Introduction

The aim of this project is to educate, empower, and amplify the voices and needs of Latinx educators here in Clark County through research, community building, and the sharing of information. This project would not be possible without your participation, and we thank you for lending us your time, your voice, and your interest. The hope is we can increase the number of Latinx leaders here in Clark County together and to gain a better understanding of why Latinx leaders are under-represented amongst the leadership in the 5th largest school district, a district that is diverse, and growing by the day.

Methodology

There are deep interconnections between method, methodology, and epistemology (Harding 1987; Delgado Bernal 1998).

According to Marín and Marín la plática, or “small talk” (Marín and Marín 1991, 13) before and after an interview facilitates participation and the building of a concerned relationship between researcher and participant. In this case, plática is one way to ease into the collection of data, though the conversations that take place during this time are not meant to be significant to research inquiry.

While the use of plática in these studies does take into consideration the particularities of culture, there are a couple of limitations that can be identified. First, culture is understood as a very essentialized and static entity.

Participant Feedback

I want to help people out more than I aspire to tell people what to do. I do feel like this program has helped me with working with other people, and gaining confidence.

The program has helped me to identify those, the problems and promote positive change.

I feel like a lot of people are willing to hear me out now and they know I have a voice.

I have learned how to be more approachable as a future school leader.

As a Latino educator, I wanted to make sure that I was in a place that was visible for students and where I could have those types of communication with them, and their families as well.

Results

#MOVETHENEEDLE
  • L3 participants have received over 20 hours of free professional development from top Latino school leaders.
  • A community of educators has emerged and supported aspiring leaders with a network of professionals to whom they can reach out to as they navigate the leadership pipeline.
  • Participants state presentations are eye opening and authentic insight for educational professionals.
  • Participants have recognized the importance of networking “It is huge”.
  • Participants have developed ways for educators to advocate for positive change, aimed at improved student outcomes.
  • At least 3 participants have already been hired as school administrators since L3 began.
Research Summary

Using a database of 30 million profiles, Zippia estimates demographics and statistics for Clark County School District (CCSD). Our estimates are verified against BLS, census, and current job openings data for accuracy. After extensive research and analysis, Zippia’s data, science team found that:

  • CCSD has 17,820 employees.
  • 65% of CCSD employees are women, while 35% are men.
  • The most common ethnicity at CCSD is white (59%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (20%), and Black or African American (9%).
  • The average CCSD employee makes $37,798 per year.
  • CCSD employees are most likely to be members of the Democratic Party.
  • On average, employees at CCSD stay with the company for 6.9 years.

Our Study’s Aims

To Take a Closer look at…
  • The lived experiences of aspiring Latinx leaders;
  • Discussion findings of what Latinidad is and the effects of it on participants career trajectory;
  • Which elements of a graduate program are most beneficial for Latinx participants of this program which contributed to successfully ascend professionally into school leadership; and
  • What do the research participants wish school administrators and university programs knew?

Research Team

Silvia Natalie Gonzales

A-ARL 2.0 Research Fellow

Lesly Zecena Constanza

NITEP Research Fellow

LeAnne Salazar-Montoya

Principal Investigator

Special thanks to NVEPIC and UNLV for the funding of this project and NVALAS for partnering with us to conduct this study.

This research was made possible thanks to generous funding from the Nevada Department of Education to support the Nevada Institute on Educator Preparation (NITEP), the Nevada Institute on Educator Preparation, Retention, & Research (NIEPRR), and the Nevada Educator Preparation Institute & Collective (NV-EPIC).