LUCILA D. EKMARGARITA MACHADO-CASASPATRICIA SANCHEZILIANA ALANIS

Crossing Cultural Borders:La Clase Mdgica as aUniversity-School Partnership

ABSTRACT: As informed by scholarship on transformative leadership, culturalwork in educational leadership, and preK-20 collaborations, this article drawsfrom a qualitative research project between a university that is a Hispanic-servinginstitution and an elementary school located in a Latino/a area. We examine theperspectives of a Latino principal and a Latina assistant superintendent who arekey in the project's implementation. Our findings include the following: Leaderswork to legitimate their culture and their students' culture; leaders engage in cul-tural crossings in school-university partnerships; and leaders serve as culturalchange agents for technological equity. Recommendations for leaders workingwith diverse populations are included.

Scholars in educational administration are increasingly concerned withimproving academic achievement for working-class students of color, whohave traditionally been underserved in public schools (Marshall & Oliva,2010). To counter deficit ideologies that blame students and their familiesfor the achievement gap (Valenzuela, 1999), research is increasingly fo-cusing on systemic organizational practices and policies and the leaderswho enact them. Marshall and Oliva's work (2010) reflects this trend; theystated, "Ongoing inequities in schools can be remedied through sustained,systemic, and evidence-based intervention" (p. 7). This study investigatesthe experiences, ideologies, and practices of Latino/a leaders who workin Latino/a-serving districts and schools. This research is significant giventhe limited number of Latino/a leaders. For example, only 7% of elementary

Journal of School Leadership Volume 20-November 2010

Address correspondence to Dr. Lucila D. Ek, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249.E-mail: lucila.ek@utsa.edu.

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principals in 2008 were Latino/a, 11% were Black, and 2% were other, incomparison to the 81% of Whites who were public school principals (Battle& Gruber, 2009).

This article draws from a larger qualitative social justice action researchproject of a school-university collaboration between the Academy forTeacher Excellence at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)-"a Hispanic-serving institution-and an elementary school located in"a predominantly Latino/a working-class area. La Clase Mdgira at theUTSA (LCM@UTSA) is designed to promote the academic achievementof bilingual Latino/a elementary-age students, particularly in the areasof bilingualism, biliteracy, and technology (for a detailed description ofLa Clase Mdgica [LCM], see V6squez, 2003). Informed by scholarship ontransformative leadership for social justice, cultural work in educationalleadership, and research on preK-20 collaborations (Collins, Weinbaum,Ram6n, & Vaughan, 2009; L6pez, Gonzilez, & Fierro, 2006; Marshall &Oliva, 2010), our research study specifically examines the views andperspectives of a Latino principal and a Latina assistant superintendentwho are key stakeholders in the project's implementation. Primarily, weanalyze interviews conducted with an assistant superintendent of RiverCity Independent School District (ISD) and the principal of Los ArbolesElementary School.I The most salient themes that emerged from our analy-sis include the following: Leaders work to legitimate their culture and theirstudents' culture; leaders engage in cultural crossings in school-universitypartnerships; and leaders serve as cultural change agents for technologicalequity. These themes highlight the cultural work that Latino/a transforma-tive leaders perform as they strive to bring Latino/a-serving schools intothe global and digital age of the 21st century. Furthermore, we highlightthe issues that urban education must tackle to address the needs of stu-dents of color and their families.

Of particular significance to this collaboration is addressing the digitaldivide that exists among racial and class lines. For many low-incomeLatinos/as, public classrooms are the only source of advanced technology.Moreover, in schools where students of color are the majority, only 64%of instructional classrooms have the Internet, and computers are usedmostly for rote skills (Gorski, 2003). In this study's after-school program,children's bilingual and biliterate skills are developed through the use oftechnology in meaningful learning activities with undergraduate bilingualteacher candidates. The curriculum has been carefully designed to engagestudents in culturally and linguistically relevant activities that incorporatefamily and community funds of knowledge (GonzAlez, Moll, & Amanti,2005). Educational leadership must hone in on issues most pertinent tourban schooling, which include curricular, technological, and cultural

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concerns that intertwine with issues of inequity and social justice forworking-class bilingual Latino/a students and their families. We thereforehope that this research lends additional insight into the directions thatschooling must take to better serve an increasingly culturally and linguisti-cally diverse population.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

PREK-20 INITIATIVES

The scholarship on preK-20 initiatives is relevant to the frame of ourstudy. The preK-20 initiative describes an effort from a variety of entitiesto create more collaboration and teamwork among educational systems atall levels (Collins et al., 2009; Crawford, Roberts, & Hickmann, 2008; Miller& Hafner, 2008; Mordin, Cooper, L6pez, & Goza, 2009). From preschoolthrough graduate school, preK-20 initiatives seek to support, encourage,and ensure the success of students on their academic, professional, andpersonal journeys. Entities in the preK-20 initiative can include educa-tional groups like preK-12 schools, universities, and institutions of highereducation (Collins et al., 2009; Miller & Hafner, 2008; Nuflez & Oliva, 2009;Oliva, 2009).

The preK-20 initiative emerged in part from the need to create greateraccess and smoother transitions for students of color and traditionallymarginalized groups from preK-12 to higher education systems (Aguirre &Martinez, 2006; Collins et al., 2009; Nufiez & Oliva, 2009; Zusman, 2005).Thegoals of preK-20 initiatives are twofold: provide greater access to highereducation for students and restructure the ways in which educational,governmental, and other entities interact to foster and ensure successfor students (Aguirre & Martinez, 2006; Chang, Altbach, & Lomotey, 2005;Shoho, Merchant, & Lugg, 2005; Zusman, 2005). In considering the perspec-tive of students and families, the better social and academic support thatschools and other organizations can create for students, the more successthese will foster.

As entities act to improve collaboration, they need to consider severalfactors to ensure student success. First, creating a new culture of moreequal and shared power and responsibility for student success will likelyfoster greater understanding and teamwork among entities (Deal & Peter-son, 2009; Hoy & Miskel, 2008; Lucas, 2000; Pollard, 2004; M. A. Rodriguez,Murakami-Ramalho, & Ruff, 2009; Scheurich, 1998). Second, entity col-laborations must truly seek to fully investigate and make genuine efforts

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to meet the needs of students and their families. By responding to theindividual needs and circumstances of individual people and communi-ties, stakeholders can tailor programs, strategies, and efforts to the needsof the students and their communities (Crawford et al., 2008; Gardiner& Enomoto, 2006; Lucas, 2000; Scheurich, 1998). Third, there must be aculture of learning and support for risk taking and experimentation asindividuals and entities learn how to best work together (Bellamy, Fulmer,Murphy, & Muth, 2007; Marshall & Oliva, 2010; Pollard, 2004; Shoho et al.,2005; Zusman, 2005). Fourth, a general shift in the purpose and functionof educational programs will likely benefit society and the associated enti-ties (Aguirre & Martinez, 2006; Chang et al., 2005; Jenlink & Jenlink, 2009;Kochan & Reed, 2005; Marshall & Oliva, 2010).

