Felicita Garza-Basaldu, M.A.

she/her

Education: Bachelor of Science in elementary education (December 2006)

Master of Arts in curriculum and instruction with ESL emphasis from Kansas State University

McNair Project: Bilingualism and Academic Success (2006)

Mentor: Linda Trujillo, Ph.D.

This research investigated possible links between bilingual administrators and the academic success of their English Language Learners (ELL). Ten principals of ten randomly selected elementary schools in Kansas were interviewed. Five of the principals are bilingual and the other five are monolingual. Each person interviewed was asked the same set of questions. This research was based on the assumption that bilingual principals would have a personal understanding of the stages of second language acquisition and would be more likely to implement successful ELL programs in their schools. The findings of this research disclaim the assumption that a person must be bilingual to provide and implement successful ELL programs. This research also revealed a common view of student progress among all of the administrators that were interviewed. Student success was not measured by standardized and formal assessments. All administrators interviewed viewed student success as a student's intrinsic drive to gain knowledge.