Leading for equity: Educational leadership at the intersection of bilingualism and special education in an urban elementary school

This article examines how educational leadership is mobilized in efforts to foster equity at the intersection of bilingualism and special education in a large urban U.S. elementary school. Although bilingual education and special education (SPED) have developed robust but largely separate traditions, their convergence remains under-theorized, often rendering emergent bilingual students with disabilities institutionally invisible. Using a critical, practitioner-led interpretive case study informed by transformative leadership and intersectionality, the study analyzes documents, school-based observations, and reflexive practitioner records. The analysis identifies four mutually reinforcing leadership practices: reframing bilingualism as an instructional and interpretive asset; disrupting deficit discourses in referral, IEP, and classroom talk; fostering cross-departmental collaboration between bilingual and SPED structures; and embedding family and community voices in decision-making. These practices are synthesized into an Equity Cycle Model that conceptualizes leadership as an iterative process of discursive, organizational, and relational mediation rather than a one-off intervention. The article suggests that more equity-oriented practice at the bilingual–SPED nexus depends in part on leadership practices that align institutional routines, challenge deficit framing, and widen opportunities for meaningful participation. It contributes a transferable model for intersectional inclusion in resource-constrained urban schools.