Much of the research on preK-20 initiatives has focused on high schoolstudents, but researchers acknowledge that for initiatives to effectivelysupport students into college, attention must be paid to students earlierin their schooling. Situating LCM@UTSA in an elementary school reflectsthe importance of working on the college pipeline as soon as childrenbegin formal schooling. PreK-20 scholarship indicates the need to beginpreparing students for college even before high school (C. R. Cooper, 2003;Gullatt & Jan, 2002; Harvey, 2002; Venezia, Kirst, & Antonio, 2004). After-school programs such as LCM@UTSA can provide a model for elementaryschools. In the present collaborative, Los Arboles Elementary is a pre-dominantly Latino/a-populated school located in a Latino/a working-classcommunity. The administrators we interviewed are Latinos/as from thesame communities in which they serve as leaders. Our study takes placein San Antonio-an ideal urban community for preK-20 initiatives thatare geared toward expanding the Latino/a educational pipeline because ofthe proximity of institutions of higher education to local school districts.Additionally, LCM@UTSA, which is modeled after LCM (VAsquez, 2003),aligns with the role of preK-20 partnerships (Deal & Peterson, 2009; Hoy& Miskel, 2008; Lucas, 2000; Pollard, 2004; M. A. Rodriguez et al., 2009;Scheurich, 1998).

LEADERSHIP FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

Scholarship on transformative educational leadership for social justiceis pertinent to our study. Dantley and Tillman (2010) extended definitionsof social justice by highlighting its inextricable connection to morality.They saw three essential components of social justice-leadership forsocial justice, moral transformative leadership, and the praxis of socialjustice. Theoharis (2007) reminded us that our nation's educational

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system is failing the most marginalized students-including students ofcolor, students with low socioeconomic status, and students who speaklanguages other than English. According to Marshall and Oliva (2010),educational leaders need to think in revolutionary ways to truly meet theneeds of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Theoharis definedsocial justice leaders as those "who advocate, lead and keep at the centerof their practice and vision issues of race, class, gender, disability, sexualorientation, and other historically marginalizing factors" (p. 6). In addition,social justice leadership must reconnect "with emotional and idealisticstances" (p. 10). At the heart of leadership for social justice is a desire tofind solutions for issues that "generate and reproduce social inequities" (p.20). The morality that is at the center of social justice is a transformativeand critical responsibility. This moral responsibility leads transformativeleaders to serve as social activists with a commitment to schools andsociety. Dantley and Tillman (2010) wrote, "Schools with educationalleaders who are committed to social justice have the potential to becomesites that couch the engagement of students' academic work in a broadersocial context focused on effecting positive societal change" (p. 22). Animportant component of leadership for social justice is the interrogationof schooling's policies and procedures that not only perpetuate but worsen"social inequalities and marginalization due to race, class, gender, andother markers of difference" (p. 24). Furthermore, the practices, values,beliefs, and worldviews of traditional educational leadership that are notprogressive or critical must be interrogated because such ideologies canfurther marginalize nondominant communities.

Dantley and Tillman (2010) provided five characteristics that composedefinitions of social justice and educational leadership for social justice:a consciousness of how schools are embedded in the broader social,cultural, and political context; the critique of the marginalizing behaviorsand attitudes of schools; a commitment to genuinely enacting democraticprinciples; a moral obligation to a vision and narrative of education that isboth counterhegemonic and hopeful; and a "determination to move fromrhetoric to civil rights activism" (p. 23). By laying out these characteris-tics, Dantley and Tillman highlighted the actions and behaviors that socialjustice leaders must engage in-all characterized as genuine, critical, con-scious, moral, and hopeful.

CULTURAL WORK IN LEADERSHIP

Researchers are increasingly focusing on culture as a significant aspectof leadership practices. L6pez, GonzAlez, and Fierro (2010) investigated

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leadership practices in Latino/a-affected schools and districts along theU.S.-Mexico border and argued that school leaders in such communitiesmust learn to cross cultural borders to be effective: "School leaders whocross cultural borders use their leadership for social justice ends, that is,for the good of the school as well as the various communities it serves"(p. 103). Because such leaders seek to mobilize communities toward self-empowerment and self-reliance, they necessarily engage issues of poverty,racism, and discrimination and consider themselves school and commu-nity leaders with an understanding that to effect change inside a schoolrequires a deep engagement with the local community.

Echoing the work on cultural border crossing, C. W. Cooper (2009)called for educational leaders to engage in cultural work. She argued, "Stu-dents need leaders and advocates who are prepared to be cultural changeagents-educators armed with the knowledge, strategies, support, andcourage to make curriculum, instruction, student engagement, and familypartnerships culturally responsive" (p. 3). Borrowing from West (1999), C.W. Cooper stated that serving as a cultural worker entails

recognizing power inequities and making them explicit; aligning oneself withmarginalized and oppressed groups; promoting collective action; striving toempower oppressed groups, and being straightforward about one's agendawhile remaining open to new ideas and constructive critique. (p. 700)

Cultural workers are also bridge builders (C. W. Cooper, 2009) whocan form productive collaborations across educational systems, fromelementary school to the university. Hence, cultural workers do not viewdifference in a negative or deficit way, nor do they use difference to cre-ate or perpetuate social divisions. Cultural workers are conscious of howthe societal constructs of race and ethnicity position people differentlyin the social and political structure. Furthermore, it is important to notethat leaders' sharing of a race or ethnicity with the students and familieswhom they serve does not necessarily mean that they do not need to en-gage in cultural work. C. W. Cooper's research, for example, found that anAfrican American principal held deficit views of the working-class AfricanAmerican families at her school. Hence, class is an important componentof difference, and it intertwines with race and ethnicity to position peopledifferentially.

Because much of the research on leadership focuses on White ormonolingual principals and superintendents, there is a need to focuson the experiences, practices, and ideologies of leaders of color whoare also bilingual, particularly as they strive toward transformative edu-cational leadership. Our study's focus on a Latina superintendent (Dr.

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Ofelia Esperanza) and a Latino principal (Mr. Rigoberto FemAndez) bringsforth the voices and views of bilingual leaders from nondominant culturaland linguistic backgrounds, and it highlights the ways in which notions ofculture, morality, and social justice are locally defined, situated, and lived.These leaders' roles in the district, school, and community intertwine withtheir lived experiences as bilingual Latinos/as who have particular moralways of enacting leadership while opening the college pipeline for theirstudents.

