Educational Leadership Commons^™

The Definitive Assessment Playbook: Tips And Tools For Educators Of Multilingual Learners, Margo Gottlieb

Resources

The Definitive Assessment Playbook: Tips and Tools for Educators of Multilingual Learners is a practical, evidence-based guide designed to humanize classroom assessment and elevate the agency of all assessment players. Grounded in the Science of Teaching and Learning and structured around twelve Focused Assessment Principles, the Playbook translates research into actionable practices, tools, and reflection opportunities for classroom, school, district, and community learning ecologies. Practical tips, tools, reflection templates, and inquiry frameworks support assessment players in applying these principles to build fair, balanced, learning-centered, and sustainable assessment systems for multilingual learners.

The Playbook includes five sections organized around major themes: …

Designated Eld Through Evidence-Based Practices, Aida Walquí, Ph.D., Magaly Lavadenz, Ph.D.

Center on English Language Proficiency Implementation Briefs

Designated English Language Development through Evidence-Based Practices is the third in a four-part series assisting educational agencies in implementing high-quality, comprehensive English Language Development (ELD) systems. This brief bridges the gap between research and practice by illustrating what implementation looks like for evidence-based practices in Designated ELD (DELD) curriculum and instruction. It introduces an ecological model of learning—conceptualizing education across macro- and micro-systems—alongside five fundamental shifts in classroom practice: Teaching as Apprenticeship, Language as Action, No Isolated Language Practice, Non-Linear Spiraling Design, and Vocabulary Taught in Context. Additionally, the brief outlines key guidelines for heterogeneous group composition and a productive …

Designing System Coherence For Designated English Language Development, Raquel Gonzalez, Ph.D., Magaly Lavadenz, Ph.D., Elvira G. Armas, Ed.D., Jeimee Estrada-Miller, Britt Jung

Center on English Language Proficiency Implementation Briefs

Designing System Coherence for Designated English Language Development is the fourth and final brief in a series designed to guide state, regional, and local educational agencies in establishing equitable, high-quality comprehensive English Language Development (ELD) systems. The brief examines the organizational infrastructure, leadership, and resource alignment needed to scale and sustain high-quality designated ELD. An adapted framework of seven interconnected foundational practices guides the discussion of how educational leaders can protect instructional time, support sustained professional learning and coaching, and connect designated ELD to grade-level academic content. The brief also examines systemic coherence across three levels—state education agencies, local education …

Centering California’S Black Multilingual Learners: Intersections, Equity, And (In)Visibilities, Ayanna Cooper, Ed.D., Magaly Lavadenz, Ph.D., Elvira G. Armas, Ed.D., Malane Morales Van-Hecke

Education and Policy Briefs

Grounded in an asset-based approach to educational transformation, this education and policy brief presents an exploratory inquiry into Black Multilingual Learners (BMLs) in California, recognizing the intersection of their racial, linguistic, and cultural identities. The inquiry draws on statewide demographic and English language proficiency data, relevant research, student and educator bright spots, and the Young, Bilingual and Black in California Survey of local educational agency representatives. Three key findings emerged: Visibility Gaps in state reporting systems, an Intersectional Data Gap caused by the absence of disaggregated racial data on public-facing data platforms, and an Infrastructure Gap in local data collection …

Finding God In All Things: A Course On Theology Of Sport At A Jesuit High School, Craig M. Smith

Journal of Catholic Education

This article examines the development, structure, and impact of a senior elective course on the Theology of Sport at an all-boys Jesuit Catholic high school in the east coast of the United States. Grounded in Ignatian pedagogy and the Catholic theological tradition, the course invites students to reflect critically on their lived experiences in sport through the lenses of play, spirituality, and Church teaching Drawing on sources such as Jürgen Moltmann’s Theology of Play, papal and Vatican statements on sport, and contemporary theological reflections on athletic experience, the course challenges the tendency to silo athletics from other dimensions of student …

Trauma-Informed Coaching: An Application Of Catholic Social Teaching To Formation And Healing Through Sport, Kristin K. Sheehan, Peter Piscitello, Elaine Cassidy

Journal of Catholic Education

Mission-driven athletic programs aim to form the whole athlete—physically, emotionally, socially, morally, and spiritually. A critical component of this mission is equipping coaches to serve as ministers of the Church while embracing trauma-informed practices. This paper introduces the rationale, process, and techniques for trauma-informed coaching as a research-based approach to supporting athlete mental health. Grounded in Catholic Social Teaching, this framework emphasizes community, participation, and the dignity of the human person, particularly care for the vulnerable. Drawing on neuroscientific and psychological research on trauma alongside Church documents and papal pronouncements, the paper demonstrates how trauma-informed coaching fosters healing and resilience …

