Building the Capacity of Principals to Coach Teachers of Multilingual Language Learners

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to review practices aimed at improving literacy outcomes for multilingual language learners (MLLs). This was done by studying the internal coherence practices of a superintendent in Community School District 100 (a pseudonym), an urban school district in the northeast region of the United States. Specifically, the study demonstrated how a district school superintendent supported two principals through their process of leading pedagogues through a job-embedded implementation of learning by formulating a NIC. The school district was challenged by the disproportionality in learning outcomes for K–8 MLLs, which lagged significantly behind general education students in the English Language Arts (ELA) assessment. The superintendent was able to effectively build the capacity of principals to engage in improvement science and support the implementation of evidence-based practices in their schools by establishing a NIC that focused on MLLs. Overall, the NIC model provided an example of how a leader can implement a process for principals to learn about improvement science and engage in inquiry about their schools, with the goal of improving student learning and outcomes, especially for MLLs