THE STUDY'S CONTEXT: A SOUTH TEXAS CITYAND TWO EDUCATIONAL ENTITIES

Our study is located in San Antonio-the seventh-largest city in the UnitedStates-and it involves a partnership between a local university and anelementary school in a district that historically serves Latino/a immigrantand Chicano/a students. The city has a population of 1.3 million (U.S. Cen-sus, 2003), comprising 60% Latino/a residents (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000).Of the 1.3 million residents, 14% are foreign-born (U.S. Census Data Bu-reau, 2003). This transnational activity easily blurs the boundaries betweenrecent immigrants and second- and third-generation Chicanos/as (Romo,2008). In addition, the 2000 census identified 44% of the population in SanAntonio as Spanish speakers (Romo, 2008). In this region of the state, it isnot uncommon to hear residents speaking a mixture of Spanish and Eng-lish (Romo, 2008). This majority-Latino population fosters a way of life, aculture, and a language that is not unlike that found along the U.S.-Mexicoborder, even though San Antonio is 150 miles from it.

RIVER CITY ISD AND LOS ARBOLES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

River City ISD is considered one of the poorest school districts inthe state of Texas (Texas Education Agency, 2009). River City has thecharacteristics of an urban school district, with an enrollment of nearly12,000 students in 20 preK-12 schools. Ninety-eight percent of enrolledstudents are Latino/a, 1% are Black, less than 1% are White, and less than1% are Asian or Pacific Islander. Of the total student population, 95% areeconomically disadvantaged, 85% qualify for free and reduced-price lunch,and 20% are limited English proficient. The average household income inthe district is $24,000 per year.

Located in the heart of the River City ISD, Los Arboles Elementary is oneof the few schools in the district with a dual-language bilingual program.2

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Los Arboles's student population is as follows: 97% Latino/a, 2% Black,1% White, and less than 1% Asian and Pacific Islander. Of the total schoolpopulation, 94% of students are economically disadvantaged, and 10096 ofthe student body qualifies for free and reduced-price lunch. Fifty-six per-cent speak Spanish as their first language, and 31% are considered to havelimited English proficiency.

LA CLASE MAGICA

LCM@UTSA is a partnership effort among the Academy of TeacherExcellence3 at the UTSA, Los Arboles Elementary in River City, the sur-rounding community, and Los Arboles's families. The Academy of TeacherExcellence's mission includes supporting Latino/a students to overcomebarriers that hinder their academic achievement and creating school,community, and university linkages to promote student success (Flores,Claeys, & Wallis, 2006; Flores, Clark, Claeys, & Villarreal, 2007; Flores &Claeys, 2010). LCM@UTSA aligns with the academy's mission to open thepipeline for underrepresented Latino/a students by employing a "funds ofknowledge" epistemology to highlight children's rich cultural backgrounds(Gonzflez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005). The objectives of LCM@UTSA include(1) the use of technology for learning and teaching and for developingcultural awareness, (2) activities that allow children and families to prac-tice their heritage language and literacy, and (3) the use of manipulativesand technology to enhance scientific and mathematical knowledge. Fam-ily, community members and staff play an integral part of LCM@UTSAbecause they are the main link of support for the after-school technologyprogram. Family members come to LCM@UTSA and attend the parenttechnology trainings offered. School staff and LCM@ULTSA staff also pro-vide help with setting up the room, organizing snack time, and distributingflyers and informational material regarding the after-school program andother related events.

Every week, a cohort of 20 bilingual teacher candidates takes two classesat the university campus: a multicultural children's literature course anda class on children's play and their cognitive, social, and affective devel-opment. These bilingual teacher candidates are required to attend LCM@UTSA once a week for 2 hours in the elementary school's computer room.With the Academy of Teacher Excellence's support, UTSA students areprovided with netbooks, iPhones, and iPod touches to use with Los Arbo-les elementary school students. Each bilingual teacher candidate is pairedwith one child with whom to play computer games, write digital stories,and use other educational software. Children then write letters (either via

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e-mail or by hand) to a magical being called El Maga (The Wizard), tellingMaga about their adventures. The two faculty members who teach the uni-versity courses are also part of the seven-member research team workingwith LCM@UTSA's implementation, maintenance, and improvement. Fourprofessors from this group are the authors of this article.

METHOD

DATA AND ANALYSIS

The data for the project are based on the following sources: two one-on-one interviews with two school leaders in River City ISD; field notes fromadministrative meetings with these two school leaders and a River City ISDschool board meeting; weekly field notes written by the bilingual teachercandidates, based on their participation with the after-school technologyprogram; digital literacy narratives created by bilingual teacher candidatesand the children they were paired with at Los Arboles Elementary School;audio or video recordings of in-class discussions at the university andfieldwork at Los Arboles. To be clear, the main thrust of this article comesfrom two formal interviews conducted with each of the two administra-tors in charge of implementing LCM@UTSA. These interviews with thesite principal and an assistant superintendent were each approximately 1hour in length. One of the authors conducted the one-on-one interviews(this author also interacted with the two school leaders in other informalmeetings over the course of two semesters).

Data analysis focused on coding the principal and assistant superinten-dent interview transcripts for themes and patterns. Three major findingsemerged from our analysis: Equity-oriented leaders work to legitimatetheir culture and their students' culture; leaders engage in cultural cross-ings in school-university partnerships; and leaders serve as culturalchange agents for technological equity. These findings are discussed inmore depth after we provide a fuller description of each participant.

PARTICIPANTS

The two school leaders whom we focus on in this study are engaged atthe district and school level. Dr. Ofelia Esperanza is a veteran in the fieldof education. During her 33-year career, she has worked in many differentroles-as a teacher, a principal, and an assistant superintendent for schooland community relations. She has been an associate superintendent for

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curriculum and instruction for River City ISD for the past 1.5 years. Shehas a long-standing relationship with the community and a good reputationfor her credibility and her willingness to work with the community. Espe-ranza is the person who runs all community relations, curricular changes,and technology development and maintenance for the entire school dis-trict. Her role for LCM@UTSA has been critical in that she helped theAcademy of Teacher Excellence and the research team gain access to theschool board and navigate the difficult process of ensuring digital privacyfor young children and obtaining online wireless access at the elementaryschool site. Esperanza is a bilingual Mexican American woman who wasborn and raised in San Antonio; she also has a doctorate in educationaladministration.