Designing System Coherence For Content- Based English Language Development, Jeimee Estrada-Miller, Aline Matias, Raquel Gonzalez, Magaly Lavadenz, Elvira G. Armas

Center on English Language Proficiency Implementation Briefs

Advancing Comprehensive English Language Development: Designing System Coherence for Content-Based English Language Development is the second in a four-part implementation series focused on advancing high-quality English language development (ELD) systems. Drawing on research on educational change, organizational coherence, and instructional improvement, the brief recognizes that while effective classroom practices are essential, their impact depends on the organizational conditions that support consistent implementation. This brief examines the "how" of implementation by emphasizing system coherence—the intentional alignment of policies, leadership, organizational structures, and resources around a shared vision for language and content learning. It introduces seven foundational practices that support the coherent …

Beyond The Prompt: Coding The Magis In The Age Of Ai, Vanessa Rotondo

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

As a scholar-practitioner in Jesuit higher education, I’ve witnessed how generative AI is not merely a tool students use—it’s a formative force that shapes how they reflect, imagine, and even pray. Drawing on the Catholic imagination, Ignatian pedagogy, and sociological frameworks like liquid modernity, I argue that Jesuit institutions must respond not just technologically and reactively, but actively anticipate methods of integrating AI both theologically and pedagogically. I introduce the concept of Imaginative Intelligence as a formative goal—an embodied, sacramental way of knowing that invites depth, wonder, and resistance to automation. This is not a call to reject AI, but …

Content-Based English Language Development Instruction Through Evidence-Based Practices Advancing Comprehensive English Language Development (Eld) Implementation Brief Series, Neida Ahmad Ph.D., Linda R. G. Kaminski Ed.D., Aline Matias, Elvira G. Armas Ed.D., Magaly Lavadenz Ph.D.

Center on English Language Proficiency Implementation Briefs

Advancing Comprehensive English Language Development: Content-Based Instruction Through Evidence-Based Practices is the first in a four-part series assisting educational agencies in implementing high-quality, comprehensive English Language Development (ELD) systems. This brief bridges the gap between research and practice by illustrating what implementation looks like for evidence-based practices for content-based ELD curriculum, instruction, and assessment. It introduces a framework of foundational practices—understanding students' backgrounds and aligning instruction to standards—alongside four critical domains: Rigorous and Relevant Curriculum, Interactions, Comprehensibility, and Connections. Finally, the brief outlines the leadership and collaborative systems necessary to sustain these practices and improve long-term outcomes for English Learners.

Magnifying Genius: Culturally Responsive Leadership And One School’S Story Of Teacher Empowerment Implementing An International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme, Ryan Hansen

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Limited research exists on how principal leadership has shaped teacher empowerment and collective efficacy in public schools implementing the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP; International Baccalaureate Organization [IBO], 2020a).This qualitative study was grounded in culturally responsive leadership (CRL; Khalifa et al., 2016) and leader–member exchange (LMX) theory (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995; Northouse, 2022) as interpretive lenses and examined a leadership problem of practice at Hiller School, a diverse, high-needs public K–8 campus serving students in Grades 6–8. The study centered on how leaders foster teacher agency, identity development, relational trust, and intentional co-leadership during the early stages of …

A Multiple-Framework Approach To Examining The Role Of College Visits In College Access And Success For First-Generation And Bipoc Students, Jameia Mcduffie

LMU Theses and Dissertations

A Multiple-Framework Approach to Examining the Role of College Visits in College Access and Success for First-Generation and BIPOC Students By Jameia McDuffie This mixed-methods study explored how first-generation and BIPOC college students make sense of their college visit experiences and how those moments shaped confidence, belonging, and readiness for higher education. The study draws on Possible Selves Theory (Markus & Nurius, 1986), Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005), and Critical Race Theory (Ladson– Billings & Tate, 1995) to better understand the connections students form between what they see on campus and what they imagine for themselves. These frameworks guided the …

Understanding Our Emotional Gatekeepers: A Qualitative Study Of Teacher Attrition In Diverse Catholic Schools, Lionel Garcia

