UC San Diego

In recent years, the United States has seen an increased interest in Dual Language Education (DLE) Programs. These programs prepare students to compete in a global economy by providing an opportunity to develop high levels of bilingualism, biliteracy, and socio-cultural competence. Despite abundant research on DLE programs (Howard et al., 2018), there are not enough studies on the role of the school principal as an educational leader in these additive enrichment language programs. As the primary advocates for these programs, school principals are instrumental in providing support and guidance to the learning communities they lead, thus ensuring high quality and equity through their leadership and commitment to the programs’ vision and mission. Consequently, this qualitative case study employed Transformational Leadership Theory (Bass, 1985, 2006) and the Principles of Courageous Leadership (Blankstein & Noguera, 2016) as a dual lens framework to examine the role and characteristics of two school principals at distinct DLE programs in Southern California. Methodology included surveys and interviews with a sample size of two principals, six teachers, and six parents in DLE programs. Findings in this study revealed how through liderazgo and authentic cariño the school principals created equitable schooling experiences for students and teachers. The findings in the case study yielded four themes 1) the principals’ strong belief in DLE, 2) advocacy for program and professional development, 3) pedagogical knowledge and sustainability of DLE, and 4) building cross-cultural relationships and appreciation of cutures. Implications of this study may add to the scholarly literature and inform the field of the unique characteristics of school principals in DLE.Given the constraints of COVID-19, data obtained from the study was carefully examined due to the impact on participants’ experience and potential biases in the educational setting.