Mr. Rigoberto FernAndez has worked in River City ISD for more thana decade. Before working at Los Arboles Elementary School, he workedas a principal in another school in River City for 8 years. He has been theprincipal at Los Arboles for the past 5 years and is a UTSA graduate. Hismost important role in LCM@UTSA has been that of recruiting childrenand families for the after-school technology program. He has also providedLCM@UTSA with access to community groups that have a history of col-laborating with his elementary school. He maintains communication withschool district personnel to ensure that LCM@UTSA is running smoothly.He also has secured necessary funds for students in LCM@UTSA to re-ceive a snack every day after school. And he has negotiated the logistics offinding the proper space to launch LCM@UTSA while designating his viceprincipal to stay at the school past 5 p.m. each time the program meets. Heis a bilingual Mexican American who was born and raised in San Antonio.

FINDINGS

LEADERS WORK TO LEGITIMATE THEIR CULTUREAND THEIR STUDENTS' CULTURE

Educational leaders who are committed to social justice serve as socialactivists with a commitment to schools and society (Dantley & Tillman,2010). In our interviews and interactions, both Esperanza and FernAndezstated that understanding their roles as administrators was critical to en-sure the success of their students and any school-community partnership.FernAndez elaborated,

My role as an administrator in a predominantly Hispanic campus--because98% of my students are Hispanics of Mexican American descent-is to expose

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children to everything that is available to them so that they can compete withother students when they reach high school and college.

Fermndez knows that to be an effective administrator, he must bringto the community not what school officials "think they need" but whatMachado-Casas (2006) called utility knowledge-that is, information/knowledge that is most useful and necessary to succeed in everyday tasksand ultimately in society. Fern"mdez knows that the students he servesneed to have exposure to experiences that are often nonexistent-such asthose involving technology and information about college access. Theseexperiences are critical in becoming global competitors (Machado-Casas,2006, 2009). Implicit in Fern6ndez's quote is the recognition that Latino/astudents need more support to be able to compete with other college-goingstudents.

Esperanza went further in her critique of schooling. When asked aboutequity-oriented leadership, she stated,

I am [an equity-oriented leader].... We need to have a guaranteed viablecurriculum for the children. That quality of instruction is the same. Equityis not the same as equal. So that when you have a school that has a lot ofresources-we put it where we need to-to bring equity across the board.

In claiming to be an equity-oriented leader, Esperanza stated that shemust pay close attention to the inequalities among schools, particularly inareas critical to student success. She must also have the ability to recog-nize inequalities, act critically toward changing the status quo, and seekpolitical and financial investment from the constituents of various dis-tricts. It calls for looking at the cause and effect in historical, financial, andpolitical events with an emphasis on the practical lessons to be learnedfrom them. It involves becoming an agent of change, to see and understandwhat others fail to see. Esperanza specified that she wants the studentsin her district to "have the same opportunities that other students have inhigher [socioeconomic status] areas" and that she wants families workingtogether with educators.

Esperanza's statements echo Freire's (1970) notion that to practicetransformative pedagogy, one needs "to perceive social, political, and eco-nomic contradictions and to take action against the oppressive elementsof reality" (p. 17). This endeavor demands paying close attention to factorsthat reflect educational inequalities, such as culture and technology. Notincluding culture and technology in appropriate ways can negatively affectstudents' achievement.

As educated Latino/a leaders, Esperanza's and FernAndez's lived experi-ences are replete with issues of culture and inequity. They are members of

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the Latino/a community; they grew up in predominantly bilingual Latino/aneighborhoods; they attended predominantly Latino/a schools; and nowthey provide leadership in a Latino/a school district.

Their leadership in both the community and the school system providesthem with awareness about the importance of teaching Latino/a childrenand families particular bodies of knowledge. As Esperanza stated, "Wehave stories--our Latinos have stories, and they are not taught to our stu-dents. If [students and families] cannot see themselves, how can they suc-ceed?" Her poignant question draws attention to how the dominant cultureoften renders invisible nondominant cultures and its people. Furthermore,cultural narratives become lost and are not handed down to future gen-erations. Thus, transformative leaders must constantly work to legitimatetheir nondominant students' cultures. As Brown noted (2004), severalresearchers (e.g., Cochran-Smith et al., 1999; Grogan, 2000; Kincheloe &Steinberg, 1999; Shields & Oberg, 2000) are critical of educational systemsthat block access on the basis of race, culture, gender, sexual orientation,background, ability, socioeconomic position, and so on. Esperanza andFernfndez both emphasized this point of view as it pertains to barriers tostudent success and equity.

Fernfidez and Esperanza have different roles that require paying atten-tion to culture from slightly different angles. As a school principal, FernAn-dez has to look at how culture is being taught, passed down, disseminated,practiced, and treated within the school. FernAndez explained that valuingculture means paying close attention to a myriad of factors: "bilingualism,biliteracy, and valuing the cultures that everybody brings to the school."

According to Esperanza, school-community partnerships and programsneed to be aligned to the culture of the community, and they need topromote equity-oriented and socially just practices that lead to cultur-ally relevant work. She explained that to be a good leader and to ensurethat partnerships and programs are culturally relevant, school districts,schools, and their partnerships must have

an understanding and delving into the community that you are serving....When we talk about culturally relevant pedagogy, you have to know how thatculture operates. Learning it in depth. Putting up the poster that says iVivaMexico! is not enough.

Nieto (1994) stated that schools often teach culture in the form of afestivity-what has been called the "tourist approach." Esperanza under-stands that one needs to look beyond the festivities and understand thecomplexities of culture and its effects on those who live in such cultures.Brown (2004) explained that the meaning that adults hold about culture

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"derives from their experiences" (p. 84). This is particularly true of thetwo participants in this study. Their understanding of their communitycomes directly from their experiences as Latino/a members of the commu-nity where they work. They take a passionate approach to the educationof Latino/a children and the improvement of the community. Esperanzaarticulated how her experiences have shaped her work ethic and beliefs:

My philosophy is shaped by my experience. I was raised by a widowedmother. Her whole persona was that of being of service and strength in fam-ily. Our culture is steeped within the roots of our family and how is it that weshow its value. That collectiveness about the Latino family is the core.... Itis not valued in the school system because the school system has been builtin [the image of] a hegemonic White population of singular and individual ac-complishment of students.

This quote highlights the moral ways of being that Esperanza was social-ized into as a child: Serving the family strengthens the family. When moralunderstandings are shaped by experiences directly related to those whomyou serve, it creates an elevated level of consciousness-a deep sense ofunderstanding and a grave call for action. For Esperanza, it means hav-ing an understanding that although River City ISD is in a predominantlyLatino/a neighborhood (98%), it is run under "whitestream" pedagogiesand practices, which often lead to a high level of hegemony, abuse, andmarginalization (Urrieta, 2004). Of particular significance is Esperanza'sand FemAndez's understanding that school involvement is about not onlythe parent but the entire family, as Esperanza explained: "Parent is syn-onymous with family." Thus, Esperanza and FemrAndez possess a criticalmoral responsibility (Dantley & Tillman 2010) with an understanding thatthey are working for not only the singular/individual good but also the col-lectiveness/communal good.

