ABSTRACT
A high school student, María, moved from Mexico to suburban Chicago at 14 years old and enrolled in the local high school. The school had a solid EL program and quickly worked to integrate her and her family into the educational community. Although María did well in her assigned classes and the high school offered a broad set of Advanced Placement (AP) courses, María was not encouraged to enroll in them. Some educators perceived her English language proficiency as a barrier to managing the rigor of an AP course. When the school participated in a partnership with a non-profit organization during María’s sophomore year, they surveyed students and teachers, and identified underrepresented students who could be successful in AP courses based on a variety of measures beyond academics. María’s name was on the list. The assistant principal then recruited María for her first AP course. She subsequently took five additional AP courses and began planning to attend college to pursue a degree in health services. This case addresses how school leadership can expand college preparatory offerings to ELs.
