HERITAGE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS in the U.S.: ADMINISTRATION, SUSTAINABILITY and SCHOOL OPERATIONS Nan Wang University of Nebraska - Lincoln, [email protected]
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Educational Administration: Theses, Dissertations, Educational Administration, Department of and Student Research 12-2017 HERITAGE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS IN THE U.S.: ADMINISTRATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND SCHOOL OPERATIONS Nan Wang University of Nebraska - Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cehsedaddiss Part of the Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, and the Educational Leadership Commons Wang, Nan, "HERITAGE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS IN THE U.S.: ADMINISTRATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND SCHOOL OPERATIONS" (2017). Educational Administration: Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research. 282. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cehsedaddiss/282 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Educational Administration, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Administration: Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. HERITAGE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS IN THE U.S.: ADMINISTRATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND SCHOOL OPERATIONS by Nan Wang A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Educational Studies (Educational Leadership and Higher Education) Under the Supervision of Professor Marilyn Grady Lincoln, Nebraska December, 2017 HERITAGE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS IN THE U.S.: ADMINISTRATION SUSTAINABILITY AND SCHOOL OPERATIONS Nan Wang, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2017 Advisor: Marilyn L. Grady The Heritage Language School (HLS) is a unique type of non-governmental educational organization in the U.S. It was first established in the 1880s by immigrants, who wanted to pursue freedom and wealth in the U.S. As those descendants melt into U.S. culture over generations, the Heritage Language School undertakes the responsibility to connect immigrants’ descendants with their heritage cultures and languages. The sustainability of heritage language schools affects the sustainability of heritage cultures in the U.S. Now heritage language schools flourish in all states in the U.S. To approach sustainability, administration in heritage language schools encounters various challenges. With limited previous study of heritage language school sustainability, the study, as an exploratory study, employs Mixed-Methods Research (MMR) to explore the factors affecting heritage language school sustainability from an administrative perspective. The study unfolded results through three research questions, which guided the entire study: What is heritage language school sustainability? Whether the four variables: administration, teacher professionalism, funding, and public support significantly affect sustainability, and if so, how? How can the findings of this study apply to the practice? The study solicits quantitative data from eighty-eight respondents in 21 states and qualitative data from twenty-three administrators of the 88 respondents from seventeen heritage language schools. It reveals that all four variables significantly affected heritage language school sustainability. By longitudinal analyzing the qualitative data, the study discovers the correlations between each dependent variable and heritage language school sustainability, and inter-correlations among the four variables. By the end of the study, it depicts a distinct picture of how to operate an existing or new established heritage language school in the U.S. to approaching sustainability. Key words: Heritage language school, sustainability, administration, teacher professionalism, funding, public support ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have gone through a long journey to know how to be resilient when encounter difficulties in academic studies and my life. There are many people to appreciate in the journey. However, the most important people are my advisor, Dr. Grady, my friends, Dr. Katherine Najjar, Dr. Patrice McMahone, my doctoral committee members, my parents, Yanxia and Desheng, my former boss and current best friend, Amy Shane, my husband, Guang, and our lovely son, Graham. I would like to express sincere gratitude to my advisor, Professor Marilyn Grady for the continuous support and belief in my Ph.D. study. Dr. Grady spared no effort to guide and inspire me to be resilient in all difficulties encountered in my doctoral study, and my career. More than that, I would like to use this opportunity to thank my friends Dr. Katherine Najjar, Dr. Patrice McMahon and my doctoral committee members: Dr. Barbara Lacost, Dr. Kent Mann, and Dr. Dixie Sanger. This study would not have been possible without the dedicated support of them. I am thankful for their heartening guidance and friendly advice in the past few years of my doctoral journey. I feel grateful to be the daughter of my parents and a friend of Mrs. Shane’s. They all persistently inspire and encourage me in the academic journey. They have faith in my abilities to accomplish academic studies and overcome difficulties in the life. Without them, I could not be the person I am today. Last but not least, I deeply appreciate my beloved husband and son. Without their love and understanding, I can not go this far. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 ...................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................ 2 Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................................... 3 Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 4 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................ 4 Assumptions, Limitations, and Delimitations ................................................................. 5 CHAPTER 2 ...................................................................................................................... 6 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................ 6 The Beginning of Heritage Schools ................................................................................ 7 The Survival and Development of Heritage Language Schools ................................... 10 Chinese Heritage Language Schools. ........................................................................ 11 Japanese Heritage Language Schools (JHLS). .......................................................... 15 Korean Heritage Language Schools. ......................................................................... 16 Hindi-Urdu Heritage Language. ................................................................................ 16 The Challenges Encountered by Heritage Language School Administration ............... 18 Management in the Sustainability of Non-profit Organization ..................................... 21 v CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................................................... 25 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 25 Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Approach ...................................................... 26 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 29 Research Model ............................................................................................................. 29 Methods of Data Analysis ............................................................................................. 32 Participants .................................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER 4 .................................................................................................................... 39 QUANTITAIVE AND QUALITATIVE FINDINGS OF ............................................ 39 CORRELATIONS AMONG SUSTAINABILITY AND THE FOUR INDEPENDENT VARIABLES ..................................................................................... 39 Quantitative Findings .................................................................................................... 39 Qualitative Findings ...................................................................................................... 43 What Heritage School Sustainability Is ..................................................................... 44 How Administration Affects Sustainability of a Heritage School ............................ 45 How Teacher Professionalism Affects Sustainability ............................................... 71 How Funding Affects Sustainability ........................................................................