As an assistant superintendent and community member of a predomi-nantly Latino/a school district, Esperanza understands the importance ofbilingualism and biculturalism. Esperanza stated,

El que habla dos idiomas vale por dos [He who speaks two languages countsfor two]. We tell children that they have to learn a second language so thatthey can be viable players, bilingual and biliterate, and to incorporate the rich-ness of the culture. We are dual language.

The first sentence in Esperanza's quote is a dicho (proverb), a culturallycoded axiom that is often taught at an early age and that expresses impor-tant values and beliefs. The significant belief here is that bilingualism is anasset, intimately linked to a person's worth. Language is closely related toculture and identity (Anzaldda, 1987; Flores, Ek, & SAnchez, forthcoming).

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Esperanza argued that the "curriculum has to be closely connected withthe needs of the community-that- they need to be able to connect withit." In their work, L6pez and colleagues (2010) illustrated the central placeof language in social justice issues, particularly for Latino/a students andtheir families. Furthermore, language is a valuable tool for cultural cross-ings and cultural work, given that leaders must often navigate linguisticborders as well.

Our participants' experiences have helped them understand the com-plexities of Latino/a culture and its dealings, the importance of family inLatino/a communities, and the reality that Latino families' community andculture are not valued as important contributors to school knowledge. Es-peranza provided a counternarrative when she said, "I also operate froman assets perspective about our communities." Esperanza's and Fernin-dez's beliefs and experiences strongly influence their ability to performcultural work in their communities and form culturally responsive partner-ships with the university.

LEADERS ENGAGE IN CULTURAL CROSSINGSIN SCHOOL-UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS

One of the most important roles that Esperanza and Fernfidez play isthat of being "bridge people," who are "committed to creating a bridge be-tween themselves and others for the purposes of improving the lives of allthose with whom they work" (Merchant & Shoho, 2010, p. 121). Esperanzaprovided an example of how she bridges culture for the Latino/a parentswith whom she works:

IIl say something like, well, you know, in our [Latino/a] culture, sometimeswe approach a person and we want to hug them hello and because that's ourkind of our amabilidad (kindness).... And [Latino/a parents] say, yes, that'strue. And I say well in some cultures that's not necessarily the case-forexample... and Ill give them an example and [Latino/a parents] believe mebecause I can bridge that [non-Latino/al world and our world and help themmake sense of it.

In this quote, Esperanza explained how she helps Latino families navi-gate different cultural norms. She pointed out a key feature of Latino/aculture, amabilidwd, as enacted in certain practices. As someone whoworks in non-Latino/a worlds, she understands that in some cultures, thatis not acceptable.

These Latino/a leaders' cultural work includes forming partnershipsoutside their Latino/a community (C. W. Cooper, 2009). Establishing these

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partnerships requires cultural crossings for Esperanza and Ferndndez inthat outside entities have their own culture with their own norms, values,beliefs, and worldviews that more closely align with the dominant culture.Esperanza is conscious of this. She stated,

I think that it would be naive of me not to know that there is this hegemonic,dominant, male-driven, White society ... and that for me not to know how tomaneuver in that world to get what I need to be able to serve and to do my jobwell. Yes. I think that it's just part of understanding how to garner the kinds ofresources and make those connections to advance the kinds of things that wewant to within our community and within our educational system.

According to C. W. Cooper (2009), cultural workers "understand thatone's race and ethnicity can position a person differently in society's socialand political structure" (p. 701). Cultural workers must also understandthe workings of power and privilege. Esperanza understands White maleprivilege and is aware that as a Latina female, she is in a less powerful po-sition. But she is committed to negotiating a racist and patriarchal systemand building coalitions with diverse groups to work toward educationalequity.

Brown (2004), citing other researchers (e.g., Argyris, 1992; Bands, 1994;Senge, Kleiner, Roberts, Ross, & Smith 1994; Wheatley, 1992), stated,

Effective leaders take responsibility for their learning, share a vision for whatcan be, assess their own responsibility for their beliefs, and understand thestructural and organic nature of school, [and recognize that] preparationprograms need to be carefully crafted with authentic experiences aimed atdeveloping skills. (p. 78)

As effective leaders, both Esperanza and Fern"ndez care about creatingauthentic learning experiences through the establishment of culturallyrelevant school-university collaborations. As members of their Latino/acommunity, both emphasize the importance of projects located in thecommunity and based on the needs of that community. FernAndez stated,

I think that the number one thing that I'd look for is that it is a project whereit will be based in our school so that the parents can have full access to it andthe students can have full access to it and that it is a program that is drivenby the students for the students and that the kids take full advantage of thepartnership. And that is exactly what happened with La Clase Mdgica. It wasa great experience for our students, families, and staff.

Ferndndez is aware that housing the project in the community gavehis students and their families greater access to it because working-classLatino/a bilingual families may not have resources for additional educa-tional programs for their children. He stated, "The children love the aspect

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of the technology, and the parents were very supportive. We have morestudents, more parents, wanting to participate."

In turn, Esperanza stated that the collaboration with UTSA was positivebecause of "the willingness for the academics to come into the school andalmost be part of that school." In her view, to bridge the divide betweenthese contexts, academics must be willing to integrate into a school set-ting and leave aside some of the hierarchy that pervades the ivory tower.Although UTSA is a Hispanic-serving institution, the "main" campus islocated in an affluent area of the city, far from the low-income area whereLCM@UTSA is. In other research, we found that some teacher candidatesdo not want to be placed in working-class areas for fieldwork, because oftheir negative beliefs about these communities and the people who livethere (Ek, Machado-Casas, SAnchez & Smith, forthcoming). Thus, bothleaders have expectations that university researchers and students mustbe cultural border crossers and that border crossing must not be expectedof participants from only the nondominant culture.

Just as administrators and leaders are required to communicate withfamilies when looking at establishing a partnership, both participantsstated that it is critical for the partnership to speak directly to communitymembers so that they become willing to invest time and energy into theeffort. FernAndez stated, "The staff from UTSA has been outstanding interms of their support, the way they communicate with the children, theyway they communicate with the parents has been fantastic." It is importantto note that the faculty and staff from UTSA who are involved in La ClaseMdgica are all bilingual Latinos/as. Shared language creates vital connec-tions that facilitate cultural crossings within school-university partner-ships. For example, the coordinator of LCM@UTSA and the universityfaculty spoke directly to the families in Spanish, explaining the program tothem and the community partners. This was critical to gain the trust andsupport of the families and community members. Thus, the researcherspossess insider knowledge that facilitates their border crossings into thiscommunity. Being an insider is not only about sharing ethnicity or lan-guage with a community but also about having the same goals as the com-munity members. Moreover, the community members must recognize andvalidate the researchers' insider status. It is not enough for the researchersto claim themselves as insiders.