LMU Theses and Dissertations

In the post-pandemic era, educators in Catholic schools in diverse communities serve as emotional gatekeepers, vital social justice agents who act as the final filter between vulnerable students and a landscape of poverty, immigration fears, and digital disinformation. This study centers the voices of these highly capable educators to investigate the factors that led to their departure from the profession despite a strong vocational commitment. By listening to the stories of eight former teachers through narrative inquiry, the researcher identifies the specific factors that led to the teachers’ departures. The findings reveal that the decision to leave is driven by …

Breaking Barriers: The Impact Of Recruitment And Retention On Black Educator Representation In K–12 Schools And Strategies For Advancing Equity, Wynter Williams-Adams

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The underrepresentation of African American teachers in California K–12 public schools remain a persistent and systemic issue that directly impacts student outcomes and school climate. This qualitative study investigates the barriers that affect both the recruitment and retention of African American teachers across multiple stages of the educator pipeline, including college seniors considering teaching, early-career teachers, veteran educators, and former teachers who exited the profession. Using a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Charmaz, 2014) and guided by Critical Race Theory (CRT) (Bell, 1992; Crenshaw, 1996), Cultural Reproduction Theory (Bourdieu, 1977), and Organizational Theory (Fayol, 1949; Capper, 2018) this …

Narratives Of Cultural Wealth: Understanding What Works For Underrepresented Minority Students In Stem, Grace Long

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the lived experiences of underrepresented minority alumni from Galileo STEM High School who are pursuing STEM degrees at four-year universities. Guided by Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framework, the study focused on what worked for underrepresented minority groups (UMG) in STEM. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to learn a) what factors contributed to their STEM development and identities, b) what forms of cultural wealth were leveraged in high school and in the first years of college to pursue and persist in STEM studies, and c) experiences from Galileo STEM High School that cultivated and affirmed …

Intersectional Pathways To Power: Black Female Superintendents' Assets In Disrupting Racism And Advancing Educational Equity, Elizabeth Anne Dent Veal

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative, culturally sensitive study elevated the voices of Black female superintendents in California’s PreK–12 public schools—voices historically marginalized in educational leadership discourse. Centering their lived experiences, the research investigated the challenges these leaders face in advancing equity, the unique assets they bring to their roles, and the ways their intersectional identities shape both their leadership and their navigation of systemic barriers. Four Black female superintendents, identified through purposeful sampling from a professional network, participated in short-answer surveys and in-depth, semistructured interviews. Guided by Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth (CCW) framework, the study explored: (a) the experiences of Black female …

Understanding Higher Education Resources: A Critical Policy Analysis Of The Fafsa Simplification Act Of 2019 Implementation At A Private, Catholic University, Jasmine Hamm

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The qualitative study examined a private, Catholic university’s implementation of the FAFSA Simplification Act of 2019 alongside the broader, layered federal and state policies involved in financial aid award allocation in higher education (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Rubin & Rubin, 2011; Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Critical Policy Analysis and Institutional Theory guided the research in examining (1) policy development, (2) implementation, (3) external pressures, and (4) organizational adaptation (Diem et al., 2014; Meyer & Rowan, 1977). Eight administrators and staff members who worked in the Enrollment Management Division and the Financial Aid Office were interviewed regarding the implementation of the …

Cultivating The Dream In African American Men Through Black Excellence And Success, Sylvia Lawan Branch

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Achieving Black Excellence has been a goal for African American men for several decades; yet this movement has been hindered by social, emotional, and discriminatory life experiences from early childhood through adulthood. Black Excellence has been a phrase used in recent years to highlight achievements for African American men in wealth, mental health, well-being, fatherhood, and academic achievement. The main objective of this dissertation was to define and examine dimensions of Black Excellence among African American men, including elements that contributed to personal fulfillment and broader social impact. To determine recommendations to achieve Black Excellence (Scott, 2017), 10 semistructured interviews …

“I Am Shining Like Never Before”: A Qualitative Study Of The Preparation For Leadership And Vocational Call Among Lay Hispanic Women Educators In U.S. Catholic Schools, Bernadette Mary Boyle

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Catholic education was established and staffed by religious individuals called by the principle of mission and vocation: to serve and support immigrant, socio-economically disadvantaged Catholic communities. But by 2016 less than 3% of full-time professional Catholic school staff were avowed religious, and these historically Eurocentric schools across the United States have declining enrollment (Donohue & Guernsey, 2023). This has challenged Catholic leaders to consider whether Catholic schools can still fulfill the founding mission of Catholic education. In 2022, Ospino and Wyttenbach reported on “the various ways in which Hispanics educators are transforming the American Catholic school experience” (p. 5) and …

