An Information Brief 

Administrators can take actions that support Second Language Learners and build stronger schools.  They do this by creating a climate of belonging and support for all students, supporting collaboration across and within grade levels, maintaining high standards for all students and staff, and ensuring a welcoming environment for English learners (ELs) and their families.  

Creating a Climate of Belonging:  Students lack of a feeling of belonging is one of the greatest challenges that currently face administrators in secondary schools. When students feel that they belong it means they feel accepted, respected, included and supported revealed by their having friends, participating in activities and willingly engaging with school. Belonging results in positive improvement in motivation, engagement, behavior, and achievement (Korpershoek, et al. 2020). Administrators who develop programs that create climates of belonging utilize programs that support students in connecting to teachers, students, and others in the school, feel capable of learning and have opportunity to contribute.  

Building a Climate of Supports Since Edmunds work in 1979 a common place understanding is that the principal is the most influential person in a school's success. Administrators of successful schools create a climate whose norms, goals, values, relationships, teaching practices and organizational structure support teacher and student development and learning.  (Pepper & Hamilton, 2002).  

Supporting Collaboration Across and within Grade Levels:  By promoting teacher collaboration, principals create environments where teachers are more likely to stay, work to better support student learning, and have a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment in their work as teachers. Such environments are most likely to increase both the literacy and academic development of ELs. Principals model norms and behaviors that create collaborative workplaces. They set aside time, provide mentoring (if needed), and allocate resources for collaboration. They block policies that undercut or rollback collaboration and support collaboration efforts teachers bring to them (Schaffer et al., 2017).  

Maintain High Expectations: To support the academic achievement of all students but particularly ELs, Principals and teachers hold high but not hurried expectations for students (Gottschalk, 2017). They expect all students to learn and progress but recognize that students learn at their own pace and developing academic language in a second language can take at least 5 years. Principals and teachers engage in professional development focused on the research-based practices for ELs learning as well as programs that focus on learning in the disciplines. They hold each other accountable in using these better practices. By charting student learning and growth and having faith that these practices result in student success, teachers are positioned to intervene, re-double efforts, and seek solutions. Teachers and principals attend to academic learning but also consider motivation, belonging, and disrupting factors, while maintaining a goal for growth and improvement. 

References & Links

Edmonds, R. (1979). Effective schools for the urban poor. Educational Leadership, (37)12, 15-24.  

Ensuring a Welcoming Environment for Parents, Families, and Community Members: Parental involvement website http://www.ncpie.org/ 

Gottschalk, B. (2019) Holding high, not hurried, expectations for ELLs. ASCD Education Update, 64:12. https://edtechbooks.org/-dQUF 

(https://byu.box.com/s/sqjaxd6216e5kdmrbda2yrgd3shwpwxx) 

Pepper, K., & Hamilton L. (2002). Making change: the effects of the leadership role on school climate. Learning Environments Research, 5(2), 155-166. Doi: 10.1023/A1020326829745. (https://edtechbooks.org/-UNv)  

Korpershoek, H.  Canrinus, E.T., Fokkens-Bruinsma, M., & de Boer, H. (2020) The relationships between school belonging and students’ motivational, social-emotional, behavioural, and academic outcomes in secondary education: a meta-analytic review, Research Papers in Education, 35:6, 641-680, DOI: 10.1080/02671522.2019.1615116  (https://edtechbooks.org/-HAm 

 Schleifer, D., Rinehart, C., & Yanisch, T. (2017). Teacher Collaboration in Perspective: A Guide to Research. Public Agenda. https://edtechbooks.org/-gVwfs  

(https://byu.box.com/s/s3de2jksrhkuzpnsbmw93ygy4z7ds9i7) 
 https://edtechbooks.org/-uXye