FernAndez and Esperanza expect researchers to not only work withinthe community but understand and be committed to their community.FernAndez explained,

We've had many other projects through the years where they, "Oh, we're goingto send you mentors." Or "we're going to send you supplies." Or "we're going

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to do this" or "we're going to do that," and they'll come one or two timesand then it stops. And there's no follow-through. And with this program, ithas been very consistent. It has been very professional. And everything thatwe were told "we're going to do" has been done. And the children know thatevery Tuesday afternoon, La Clase Mdgica is ready for them, and they getvery excited to know that that's part of their afternoon project.

Indeed, one of the first questions that FernAndez asked us as the LCM@UTSA research team was whether we were going into the community foronly one semester or whether the project would be sustained for a longerperiod so that it would benefit the students and their families and not justus. By doing this, FernAndez displayed a key characteristic of a bridge per-son: the ability to "communicate effectively between and among groups forthe purpose of improving the lives of the people for whom they advocate"(Merchant & Shoho, 2010, p. 122).

Esperanza explained what she looks for when establishing universitycollaborations:

Well, you certainly want to make sure that they're not imposing somethingthat is not in alignment with the district's overall mission and strategic plan.It is not just a collaboration for the collaboration's sake. And then together wecan shape what it is that we want.

Esperanza understands the importance of following the district's mis-sion and strategic plan and partnering with entities that are making genu-ine efforts to meet the needs of students and their families (Crawford et al.,2008; Gardiner & Enomoto, 2006; Lucas, 2000; Scheurich, 1998). Embed-ded in her explanation is the idea that a partnership should not be "col-laboration for collaboration's sake'-a critique of administrators who maychoose to partner with a university because of the prestige associated withan institution of higher education. For both leaders, cultural crossings andbridge building require careful attention to their university collaborators'actions and goals and to developing a shared vision. The Latino/a leadersdemand and promote cultural responsiveness from the researchers. Asthey engage in this cultural work, leaders must also be agents of changefor social justice.

LEADERS AS CULTURAL CHANGE AGENTS FOCUSED ONTECHNOLOGICAL EQUITY

Social justice leaders investigate and find solutions for problems thatgenerate and reproduce inequities (Dantley & Tillman, 2010). Poverty is ahuge issue that leaders in Latino/a-serving schools must face. Esperanza

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and Fernindez are aware of the socioeconomic status of the communityof River City and do not shy away from this reality. Fem"ndez explainedthat he purposefully chose to remain in River City ISD:

I had offers from four or five of the biggest and richest school districts [inthis city]. But I chose [River City ISD].... I'm very happy that I stayed herebecause.., these are my children, these are my families, because they're verysimilar to my family, my personal family, when I grew up. So it is a consciousdecision. I am here because I want to be here .... And the people that are herein [River City] are here because they really really care. Because it's not easyworking with so much poverty... a lot of challenges that are going on. But wenever look at that as a reason why the kids will not be successful.

L6pez and colleagues (2010) contended that leaders who cross culturalborders believe "in the power of naming and addressing difficult issuessuch as poverty, racism, and discrimination" (p. 104). Poverty is "both asignifier and replicating mechanism of oppression" (G. M. Rodriguez & Fa-bionar, 2010, p. 55), which school leaders must address. Leaders must alsounderstand how poverty is "inextricably linked to population histories" (p.55) and how it is experienced along racial and ethnic lines. Because theyhave lived it, FernAndez and Esperanza are conscious of how poverty isexperienced in River City ISD and how it affects students' access to tech-nology and their acquisition of digital literacy.

As social justice leaders, Esperanza and FernAndez focused their atten-tion on bridging the digital divide for the students in their district. Technol-ogy has really changed the way that schools across the country are run.For example, in our experience, educators' e-mails take the place of schooland classroom visits; PowerPoint presentations have become pedagogicaltools for teachers; online homework assignments are becoming more com-mon; and SMART Boards often replace live, hands-on activities. Adaptingto these technological changes is critical for the academic and profes-sional success of students.

Teachers must also be digitally literate if they are to meet the needs oftheir students-particularly, those without access to technology. Espe-ranza, however, understands that the presence of computers at schoolsdoes not necessarily translate to technological equity. She stated,

Some schools have up to five computers in every classroom .... Students atcampuses [in River City District] have access to technology but not to the moreadvanced technology like netbooks, iPhones-[technology] is changing so fastthat the desktop [computer] is no longer good. Access to technology is going tobecome the divide between the "haves" and "have nots," and it is important tohave the opportunity to not to be in the dark ages. [The students] don't have ac-cess to this at home and they are getting that access through La Clase Mdgica.

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Esperanza emphasized that in most schools, the technology provided isbasic and not advanced enough to help students become global competi-tors. According to Esperanza, many low-income schools have only one oldcomputer per classroom of 20 students. Technology-for those who do nothave it-has become a marker of segregation and marginalization (Sdn-chez & Salazar, forthcoming). As a conscious leader, Esperanza is awareof how technology is a tool that creates and perpetuates social inequalities.

FernAndez, too, understands that there are many barriers to digital lit-eracy for low-income Latinos/as. He explained,

It is a big barrier because a lot of our parents cannot afford to buy the comput-ers and then I've had experiences where parents say, "Well, I bought them thecomputer but I didn't know I had to pay [a company] to provide the [Internet]service and I don't have $49 a month." So they cannot get the [Internet] ser-vice. Or they cannot get a wireless service. Or there might be six kids with onecomputer and that's another problem.

It is critical for Latino/a students who live in low socioeconomic areas toreceive technological exposure and instruction to compete with others atthe high school and college levels. The goal of an equity-oriented leader isto make sure that every child accesses the college pipeline (C. W. Cooper,2003).

Esperanza and FernAndez view programs such as LCM@UTSA as an av-enue to extend the district's work in increasing Latino/a families' access totechnological literacy skills. Even more salient for Esperanza is the abilityof technology to bring multigenerations of families together as they engagewith technology-

And so just the sheer connecting with the child and the family to use tech-nology ... it brings them together to talk a common language. It's bridgingthe gap between generations because it's not just technology that has been adivide.., it's generational.

