Centering Identity and Multilingualism in Educational Leadership Preparation Programs

As the population of multilingual learners identified as English learners (ELs) grows in the United States, it is critical that education leaders are equipped to create school environments that are affirming and welcoming with high expectations for these students and their families. Nationwide, 10.4% or 5.1 million students were classified as EL in 2019. The state of California has the largest EL student population in the nation at 19.1%. This qualitative study explores the experiences of 25 school and district leaders in the Central Coast of California in their educational leadership preparation programs. Document review and critical content analysis were conducted of educational leadership preparation program websites including the course requirements, testimonials and mission statements. Leaders predominantly attended preparation programs at public universities that are Hispanic Serving Institutions. While they were interested in learning technical skills like education law and budgeting, they found it helpful to learn about a variety of topics such as instructional coaching and data analysis. However, they did not feel that there was enough of a focus on the needs of multilingual learners. This article examines how we might strengthen educational leadership preparation so that programs more effectively center the needs of multilingual learners as well as candidates’ identities as a resource.