Volume 2 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal of K-12 Educational Research - Page 11

Journal of K-12 Educational Research 9 the organization needs to know exactly what they are aiming for regarding the closing of the performance gaps. A superintendent can develop a high quality strategic plan, but the closing of the performance gap is dependent on the execution of the strategic plan. Autonomy Superintendents stressed that autonomy has its limits and must be done within the confines of the system of the school district. Autonomy does not give principals the right to do whatever they want to do in their building. Clear parameters need to be established by the school district and superintendent to distin- guish which campuses have earned autonomy for their campus. Campuses with earned autonomy must continue to have some accountability to ensure increases in student achievement and continued success in the closing of the performance gap. Research Question 3 (RQ3) What specific instructional practices are supported by the super - intendent and implemented district-wide to increase the academic achievement of Hispanic students? Qualitative Data RQ3 focused on superintendent leadership practices related specifically to instructional practices that were implemented dis - trict-wide. The themes of progress monitoring and resources were duplicate themes that emerged for both RQ2 and RQ3. There was much more variation in interview responses related to instruction- al leadership practices. Figure 2 shows the major themes and the minor themes that emerged for RQ3. (See Figure 2 on page 10) Language Acquisition The general findings around language acquisition included: a literacy focus, the use of dual language models, and addressing the readiness gap at an early age. In an effort to determine the readiness gap, school districts must assess students at an early age and develop interventions to ensure students are able to read on grade level as quickly as possible. The focus on language acquisition does not necessarily mean that every Hispanic student is deficient in the English language. The emphasis on language acquisition must be targeted to those Hispanic students that enter schools with an English language barrier. Progress Monitoring Progress monitoring as an instructional practice refers to data analysis by individual students. In order to close the performance Figure 1. Research Question 2: Major and Minor Themes. The figure represents the major and minor themes for research question 2 using NVivo Pro 11.