Esperanza wants to work within the system while transforming it, yetshe realizes that as the students participate in LCM@UTSA and acquiremore technology skills, they share this knowledge with their extendedfamily. This is similar to the findings by SAnchez and Salazar (forthcom-ing) that depict Latino/a immigrant children serving as cultural technologybrokers for their families. Including different generations of one family inthe various activities offered by LCM@UTSA reflects the intergenerationalpractices of computer use exhibited by several families in SAnchez andSalazar's study.

Thus, LCM@UTSA creates opportunities for children to develop theirtechnological skills along with their families, but it also creates avenues

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for family members to connect with one another, to bridge multipledivides. While the LCM@UTSA children work with university students,family members work with an LCM@UTSA faculty member who teachesthem how to use the iPhone, netbooks, and iPods that their children use inLCM@UTSA. They also learn about software, games, and video tools thattheir children use. Doing so allows family members to use technology asa new way to connect and actively interact with each other. Thus, bothchildren and their families are acquiring digital literacy. Esperanza's andFernandez's leadership illustrates how cultural workers create changes bytransforming mainstream structures and standards rather than dismantlingthem (C. W. Cooper, 2009).

Part of leaders' cultural work involves their ability to identify and seekout programs that not only come from the mainstream, such as the univer-sity, but ensure student success. West (1999), as quoted in C. W. Cooper(2009), argued that a cultural worker "stays attuned to the best of whatthe mainstream has to offer-its paradigms, viewpoints, and methods yetremains grounded in affirming and enabling subcultures of criticism" (p.700). Latino/a leaders recognize that university partnerships can lead tostudent success. In addition, leaders value collaborating with parents onthis goal, as Esperanza explained: "There really is an expectation that wehave our families working shoulder to shoulder with us-not that they area step behind us but that we are working in conjunction and pushing thoseinstructional goals."

Like Esperanza, Fernandez is aware of the impact of technology on dailylife. He stated,

We are now in a digital age where all of us have to be exposed to technology-everything that we do.... And technology has really impacted the culture.And it's only going to become more and more important in our everyday life,so we have to expose the children to as much technology as we can.

Technology has become an instructional tool often used to create acertain type of culture-the culture of the future-and not having accessto it or having limited access can mark a community as being stuck in thepast. Those who do not understand the economic disparities may blamethe community for not advancing. Esperanza and FernAndez believe thatit is critical to pay close attention to the role that technology assumes as acultural practice in their school and district. Technology is cultural in thatpeople who are digitally literate have particular values, beliefs, norms, andidentities. Information and communication technologies are transformingthe way that people live, work, and relate (Knobel & Lankshear, 2007).Esperanza's and FernAndez's vision of the digital future-and the role of

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Latino/as in that future-highlights their work as change agents who viewtechnology as a resource and a tool to establish educational equity withintheir community.

The partnership with LCM@UTSA addresses the digital gap found amongthe children of Los Arboles Elementary. Bilingual teacher candidates bringlaptops and iPhones for children to use after school-resources thatwould not typically be available to the low-income children. In addition tociting access, Fernindez elaborated on the need for educators to facilitatedeveloping technological skills and knowledge:

Parents who have bought the computers since Christmas and here we are inApril and they still haven't opened the box because they don't know how toset it up. All of our teachers have a lot of training in technology and they couldgo [to the home] and help.

The same experiences that FernAndez highlighted regarding some fami-lies' inability to set up a purchased home computer echo what SAnchezand Salazar (forthcoming) found in their study with Latino/a immigrantfamilies in northern California: Even when school-age children acquirecomputational skills at school, they may not have the know-how neededto set up a computer at home, because their social networks do not havethis skill as a resource, nor do their public school classrooms offer thisspecific and explicit knowledge in their weekly computer lab sessions.However, what Ferndndez proposed-having teachers from Los Arbolesgo to children's homes to help set up computers-is innovative, and it onceagain reflects his commitment to being a change agent working towardtechnological equity.

In the LCM@UTSA classroom, Latino/a bilingual teacher candidatesbring their technological expertise, as learned in their teacher educationcourses, to share with the young children at the school. Hence, both theteacher candidates and the elementary school students are being social-ized to digital culture while developing their language and literacy skills. Inexchange, UTSA students are viewing the richness of culture that studentsfrom low socioeconomic backgrounds bring to the classroom. Activitiesthat require children to create familial narratives provide the universitystudents with access to children's funds of knowledge and help dispel themyth that families from minority households bring few assets to the publicschool experience. Thus, when referring to the university collaboration,FernAndez stated,

This experience with UTSA was fantastic. The children love the aspect of thetechnology, and the parents were very supportive. We have more students,more parents wanting to participate in it. And we are really looking forward

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to having this program come back to Los Arboles Elementary.... So we arevery, very excited that this partnership took place this year.

Fernfndez's quote reads like a narrative of hope (Dantley & Tillman, 2010)and brings to mind the emotional and idealistic stances (Marshall & Oliva,2010) that transformative leaders must possess.

Esperanza and FernAndez represent equity-oriented leaders consciousof how schools are embedded in the broader social, cultural, and politi-cal context: Both are able to critique the marginalizing behaviors and at-titudes of schools; both are committed to genuinely enacting democraticprinciples; both are morally obligated to a vision and narrative of educa-tion that is counterhegemonic and hopeful; and both are determined tomove from rhetoric to civil rights activism (Dantley & Tillman, 2010). Forthese Latino/a leaders, social justice and moral responsibility emerge fromthe values, beliefs, and worldviews found in their homes. Similar to theschool leaders in the work by L6pez and colleagues (2010), Esperanza andFernAndez understand the need for school leaders to cross cultural bor-ders to be effective and the need to mobilize their community toward self-empowerment and self-reliance through the use of technology. In doing so,they engage in the cultural work needed to counter the classism, racism,and discrimination that schooling often perpetuates.

IMPLICATIONS

Our study includes general implications for key stakeholders and poli-cymakers as well as specific implications for school leaders working indiverse comnmunities. Perhaps the primary concept to glean is that LCM@UTSA can be a model for preK-20 partnerships beginning in elementaryschool because the partnering between young children and college stu-dents creates both exposure to and a relationship with an institution ofhigher education. In many urban centers, children stay within a short dis-tance of their neighborhood communities and never experience anythingrelated to a college campus. By having access to UTSA at their neighbor-hood elementary school, many potential first-generation college attend-ees overcome a major barrier. Furthermore, elementary school studentshave direct access to university students who serve as role models thatare beginning to teach and share their college experiences and thereforehelp in the process of starting the school-university pipeline in the earlyyears. LCM@UTSA also offers the families of the elementary students anopportunity to engage with university representatives and further theirunderstanding of the college system in this country.

