LAUSR

In their book, Transforming Sanchez School: Shared Leadership, Equity, and Evidence, Raymond R. Isola and Jim Cummins describe their experience at Sanchez Elementary School, which serves a majority English language learner (ELL) population and students from low-income backgrounds. Sanchez Elementary belongs to the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), serving students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through Five, and offering two program pathways to their students: the biliteracy pathway and the English-medium pathway. The authors describe how progressive leadership and engaged educators created an inclusive learning environment for the students and the community despite education and language policies that had significant repercussions for ELL. A notable example of one of those policies impacting ELL students was No Child Left Behind (NCLB), an education bill signed into law in 2002. NCLB has been argued to have resulted in a narrowing of the curriculum and a focusing on low-level skills. This has been reflected in standardized high-stakes tests as opposed to “critical real-world skills,” such as critical thinking, writing, and research (Darling-Hammond, 2007, p. 252). At the state level, California voters passed Proposition 227 in 1998, which abolished bilingual education by requiring schools to provide ELLs with English-only instruction unless parents signed a waiver. Within this broad policy context, in Transforming Sanchez School, Isola and Cummins document how they implemented organizational and instructional changes at Sanchez Elementary School from 1999 to 2012, when Isola was the school’s principal. For 13 years, the school’s test scores’ increase outperformed the states’ average improvement. In the preface, Isola and Cummins state: “Our goal is [. . .] to open up dialogue for administrators and school staff to reflect on school improvement strategies that are appropriate and feasible in their own specific contexts” (p. vii). Indeed, this book is relevant for educators and administrators who aspire to change schools that serve students from diverse linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds. By providing readers with a detailed account of a school transformation in the pursuit of students’ physical, emotional, and social well-being, as well as their growth and learning, Transforming Sanchez School provides hands-on ideas and inspiration for programs and partnerships.