Linda A. Rudnick
Published: 2012
Total Pages: 126
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Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001, the most recent version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965), the role of the school principal has been expanded to include significant responsibilities for the instructional leadership of schools, ensuring that all children achieve to meet high standards, and that the needs of children with special learning challenges are met. At the core of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) are a number of measures designed to drive broad gains in student achievement and to hold states and schools more accountable for student progress. Principals are expected to respond to accountability measures imposed by external constituents by acting as agents of change. Since the passage of the Act, standardized tests and assessment-based reforms have been widely implemented in the public school system in the United States. The intent of these reforms is to academically challenge all students to meet high standards, including English Language Learners (ELLs), and to ensure that attention and resources are given to these students to help them achieve their full potential. NCLB requires school districts to annually report the standardized test scores of student subgroups, including the ELLs. They are required by the law to meet targets set by their states for "adequate yearly progress," or AYP, or face sanctions. NCLB regulations stipulate that ELLs must be tested in mathematics beginning with the first round of state exams after the students enter a United States school, and in reading after they have been in a U.S. school for at least one year. This poses a tremendous challenge for teachers and for school principals, whose schools are publicly identified in the accountability system in New York State as meeting or failing to meet the target based on student achievement on these assessments. This quantitative study identified the attributes (beliefs and practices) of principals in New York State schools outside of New York City that contribute to ELLs' success as measured by their performance on state tests. The following areas were examined: visionary leadership, cultural and instructional leadership, school management and parent and community relations. Statistically significant results were found in ten areas of principal leadership in three of the five are as that were examined. In the area of cultural leadership, practicing shared leadership, creating a school climate that values diversity, professionally developing both ELL teachers and other staff working with ELLs on best practices, creating a climate of accountability for ELLs, and establishing and monitoring goals for ELL success emerged from the data as statistically significant. In the area of instructional leadership, collecting data on the ELLs early and visiting classrooms regularly to provide teachers substantial feedback on their instructional practices also emerged as statistically significant. Lastly, in the area of school management, taking a key role in the improvement of teaching and learning for ELLs, recruiting and retaining qualified and invested teaching staff, and acquiring resources to support ELL teaching were areas of principal leadership that surfaced as significant findings. The survey results gleaned from respondents provide direction to the field in ELL education and identify the specific areas of focus for school leaders in the development of a quality program that will yield desired results for this growing population of students in our schools.