Teacher Voices In Ethnic Studies: Bridging Policy And Practice Through Educator Insights In California, Isiah Peter Iniguez

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This study explores ethnic studies teachers’ perceptions of implementing ethnic studies as a required course in California. This study used both critical pedagogy (Freire , 1970) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK; Shulman, 1986) as theoretical frameworks. Through interviews with thirteen ethnic studies teachers across California, this research uncovered the pedagogical demands, implementation challenges, and transformative potential of ethnic studies education. The findings illuminated a fundamental tension between ethnic studies’ community-centered nature and pressures toward standardization. Teachers emphasized that ethnic studies had to be rooted in community, describing powerful outcomes when the curriculum reflected students’ identities, local histories, and lived experiences. …

Leader Perspectives From Policy To Practice: An Exploration Of Deiajb Accreditation Expectations In K-12 International Schools, Jennifer Lea Garzia

LMU Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, various school accreditation bodies have incorporated new standards and processes that focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, access, justice, and belonging (DEIAJB). Yet, how DEIAJB expectations are perceived and implemented remains underexplored. This study examines the perceptions of international school leaders in Brazil and Italy, and how they interpret and enact DEIAJB school accreditation expectations. In this qualitative exploratory study, ten international school leaders were interviewed. Guided by Shields’ Transformative Leadership Theory (2009), data were collected through semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using thematic coding. Findings revealed that leaders viewed DEIAJB accreditation expectations as a legitimizing framework that …

Catholic Solidarity In American Jesuit Education Through The Radical Kinship Of Fr. Greg Boyle: A Conceptual Analysis, Sajit U. Kabadi

Journal of Catholic Education

This is a conceptual analysis that examines how American Jesuit secondary education can pursue greater Catholic solidarity in a polarized world through a framework of radical kinship, as espoused by Fr. Greg Boyle. Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, the world’s largest gang rehabilitation program, in the city of Los Angeles. The purpose of this conceptual analysis is to delve deeper into Boyle’s conceptual framework of radical kinship in the context of American Jesuit secondary education. This conceptual analysis will use Catholic Social Teaching, Biblical references, and the values of the Jesuit mission.

We Are Not Okay: Narratives Of Black Women Educators Working With Predominantly White Staff, Lindsay Charlotta Bussey

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Black women educators (BWEs) who worked in schools with a predominantly White staff endured environments that discouraged them from being themselves, oppressed their natural skill set, and limited their effectiveness. BWEs were not typically recognized for their pedagogical strengths and talents but rather only as racial minority representation in the school. This dissertation study’s two central research questions asked (a) how BWEs perceived the challenges and socio-emotional effects of working in school spaces with predominantly White staff and (b) what conditions were needed to be created for BWEs to heal and feel safe. This research utilized qualitative methods and focused …

Examining Ableism In Elementary School Settings: Educators’ Experiences And Responses To Critical Incidents Of Ableism, Rebecca Chadwick

LMU Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored elementary school educators’ experiences with ableism and bias in their daily professional lives. While federal policy affirms the rights of students with disabilities, inequities persist in how these protections are implemented in schools (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, 2004). Using semi–structured interviews with 11 elementary educators, including general education teachers, special education teachers, counselors, and administrators, this study examined how ableism is perceived, experienced and addressed in elementary settings. Thematic analysis identified themes of deficit–based thinking, lowered expectations, lack of early intervention, resistance to inclusion, and the impact of labels and language on shaping opportunities …

A Force To Be Reckoned: Strategic Equity Sense Leadership Of Unit-Level Higher Education Leaders, Jin M. Mims

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The #BlackLivesMatter (#BLM) movement in 2020 pressured higher education institutions to address their oppressive and exclusive systems. As these institutions communicated their diversity, equity, and inclusion, (DEI) commitments and processes, it was those who took charge to facilitate the operational and cultural change for their respective area through the DEI lens, those who assumed DEI roles in their designated units, actualized the ground-level work of designing and implementing DEI programs and policies to produce the institutional progress reported by the university’s executive leadership. I will refer to those change agents as Unit-level DEI Officers (UDOs). Meanwhile, the current body of …

Rooted In Justice: International School Teachers’ Perceptions Of Professional Development, Joseph Weatherby-Teague

