Content area
The population of individuals in the United States who speak a language other than English at home has nearly tripled over the past thirty years. The U.S. Department of Education reports that by 2019, there were over 5 million English Learners (ELs) in public schools across the country. English Learners, who are students learning English as a second language, are among the fastest-growing groups of young students. This body of work will use a qualitative method with a descriptive phenomenological design to explore the lived experiences of district level administrators (N=13) leading English Learning programs in suburban Chicago area elementary school districts. Illinois public schools are required to establish programs that provide both educational and supportive services, and that teachers must be competent and qualified to facilitate those services. Participants-as-administrators must have experience in leading “Transitional Bilingual Programs” and "Transitional Programs of Instruction”. Data as narratives were collected through semi-structured interviews. Participants were asked open-ended questions, and active listening skills were employed to add depth and breadth to the shared narratives. Findings suggest that the roles and responsibilities of administrators in leading English Learning programs are critical to EL student success, as well as essential leadership skills to effectively engage, support, and instruct ELs.