Chapter 4: The View from the Top: Superintendents' Beliefs and Actions Regarding Their Role in the Education of Refugee Students

This chapter focuses on the challenges that confront superintendents whose districts enroll refugee students in a context, which, in the past four years, has grown increasingly hostile and divisive at the state and national levels, with Texas having earned a reputation as one of the most anti-immigrant, anti-refugee states in the nation. The authors begin by presenting the findings of the interviews they conducted in 2019 and 2020, with 10 public school superintendents in southwest Texas whose districts have significant numbers of refugee students. The purpose of the interviews was to understand how these superintendents viewed their roles and responsibilities regarding the education of refugee students within an increasingly politicized, anti-immigrant context. In addition, the authors provide two case studies, the first of which describes how the superintendent of a large, urban district in southwest Texas leveraged change through an innovative partnership with a community housing agency. The second example illustrates how the principal of an elementary school identified existing school policies and practices, which interfered with the academic and social success of the refugee children, and then enacted systemic changes to create more equitable learning environments for these children.