teachers with whom they work; a manifestation of the egalitarian, isolated culture of teaching in many schools. In this paper, we analyze the daily roles of literacy coaches in three schools in one urban US school district. We explore how coaches’ responsibilities are shaped by the everyday realities of their school contexts. Further, we discuss how coaches manage those realities through the relationships that they build. We found that building relationships and establishing rapport are the foremost concerns for literacy coaches in their first months on the job and continue to be central throughout their time as coaches. Implications for the design, implementation and evaluation of district literacy coaching initiatives are discussed.

School Access and Participation Family Engagement Practices in the New Latino Diaspora

This article describes how schools shape family engagement practices in the context of the New Latino Diaspora. Building on critical scholarship that has called for more culturally appropriate definitions of family engagement, this study seeks to develop a theoretical understanding of how school practices influence immigrant families’ access to and participation in schools with little tradition of serving immigrant communities. Drawing on a statewide survey of practice in schools serving the New Latino Diaspora in Wisconsin, analysis includes descriptive statistics and textual analysis of survey comments from school principals and teachers working with immigrant students. Findings illustrate how considerable efforts to ensure access to Spanish-speaking families through interpretation and translation fall short of increasing family participation in key aspects of schooling. Given the influx of immigrants to new destinations across the United States, this work offers important insight into how schools receive newcomers in these contexts and identifies implications for research and practice.

The language of leadership: principal rhetoric in everyday practice

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to call for a rhetorical turn in the study of school leadership and discusses how principals use language to enact school improvement. The key purpose is to explore how talk is action in leading and managing school reform. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a rhetorical framework and methodology for interpreting principal practice through language. As a model, the language use of one urban school principal is examined through a rhetorical analysis of 650 instances of principal talk in 14 administrative meetings. The paper reports on the form and content of principal rhetoric, including analysis of logos, pathos, and ethos, and comparative analysis across meeting contexts. Findings – The paper demonstrates the importance of rhetorical form and content and highlights the role of audience in principal talk. In the present example, each of three rhetorical forms was used to transform school practice. Logos was used most frequently; emotional and ethical ar...

Toward a Theory of School Capacity in New Immigrant Destinations: Instructional and Organizational Considerations

Across the United States, immigrant enrollments in the public schools have rapidly increased, particularly in locales with little tradition of immigration, known as ”new immigrant destinations.” Despite the widespread nature of this trend, there is much to be learned about how schools are responding to this influx of immigrant students. This paper explores the nature and distribution of instructional and organizational capacity in this context, drawing on an empirical, statewide study of Wisconsin schools serving the new Latino diaspora to develop a theory of capacity in new immigrant destinations. We end with implications for theory and leadership practice.

Immigrant Acculturation in Suburban Schools Serving the New Latino Diaspora

Recent immigration patterns have led to widespread growth in school enrollments of Spanish-speakers in nontraditional immigrant destinations in many parts of the United States. This paper explores the ways in which suburban school districts respond to this demographic shift, with a focus on how schooling impacts the acculturation experiences of immigrants to this particular context. Drawing on a statewide survey of administrators and teachers in schools serving Wisconsins New Latino Diaspora, results from suburban schools are analyzed in comparison to urban and rural contexts. In this paper, I explore the ways in which suburban schools in the study were more likely to structure integration than schools in rural or urban locales. At the same time, these contexts were less likely to provide asset-based supports for Spanish-speakers, particularly those no longer designated as “beginner” English learners. These findings suggest that the opportunity to foster additive acculturation was limited, as many schools espoused a “sink or swim” approach in the context of scarce resources. Given the ongoing growth of immigrant communities in new suburban destinations, the paper ends with implications for future research and practice.

Changing demographics, changing practices: teacher learning in new immigrant destinations

Purpose Changing immigration patterns in the USA have led to a growing number of “new immigrant destinations.” In these contexts, opportunities for teacher learning are crucial for developing the school capacity to serve the academic, linguistic and socio-cultural needs of immigrant students. In response, the purpose of this paper is to examine how schools in Wisconsin provided both formal and informal teacher learning opportunities to develop the instructional capacity to support recent immigrants, specifically Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs). Design/methodology/approach Using descriptive analyses of teacher and administrator survey and interview data, this study examined the focus and within-school distribution of formal professional development, as well as teacher collaboration as a mechanism for informal learning. Findings Most commonly, professional development focused on concrete strategies teachers might enact in their classrooms, rather than developing broader understandings of the needs of immigrant students. In addition, formal professional development commonly targeted particular groups of teachers, rather than faculty as a whole. Finally, general education-ELL teacher collaboration was most often deployed “as needed” and focused on particular student needs, rather than systematically. Research limitations/implications Future work might address the limitations of this study by examining teacher learning opportunities in new immigrant destinations in other locales, the quality and effectiveness of such opportunities, and other mechanisms for the distribution of expertise. Originality/value Findings suggest the need for more systematic and integrated approaches to teacher learning in new immigrant destinations, with an emphasis on pushing beyond the short-term need for instructional strategies to develop more holistic, collaborative approaches to integrating ELLs into schools and classrooms.

Family Engagement Practices as Sites of Possibility: Supporting Immigrant Families through a District-University Partnership.

In this article, we consider the ways in which family engagement practices foster sites of possibility for immigrant families in the public schools. As demographic change leads to a growing number of new immigrant destinations and amidst increasing hostility toward immigrant communities, educational institutions play an increasingly important role in supporting these students and their families. Drawing on a study of one school district’s partnership with a local university to identify and resolve engagement gaps between immigrant and nonimmigrant families, our article discusses asset-based approaches to family engagement practices. In addition to discussing district initiatives to engage immigrant families in 2-way communication and minimize barriers to participation, we also consider the role of university partners in building sites of possibility for immigrant youth and their families. We conclude with implications for expanded efforts to develop equitable family engagement practices in districts serving immigrant communities.

Subject-Specific Instructional Leadership in K8 Schools: The Supervision of Science in an Era of Reform

ABSTRACT Purpose: In U.S. public schools, principals must implement reforms that require instructional leadership across subjects, though little is known about subject-specific supervision. Methods: Through interviews with 26 K–8 principals, we examine instructional leadership for science. Findings: Our findings showed that science supervision occurred rarely; principals used a “content-neutral” approach that did not emphasize science-specific aspects of instruction. Principals explained this in terms of external accountability pressures in literacy and mathematics, as well as their own lack of science knowledge. Implications: We argue for subject-specific resources for principal supervision. For classrooms to change, principals must provide subject-specific support for teachers.