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown a characteristic of effective teachers in international schools (ISTs) is cultural awareness and responsiveness (Grant et al., 2024), but there is a lack of research on ISTs and social justice development and ISTs in Qatar. This qualitative study (Smith et al., 2022) analyzed the perceptions of ISTs in Qatar about social justice professional development they participated in between 2019 and 2024 and how they implemented professional development in their practice. Using frameworks on justice as praxis and teacher education for social justice (Bondy et. al, 2017; Cochran-Smith, 2010), this study used an interpretive phenomenological analysis to conduct …

Mentoring Under The Light Of Ignatian Spirituality, Llorenç Puig Puig Sj, Rosa Nomen, Luis A. Martínez

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

This article proposes Ignatian Mentoring as a framework for enriching academic mentoring with insights from Ignatian spirituality. While mentoring traditionally supports professional and personal development, especially for early-career faculty, the Jesuit tradition offers a deeper, holistic perspective inspired by spiritual accompaniment practices such as those found in the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and the Spiritual Exercises. The framework is based on the mentoring program launched in 2021 by the International Association of Jesuit Engineering and Sciences Schools (IAJES), which connects faculty across a global network of more than 60 Schools. Based on two years of practical experience involving …

Establishing An Evaluative Mechanism For Cura Personalis, Jarrod Stadnyk

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Cura personalis is an important characteristic of Jesuit education. Peter Hans Kolvenbach, S.J. helped to focus attention on the importance of cura personalis in Jesuit education. However, rather than simply being individual care for the whole person, cura personalis is an illusive concept that is easier to recite than apply in practice. This article proposes an evaluative mechanism that can be used to gauge a person’s or organization’s depth in providing cura personalis for higher education students. The Higher Education Cura Personalis Reflection Chart within this article is a new mechanism that can help guide the process of determining what …

Brief Insights, June 2025: Learning And Leading Together: Highlights From A Multilingual And Mathematics Focused Research, Practice, Policy Partnership, Magaly Lavadenz Ph.D., Elvira G. Armas Ed.D., Linda R. G. Kaminski Ed.D., Kaivan Yuen Ed.D., Miguel Valencia, Teacher Researchers, Montebello Unified School District

Education and Policy Briefs

The Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL) at Loyola Marymount University collaborated with Montebello Unified School District (MUSD) leaders and teachers in a Research, Practice, Policy Partnership (RPP) to investigate Spanish oral language production in TK to 2^nd grade students enrolled in three Dual Language Immersion Academies providing Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) in mathematics. Teacher researchers collected pre- and post-video samples of students explaining their CGI Counting Collections strategy. After establishing inter-rater reliability, MUSD teachers and the CEEL Research Team individually and independently analyzed characteristics of students’ academic Spanish oral language production using two focal California Spanish Language …

Brief Insights, March 2025: Expanding Educational Opportunity: Highlights From A Multilingual/English Learner-Focused Research, Practice, Policy Partnership, Magaly Lavadenz Ph.D., Elvira G. Armas Ed.D., Linda R. G. Kaminski Ed.D.

Education and Policy Briefs

The Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL) at Loyola Marymount University collaborated with Camino Nuevo Charter Academy (CNCA) in a Research, Practice, Policy Partnership to investigate problems of practice and enhance literacy leaders’ focus on supporting classroom teachers to meet the needs of multilingual/English learners (ML/EL). The research question for this study focused on literacy leaders’ perceptions about how the revised Planning-Observation-Debrief (POD) cycle tools support teachers’ focus on scaffolding ML/ELs’ access to reading and writing complex text. Emerging findings emphasize the valued partnership between literacy leaders and the teachers they coach, as well as the importance of building …

No. 15, March 2025: California’S Treasures: Supporting Superdiverse Youth Through Research, Policy And Practice, Magaly Lavadenz Ph.D., Linda R. G. Kaminski Ed.D, Elvira G. Armas Ed.D., Dayna Mitchell Ed.D.

Education and Policy Briefs

This research and policy brief provides an overview of the Center for Equity for English Learner’s Superdiverse Adolescent Multilingual Learners Resource Guide. The publication follows the Global California 2030 call to recognize and promote the home languages and cultures of English Learners as valuable resources to increase multilingualism within the state. The term “Superdiverse” is used to acknowledge the many facets of diversity that make up the identities of English/Multilingual Learners in addition to the breadth of linguistic diversity encompassed within their language journeys. Twenty-six English/Multilingual Learners between grades seven and twelve were interviewed about their school experiences as culturally …