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Without question, policymakers must heed the call for putting moretechnological resources into low-income schools with culturally andlinguistically diverse populations. This is neither a new need nor a newrequest. However, if these resources are coupled with human capital froma university partnership, the benefits to all sets of students-undergradu-ates and elementary-increases dramatically, cultural and technologicalknowledge is exchanged, and a school-to-university pipeline is cemented.Additionally, Latino/a students will have exposure to technology that willallow them to become global competitors. However, we need to incor-porate into our technology programs basic information for families andchildren in how to install home computers and secure affordable Internetservice, as well as other basic troubleshooting skills in the maintenanceof a home computer. And it goes without saying that policymakers andeducational leaders need to work with the business community to findsolutions to the high prices of monthly Internet services--otherwise, anentire segment of our society will continue to lag behind in technology.

The work presented here on LCM@UTSA contributes to the researchthat focuses on how school leaders can positively transform the culture ofschools in collaboration with communities and universities-without sac-rificing their orientation for culturally mindful social justice. Our researchpoints to specific implications for school leaders who can make transfor-mative changes within linguistically and culturally diverse communities.These include the following four areas and reflect aspects of our concep-tual framework-in particular, the work by Dantley and Tillman (2010),who described the characteristics of educational leadership for socialjustice; C. W. Cooper's (2009) promotion of a school leader as a culturalworker, and the work by L6pez and colleagues (2010), who emphasizedthe role of effective school leaders as extending into the dynamics andneeds of the local community.

First, it is critical when working with the Latino/a community to take aholistic approach to maintain families' cultural wealth and to mobilize ini-tiatives by working with parents, teachers, and community members. Thistype of approach requires looking beyond the school and redefining school-ing so that it becomes a communal endeavor that requires the integrationof all who work with children inside and outside the school. By doing this,the learning does not stop the moment the children leave school grounds;instead, it continues into the community and inside children's homes.

Second, leaders need to promote ownership, respect, and advocacy forstudents and their families and the resources they bring to the school.They must realize that families are not blank slates but rather bring numer-ous resources than add to the school culture and their understanding ofthe community. Some of these assets include the practice of family itself

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and how intergenerational learning occurs within Latino/a families, aswell as the inclusion of families' home languages, cultural practices, andworldviews.

Third, leaders must identify university-, school-, and community-basedresources that empower all stakeholders through a shared commitment oftransformative schooling that leads to the maintenance of cultural commu-nity wealth. This includes identifying and implementing partnerships thatare appropriate and effective for the population they serve and monitoringhow collaborations meet the needs of the community. It also requires schoolleaders to articulate expectations they may have of "outside" members,which may include university students and faculty engaging in culturalcrossings and truly integrating into a local school's context.

School leaders taking children into the 21st century can no longer ne-glect the educational and cultural needs of their students' communities butmust instead identify the culturally relevant commitment and effectivenessof their leadership style and that of their partners in this endeavor. Al-though being Latino/a may give some school leaders a deeper understand-ing of their students' culture, transformative leadership is a worthy goalof any administrator, regardless of his or her own race or ethnicity. Suchleadership, however, requires time, reflection, and listening to develop adeep understanding of the Latino/a community represented in the localcontext-the population's needs, culture, and assets-and of course, acommitment to working with and for the betterment of the Latino/a com-munity that she or he is serving.

CONCLUSION

This article demonstrates how two Latino/a leaders enact a social justiceeducational agenda by participating in a school-university partnershipand how their cultural positionality fuels their commitment to serving aschange agents for Latino/a communities. The Latino/a leaders in this studyfocus on two key elements of curriculum and instruction: culture and tech-nology. They both hold a sophisticated level of consciousness-as gainedfrom their personal life experiences-which they rely on to secure cultur-ally relevant and equitable partnerships for their students. This ideologyalso reflects a critical transformative morality that guides social justiceleaders (Dantley & Tiliman, 2010).

A major component of their ideology is that of having high expectationsfor the university participants with whom they partner. They expect thatuniversity researchers and students will partake in cultural crossings byengaging with working-class Latino/a communities in meaningful ways.

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These school leaders understand that learning about students' culturesfrom a book or a university classroom has its limitations. Professors andteacher candidates must become a part of the school if they are to trulycross cultural and ideological borders.

Esperanza's and Ferndndez's views and perspectives fuel their culturalwork and signal their identities as cultural change agents by placingculture at the center of the curriculum and calling for researchers andeducators to recognize that culture is as critical as technology to chil-dren's learning and development. In other words, students do benefit from21st-century skills but not at the expense of sacrificing their home cultureor ignoring their trove of cultural and linguistic wealth. Thus, as culturalchange agents, they strive to make their students' cultures visible in an as-similationist society that pushes children to make their cultures, families,language, and identities invisible.

NOTES

1. The names of the district, elementary school, and participants are pseudonyms.2. A dual-language bilingual program is an enrichment and additive form of bilin-gual education that provides literacy and other content area instruction in at leasttwo languages.3. The principal investigator for the Academy for Teacher Excellence is Dr. Be-linda Flores.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to the La Clase Mdgica leaders for participating in thisstudy. We thank Neda Ramirez for her assistance on this article.

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Luclia 0. Ek, an assistant professor in the Department of Bicultural--BilingualStudies at the University of Texas at San Antonio, received her doctorate in urbanschooling from the University of California at Los Angeles. Her research focuseson language, literacy, and identity in Chicana/o and Latina/o communities. Herwork has been published in Anthropology and Education Quarterly, the BilingualResearch Journal, High School Journal, and the International Journal of Bilingual-ism and Bilingual Education.

Margarita Machado-Casas, an assistant professor at Wayne State University, re-ceived her doctorate in culture, curriculum, and change at the University of NorthCarolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on the transnationalism of Latino/aimmigrant communities. She has published in High School Journal, Journal ofThought, and CIMEXUS: Revista de Investigaciones Mexico-Estados Unidos. Sheis coeditor of the Journal of Latinos in Education and the Handbook of Latinos inEducation--awarded the 2010 Critics Choice Award by the American EducationStudies Association (AESA).

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Patricia SAnchez, an assistant professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilin-gual Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio, received her doctorate insocial and cultural studies at the Graduate School of Education at the Universityof California, Berkeley, in 2004. In her research, she uses a sociocultural lens toexamine Issues related to globalization, transnationalism, and immigrant studentsand families. She has published in such journals as the Urban Review, Linguisticsand Education, High School Journal, and Bilingual Research Journal.

Illans Alanfe, PhD, assistant professor at the University of Texas at San AntonioIn the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching, is active in teaching,research, and service. Her research focuses on the additive effects of dual-lan-guage programs for teachers and bilingual learners. She is the former presidentfor the Texas Association for Bilingual Education.

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